Do you remember how you landed your first management role?
I haven't had one yet and I really want the opportunity to coach & develop a team while engaging with senior leaders about organizational goals. It's frustrating to be passed over for management opportunities yet given no actionable feedback; my natural instinct is to internalize and nitpick at every little think I do or say which just enforces the imposter syndrome mentality. No manager is perfect, but I know I'm genuine and analytical, I'm relatable and empathetic, I'm decisive and an advocate - I just need someone to give me a chance.
Farah Bajwa
Engineer (&Project) Manager | Consultant | Coach
926
01/31/24 at 8PM UTC
My first management role came out of my proactively volunteering to bridge a gap.
Hired on as a project engineer and a week later the engineering manager quit. It was a small family owned business. The manager reported to the president. At the time the president was traveling a lot so there was no one to oversee the daily stuff. So I spoke with my team first (which consisted of specialized design engineer" I was the new person who'd only been there for two months so I needed their buy-in. I pitched it to them that since I was the project engineer, I acted like the team glue anyway and they were ok that I'd take on an acting role because they could see how the team was performing inefficiently due to the lack of communication with the president. So I approached the president and a week later they posed a counter offer: I take on the role formally and we'd test it for 6 months. If I liked it and they liked how I led, it would be come permanent. And it did. I definitely felt imposter syndrome but that eventually faded. And later I received the best compliment ever from one of my engineers: that I was the best manager she'd ever had! :-D
Find ways to state your interest to those with the power to make those decisions. Network and establish relationships with them. If they feel your skills are lacking, ask them what you need to work on to be eligible. If you feel they aren't supporting you in your growth, then its time to look outside.
Maegan, Nike Sales Rep & Career CoachHelping you know your value to get your next job
1.77k
01/24/24 at 12:13PM UTC (Edited)
This is so wonderful that you want to make a difference in coaching and developing others.
1- have you vocalized this to your manager/senior leaders? This should be on every mid year/annual performance review you have and I would bring up this goal and share what you are doing to develop management skills on a monthly basis even. If you've only shared it one or two times, it isn't enough. It may sound redundant to you but think of your managers POV - they have a lot going on. It's up to you to make sure this goal is known, take steps reinforcing it to them while actively demonstrating you are taking your own steps to get there (without needing to be hand held)
You will get your chance! Make sure you are vocal and actively preparing for your opportunity.
Erin-Kate WhitcombImproving Team Perf for Superior Results at Work
23
01/23/24 at 5:53AM UTC
I think it’s great that you know you want to do this! I highly recommend that you let your manager know of your aspirations and see if you can develop a path together. I also recommend finding a mentor outside of your current job, particularly someone who is doing something you’d like to be doing. Developing management skills takes some support and encouragement and your desire to learn will go a long way.
