By Cristina Mora Ramirez - Student of Bachelor of Science in Business Administration

Robin Sharma, a known leadership expert, once said: “Leadership is not about a title or a designation. It's about impact, influence, and inspiration.” (Bernard, 2020). To become a successful manager, it is important to be a leader, all leaders can be managers but not all managers are leaders. When being a leader, there is a set of different characteristics and skills that will lead you to become a victorious manager within the organization. An article in Lighthouse called “How to Become a Manager: A Guide for Aspiring Leaders” mention five different tips to become a manager, this essay is focused on the first tip that includes the correct mindset, working and helping others, and others that are going to be mentioned further (Lighthouse, 2021).

The first tip in the article is “Make sure you’re becoming a manager for the right reasons”, it is crucial to be prepared for challenges and learning new things (Lighthouse, 2021). When you become a manager there is a new set of responsibilities that will become bring a lot of challenges and different aspects that you will need to learn from, so it is key to consider this when wanting to become a manager. Many people want to become managers for the wrong reasons, and one of them is for the money (Lighthouse, 2021). A good leader's main focus is on the employees and the organization, and how to lead them to success, if a manager is blinded by the money, then he or she will not care about influencing and inspiring others.

“You like working with & helping people” is mentioned to support the first tip of the article (Lighthouse, 2021). Working and helping others are characteristics of a good leader, it is essential for your team in your organization to know that they can count on you if they need help when doing a task or if they don’t understand something. It creates a relationship-oriented leadership, that leads to a positive and motivated workforce (Sandling, 2021). Giving up as an individual contributor can lead to “exponential results because you’re dealing with an entire team of people, instead of your own individual output only” (Lighthouse, 2021).

It is mentioned that it is principal that “You have a growth mindset”, which is important because as a leader there are skills that you have, but there are others that you will need to learn and developed to become a good manager (Lighthouse, 2021). A growth mindset embraces challenges, persists in the face of setbacks, sees efforts as the path to success, and learns from criticism (Popova, 2020). Finally, the tip mentions that you need to love your job. As a manager you need to be passionate and motivated in your job, if you’re not happy or comfortable with what you’re working, then you won’t be able to become a good manager (Lighthouse, 2021).

To become an excellent manager, you need to be an excellent leader, as previously stated, all leaders can be managers but not all managers are leaders. To be able to reach success as a manager you need to be a good leader, they go hand in hand. This tip of the article is crucial if you want to become a manager, it is important that when you want to take this step make sure you’re making it for the right reasons. When you become a manager is not only you who’s going to be affected, but also your team and the organization, which are counting deeply on you. As a good leader, you need to have the correct mindset when becoming a manager to have the means to lead a successful and incredible work environment.

 

MOXIE es el Canal de ULACIT (www.ulacit.ac.cr), producido por y para los estudiantes universitarios, en alianza con el medio periodístico independiente Delfino.cr, con el propósito de brindarles un espacio para generar y difundir sus ideas.  Se llama Moxie - que en inglés urbano significa tener la capacidad de enfrentar las dificultades con inteligencia, audacia y valentía - en honor a nuestros alumnos, cuyo “moxie” los caracteriza.

 

References:
  • Bernard, C. (2020, January 03). Let's talk SALES! Inspirational quote from Robin Sharma – Episode 66. https://criteriaforsuccess.com/lets-talk-sales-inspirational-quote-from-robin-sharma-episode-66
  • Lighthouse. (2021, February 24). How to become a manager: A guide for aspiring leaders. https://getlighthouse.com/blog/how-to-become-a-manager/
  • Popova, M. (2020, February 16). Fixed vs. growth: The two Basic mindsets that shape our lives. from https://www.brainpickings.org/2014/01/29/carol-dweck-mindset/
  • Sandling, J. (2021, February 27). What is relationship-oriented leadership? https://jonathansandling.com/relationship-oriented-leadership/