Moving from managing to leading is a challenge because the skills that make you a good manager aren’t enough to help you excel in leadership positions. Men and women alike sometimes perceive the gap between managing and leading to be a “glass ceiling” when, in many cases, it’s not necessarily that at all; it’s a subtle group of skills you must have to be considered for leadership.
Many people who make it into leadership, even the ones who don’t appear to deserve it, have mastered skills that don’t show up on a traditional resume. They have built a strong Invisible Resume that helps them get into — and succeed — in the executive and C-suite ranks.
In this three-part video series, I’ll cover several diverse aspects of your Invisible Leadership Resume, your global perspective, your leadership presence and your authentic leadership style.
Part I: To be a leader, you must get out of the weeds
Leaders, especially those who will thrive in the C-suite, must understand the entire business, not just their area of expertise. Leaders have to understand the industry, perceive trends in the environment that affect the company and exhibit a strategic perspective.
If you haven’t already, start spending some time every week getting smart about the business and the industry. Ask to sit on task forces that will give you insight into other parts of the company, including international operations. Invest in getting smart and then speak up with relevant insights and suggestions when meeting with your superiors, clients and team. Don’t just know it; speak it. This is how you build a global perspective into your Invisible Resume and move from managing to leading.
Being a leader is a lifelong journey, and I hope you’ll join me in a free webinar May 30 to start building your Invisible Resume today.
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Hi Dana, I enjoyed your post and video! I like how you said that leadership is something people experience when working with you and the "invisible resume" concept you've described. I've found that many people struggle with how to move from managing to leading in large part because they don't see the difference, and are therefore stuck doing what they've always done well and have always been rewarded for (managing). They think they are leading, but they are really just stuck in the weeds. You've explained it simply yet clearly here and with some great supporting examples. Looking forward to the other parts of this series.
Hi Laurie – thanks. This is such a rich subject. I was a bit hard pressed to narrow the distinctions to three, so maybe another series will be needed in the future, but I picked the three clearest distinctions I see in my work. I really believe that "leadership" can only be measured by looking at the impact of your efforts on a broader scale which includes items outside your control, vs. management that is focused on the impact of what is under your control. "Control" is always a fuzzy concept and the line is not at all clear, but the leader becomes skilled at affecting things outside her control and this requires skills to understand what those things are and what can be done to impact them. Hmm…. maybe there's a post in this distinction too! Thanks so much for your comment! I look forward to your thoughts on the next two video posts:)
Dana, great video. I love the idea of thinking about your invisible resume as a leader. Your advice also helps us all think about the story we want to write as leaders. Often times, we just think of leadership is this abstract concept. But, when we consider it part of our story, or our resume, suddenly it's easier to invest in our own stories. Thanks again!
Hey Matt. Yes! We write our own stories all the time. Might as well write the ones we want to live! Thanks for your comment.
Great post and video, Dana! This was a timely post for me, and I liked how you framed the concept as the components of an invisible resume. Although I don't work in a large corporation (I'm the CEO/CFO/CMO/CIO of my own tiny corp!!!), I still find these "invisible resume" qualities are key in attracting clients and setting myself apart from the competition.
Hi Aaron:
Yes, the Invisible Resume is not just for corporate types. I keep relearning all these lessons in my consultancy too. If you want to support and sell to executives, you've got to be their peer and colleague, which means you basically have to pass the executive hiring text every time you talk to them! I believe that entrepreneurs and contractors must be leaders to be successful and make an impact on our clients so they can make an impact on the world. Thanks for leaving that insight here and I hope the rest of the entrepreneurs reading this take it to heart as you have!
Hi Dana. I love your post. Particularly the importance of having a POV. I work with a lot of very intelligent people and can now clearly see why some are considered for leadership positions, while others are overlooked. Having a "big picture" vantage isn't enough….Just curious, from your perspective, what are the tools that enable us to see things through our executives eyes? How do we "get inside their heads" to see what's important to them?
Hi Amy: Glad this post helped light up an ah-ha! for you. Love the question about how to be able to get in their heads. I actually addressed this in great detail in a previous post. The bottom line is to ask them questions and practice thinking like them. When you can, roll out a "thinking like them" idea and ask them what they think of your idea! When you ask them intelligent questions and demonstrate that you're learning to think like them, a lot of them will try to help you and all of them will notice your effort. (this is also a good way to recruit mentors!)
Sometimes it's easy to get stuck in worrying you're going to show off how much you don't know, which is why you need to pick your timing carefully. Learn to ask questions that demonstrate your own intelligence and invite them to share theirs and you will be picking up an important skill for managing employees and peers, too (everyone wants to feel smart when they're working with you, remember?)
See this blog post for more on this subject: http://www.inpowerwomen.com/want-to-be-an-exec-ge…
Thanks so much for your question!