You’ve been at your job for some time now⁠—you’ve put in your overtime, become a knowledge expert, generated profits; so it was therefore all too easy to assume that you would have been promoted by now. 

Many employees make the mistake of believing that being good at their job is all they need to climb up the ladder and be promoted to management. However, the hard truth is that no matter the industry, being a pro at your job does not necessarily make you qualified for that coveted position. 

In reality, with proper training and sufficient practice, most people will eventually have the necessary experience and technical knowledge to become very skillful at their job. But being a manager entails more than knowing how to complete the job’s task well. 

If you are hoping to advance into a management role, you will need to develop and acquire different skills that are not related to your industry, but that all managers should possess, regardless of your field of work. 

You really want to land that promotion?

Here are 5 must-have skills to cleverly step up into a management position

Transitioning Into a New Management Role

Transitioning into a new management role is not always easy without the necessary skill sets. Unlike a team-level employee, a manager’s role entails becoming responsible for the team, project or budget you are managing. That includes setting and understanding objectives and goals, communicating them to the team, making the necessary plans to achieve those goals, and, of course, taking action when problems arise. 

Hence, completing these tasks requires more than just industry-related expertise. It requires a whole new array of skills.

What Are the Skills Needed to Be a Great Manager?

1. Great Communication Skills

You can have all the best ideas and innovative solutions, but if you cannot properly communicate them with your team and supervisors, those brilliant thoughts will probably not flourish into effective actions.  

Managing is about working with people. As a manager, you will have to establish working relationships and cooperate with a variety of people, from entry-level workers to department heads and even CEOs. You might often be the point of liaison between departments and will need to communicate intricate and sometimes sensitive information in a variety of ways (via email, over the phone, in presentations or meetings, and even through social media). 

Therefore, if you want to be an effective leader, you must master all forms of communication.

2. Emotional Intelligence Skills

How a manager reacts to pressure and challenging situations can have a significant impact on the team. A good manager is flexible and versatile. When faced with challenges, he or she has the ability to react quickly by remaining calm and productive. Great managers cope well with change. 

If you want to achieve all this, you will need to develop your emotional intelligence. This includes doing the necessary introspection to develop the self-awareness and self-control needed to become emotionally resilient, empathetic and motivated to turn conflicts into healthy relationships. 

3. Time Management Skills

Managing is all about being able to organize, prioritize and juggle multiple responsibilities effectively. You must be able to organize your tasks effectively for you and your team. 

If you have not yet mastered the art of time management and are eyeing a management position, it is probably the right time to enroll in a time management course. 

Remember that repeated tardiness and a frequent lack of organization will probably not be tolerated at a management level and your inability to manage your time effectively will set a bad example to your staff. 

Instead, learn effective time management skills to reduce stress on yourself and your team, save time and ensure that deadlines are met.

4. Leadership Skills

Part of a manager’s role is to ensure that the organization’s mission, values and goals are translated into actionable strategies for the team. It entails having the capacity to have a bird-eye view of the whole organization and understanding how the team can contribute to the company’s overall success.

As a great manager, you will need to learn how to have a clear vision and direction for your team and know how to communicate your vision to your team members and motivate them in a quasi-infectious way. 

A great leader will encourage the pooling of skills in an environment where everyone feels valued, respected and committed to their colleagues and the organization as a whole, as they jointly aim to achieve the same corporate goals.

Effective leadership skills are therefore essential for any manager.

5. Decision-Making Skills

In a working environment, any action requires a process. However, some leaders often tend to put out fires rather than making effective decisions for the future of their team. 

An effective decision-making process allows business leaders to map out the potential results of their decisions in order to establish what is the best course of action for the team and if the decision will lead to the achievement of specific goals and company objectives. 

In other words, decision-making is a skill that can be learned. Through the school of life, sure, but also through theoretical and practical learning, and it is an invaluable skill to acquire. 

The Impact-Pro Challenge

If you aspire to become a successful leader in your organization, it is imperative that you develop the skills required to manage your team effectively and with success. 

Some say great leaders are born…

At Impact-Pro, we believe that great leaders are made. 

Anyone—at any level of an organization, can learn the skills necessary to successfully land a managerial position. 

Want to cleverly step up into a management role?

Take the Impact-Pro challenge and ignite the leader in you.