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So, you’ve excelled as an individual contributor, mastering your craft and delivering results. Now, you’re eyeing the next big leap—stepping into a management role. But here’s the catch: while becoming a subject matter expert has been a clear path, transitioning into leadership feels far less straightforward.
The truth is, many professionals struggle to make this shift, even with exceptional credentials. Why? Because the skills that got you here won’t necessarily take you there. Management isn’t just a step up—it’s a step in a new direction, requiring a whole new set of competencies. It’s not about wielding authority; it’s about navigating complexity, leading people, and driving impact.
If you’re serious about making this leap, you need a plan. Below are 7 practical tips to help you prepare, position yourself for a managerial role, and make a compelling case for promotion—whether within your company or in the job market. Read on for valuable insights so you can get cracking today!
Tip 1: Understand how business works
Often, candidates fail to qualify for management roles due to a lack of understanding of the bigger picture in the business world. This happens due to limited experience and lack formal management education. It’s crucial to make a concerted effort to understand how various business functions work together—such as sales, pricing models, product or services delivery, procurement, and resource management, to name a few. These concepts are not too difficult to grasp; the key is to familiarize yourself with the relevant jargon. Best way is to understand what the business model of your present organization is and how these departments in your company jointly work to deliver products or services you provide to your clients.
Companies need managers who understand business as well as technology.
Tip 2: Be a team player
Being a team player is an essential interpersonal skill you need to demonstrate before you can be trusted to lead a team. Every day presents challenges or crises where you can rise above and showcase these qualities. Additionally, you can actively seek opportunities to help others, such as volunteering for tasks or mentoring juniors in the team. A surefire way to fail a manager’s interview is to boast about solving all problems alone without collaborating with others. Leaders look for this talent within the team to identify potential future leaders. So, be a genuine team player who supports and elevates the entire team.
If you have been an individual contributor for 3-5 years, then its time you start sharing workload of your manager and proactively ask for work in area of project management to gain exposure. E.g. planning onboarding of new joiners, conducting training sessions etc.
No manager can ever succeed without a team that trusts him and vice versa.
Tip 3: Demonstrate planning skills
Planning and monitoring and controlling are most crucial activities every manager is responsible for and those take most of managerial bandwidth. As individual contributor you can demonstrate how you plan for success and take into account all the factors within your control. Being a person who documents and presents his or her plan, always goes long way in establishing the credentials of manager in the making. Helping your present manager in managing dependencies and external teams gives him/her confidence that you can manage stakeholders. It also includes managing & keeping your customers happy.
Once you know nuts and bolts of planning and organizing your own work, you should contribute towards monitoring overall teams’ work progress. E.g. making progress reports, display visual charts, Kanban board etc.
Planning means attention to details and skepticism without which no manager can deliver on promises given to customers.
Tip 4: Be a critical thinker
This shows that you are a problem solver and ready to take risks. There is hardly a project where everything goes as per the plan; there are problems and extraordinary situations, that demand extraordinary solutions. Don’t run away from problems and face them head on. Don’t be afraid of speaking out what you believe in and something that benefits for everyone.
At the top, being bold and critical thinker is always recognized as equally as being politically correct.
Tip 5: Enhance your communication skills
This may seem obvious and overlap with other qualities, but it warrants special attention. Communication is the most significant and major part of any leader’s role! This single factor can make or break a promotion or job interview. Reflect on the feedback you’ve received about your communication style so far. If you haven’t received any, seek feedback from your peers and managers—you’ll be surprised to learn your strengths and areas for improvement. As a leader, communication involves more listening than talking, asking rather than telling, and suggesting instead of ordering. With the corporate world moving toward a servant leadership approach and self-organizing teams, leaders are looking for managers who can adapt their leadership styles and communicate with empathy.
If you are working in Agile or even Hybrid project environment, volunteer to host meetings, capture MOMs, follow-up on actions items and be an active member of the project. This is great way of getting project management exposure.
Time for command & control leadership is over, and companies need managers with Emotional Intelligence & Empathy
Tip 6: Get industry credentials like PMP
Field of project management is ever evolving, and no workplace is enough to give you the holistic knowledge and exposure. It is very important that you do globally recognized project management certification and stay up to date. Apart from certification, being part of community itself widens your horizon to immense possibilities that exist. PMP certification equips you with all the knowledge necessary and gets you prepared to face the role of PM with confidence. There is no better learning than peer learning and learning from the failures. PMI community gives you great peer learning platform.
If you now have an exposure of performing any of project management activities in any project setup, you can start thinking of acquiring a PMP badge from PMI. For graduates, PMI expects to have about 3 years’ experience in any of project management activity (need not be consecutive duration, and also a formal title of Manager is not necessary).
Tip 7: Consider an executive coach & mentor
Where you stand today in your professional journey is unique to you, and the skill gaps you need to fill may vary from person to person. This requires a tailored approach to your specific situation. Sometimes, our aspirations can lead to feelings of frustration. It’s far better to identify your strengths and chart your course at your own pace than to get caught in the rat race and risk failure.
A professional coach can help you clarify your career goals, develop an action plan based on your career stage, skills, and competencies, and provide support throughout your journey. Having an executive coach with industry experience is a decision you will not regret, as they can be a great catalyst for staying on the right course and ultimately achieving your dream.
Summary
So, are you ready to take the leap from individual contributor to project manager? Start by embracing these tips and set yourself on the path to success.
Reflect on your strengths, seek feedback, and don’t be afraid to invest in professional development. Remember, the journey to the top is unique and non-linear—equip yourself with the right approach, and your dream role is within reach!
About Author:
Hrushikesh Deshpande is Founder Director of PrimeCrest Alliance Pvt Ltd. He is ICF certified Executive Coach with over 500hrs of coaching experience. He is PMI accredited PMP instructor providing PMP Readiness online programs.
With over 28 years of experience in the dynamic, people- and innovation-driven IT services industry, he has held diverse leadership roles spanning global services delivery, workforce development, practice management and strategic competency management for global IT companies such as Wipro Technologies, Oracle. He provides professional leadership skills training to help managers excel, executive coaching, and PMP exam preparation courses to guide aspiring project managers toward career advancement