“How do I move from a technical role into a people management/ leadership role?”

What a great question! In my work, I’m often working to shift ingrained mindsets. Many people believe the natural progression as one evolves in their career is people management.  Organisations often promote top performers into a people management role as the next logical step.

Over my years I’ve seen many top performers struggle under the weight of people management. They may be star performers in their field of expertise but not built to manage people. To manage people well is to unlock a different set of skills and competencies.

My first question is; why do you want to be a people manager?

If you think it’s the only step to move forward in your career, I encourage you to have a conversation with your boss. See what opportunities there are to grow your leadership footprint.

If you want to manage people, then I recommend the following steps.

1) Sit down with your boss to have a frank discussion about your aspirations as a people manager.

2) Ask for feedback on skill gaps and start looking for opportunities to bridge those gaps. Just because you don’t have the “people manager” title behind your name doesn’t mean you can’t get involved in training new staff, coaching on technical functions, running meetings or incentives.

3) Put your hand up for projects to be involved and highlight your leadership capacity.

Lastly, stay true to yourself. Know what you are great in and use that to lead. Don’t try and be someone else. Authentic leaders inspire trust in teams, and you can only achieve this by being your true self.

Curated for you: Kaizen. Why you need this word to move your career forward

If you want to take the next step in your career and do work differently, then hire a career coach. We work to help uncover your potential and help you love your work.