Are you a middle manager and interested in moving into a more senior role within your organisation?
Whether your aspirations and career progress plans are 6 months away or 3 years – here is something you can start doing today.
Familiarise yourself closely with the strategic goals of your organisation.
You should follow closely what your MD or CEO (or your strategy team) talk about – and immerse yourself in knowing the strategy and vision for your organisation.
Whether you are a new graduate or you are seasoned, you should be able to speak about the strategic goals of the organisation to a level of competence that you can at least hold an informed perspective.
How do you do this?
- Pay attention to your MD or CEO’s messages.
- Have coffee connects with someone from the strategy team – they are usually super interesting folks. Ask them questions about the organizational strategy.
- Ask people around you – especially your immediate leaders – which strategic organisational goal will be the most challenging to achieve. This is a specific question which will get people speaking in detail – and you can learn from them.
- Then, read in-depth industry articles on what is being said about your organisation.
Finally, when you do get to an interview stage, try to weave into one of your answers what you know about the strategic objectives of the organisation – and especially how the role you’re applying for will help achieve the strategic objectives of the organisation.
If you can hold an informed perspective on the subject, you will impress with your knowledge and demonstrate that you are leadership material.
#leadership #strategy
