Submitted by alextupolev on
in
Forums
Hello - I wrote a bit about my background here (http://www.manager-tools.com/forums-8714).
I am a junior manager with some good track record across multiple areas of my employers' business, however, one of the reasons I am a bit unhappy is that each time I achieve something with one team, I am rotated to another (or a previous) project, which usually involves specializing in the technical details, etc. and less management of the wider business.
My aim is to become a better and more senior manager sooner than later, so I am starting to wonder whether all these rotations make sense and I should somehow ask for broader and higher level management experience rather than technical/specialist depth... and in case I don't get it, whether I should try and look for a higher role in another company ASAP.
What are you thoughts on this?
How do you know they haven't
How do you know they haven't already seen your potential?
From what I've seen, people who end up taking senior roles in companies have often worked in multiple departments throughout the organization. The CEO of the company I first worked for spent his entire career there, but went from clinical research to R&D to sales to marketing to brand strategy to management to running a 70K person company because he was familiar with pretty much everything.
My father works for an engineering company (won't say here, but you'd definitely recognize the name). He's known as a trouble-shooter, and is often pulled from one failing project to another to try and rescue it. He's risen through the technical ranks after 30+ years to be a senior technical fellow (effectively, and executive level technical person).
I suggest that you keep soaking up the experience and knowledge, and let your boss know that you are interested in management. Ask your boss if there are any administrative or management tasks you can help out with. It could be that they already want to develop you but transferring you around lets you gain wide knowledge of all aspects of their business and seeing if you're really dedicated to the company by being willing to take on the stinker projects no one else wants to touch. Keep your cool and don't get frustrated. That could be a mark against you. Maintain a positive attitude and communicate with your manager and the opportunities will come.