Stepping up from a head of function role to a senior leadership team (SLT) position is a significant transition. Many don’t make the step up as it often involves a shift in mindset, scope, and influence. Even people who have excelled as the head of their function for many years, can find it overwhelming and hard to grasp the new skills required at this level.
Businesses could make this transition easier by providing:
- A clear understanding of the new responsibilities at senior leadership level.
- The skills required to become a successful member of the senior leadership team.
- An honest and objective assessment of alignment and gaps with the skills requirements.
- A roadmap and personal development plan to support the development needs.
- In house and external coaching, mentoring, training and development support to help close the gaps.
- Regular reviews of progress and candid feedback from within the business.
This framework of support can, and usually does, mean the difference between success and failure for people making the step up. Most people only do this once, so it’s good practice to put the time and effort into getting this right.
What are the typical development areas when transitioning into a senior leadership position?
Here are some common challenges and development areas managers face during this leadership transition:
Shifting from Functional to Big Picture Thinking
Moving from managing and optimising a single function, such as, marketing, sales, finance, and operations, to thinking about the entire business requires a shift in mindset. Leaders must now balance trade-offs across departments, not just advocate for their own. Developing a broader understanding of the rest of the business and the interdependencies is key, as is understanding the overall business strategy, and financial performance. It would be highly recommended that time is spent in all departments to understand the whole business and take the time to build new alliances.
Strategic vs. Task Focused
Letting go of day-to-day operational control to focus on long-term strategy and vision doesn’t always come naturally to new leaders. Many managers are promoted because they’re excellent operators in their function, and stepping into the unknowns of vision and strategy can feel risky and daunting. Building trust in direct reports and learning to lead through others is essential in order to create the amount of time required to step back and be more strategic. One of the biggest pitfalls to businesses succeeding with their company objectives is the senior leadership team not having the time to focus on the future vision and strategy.
Influencing Beyond Authority
Collaborating with peers, who are also strong leaders, often without direct authority over them is going to be a major part of the new position. Influence must come from credibility, building trusted relationships, being committed to the cause, and becoming team player that offers strategic insight and value, not hierarchy. Strengthening self-awareness, building emotional intelligence skills, and strong negotiation skills, are the key areas for development to become a great influencer.
Navigating Ambiguity and Complexity
Senior roles involve more long-term future planning, uncertainty, incomplete information, and complex decision-making. There are fewer clear answers and more competing priorities. Decisions cannot be made in an instant. Data will need to be gathered, research will need to be carried out, many different stakeholders will need to be consulted with, and decisions can take weeks and months, rather than the minutes and hours timeline people have been used to. Comfort with ambiguity will need to become the norm, and new skills, such as, scenario planning, and systems thinking will need to be developed to gain competence in this area.
Leading Culture Change
Shaping company culture requires leaders to lead by example to drive change across the organisation. Culture is intangible and needs leaders to be present and to ‘manage by walking about’ to have their finger on the pulse across the whole organisation. Change is often met with resistance, therefore clear communication, role modelling, and engaging others in the change process is essential when leading change initiatives and cultures of high performance.
Managing Upwards
Engaging with the board, investors, or external stakeholders becomes part of the role of a senior leader. These audiences have different expectations and communication styles and need to be able to trust you to deliver the needs and results of the business in line with their expectations, not yours. Developing executive presence and storytelling skills will help you to gain trust and respect when managing upwards. Resilience will be key when navigating challenging times and maintaining the faith of the board in your leadership.
Financial Acumen
Being part of the senior leadership team means you will need to understand and use financial data to make enterprise-level and strategic decisions. Not all functional leaders have been exposed to or received any deep financial training in their past roles. Gaining fluency in P&L, balance sheets, and key business metrics will be a must at senior level.
Would you like a tailored development plan to help you navigate this transition?
At the Manufacturers’ Alliance we have developed hundreds of leaders towards becoming more effective at senior leadership level. We understand the requirements of success, the common pitfalls and what is required to support managers in becoming great leaders.
Download our free personal development plan document to help managers stepping up from a head of function role to a senior leadership team (SLT) position below.
