Organisations of all kinds look for talented individuals who have the potential to run their operations smoothly and maximize their growth prospects. Not only are strong leaders yearned for by every organisation, they are harder to find as well. That is why management has evolved as a full-fledged career in itself, giving proficient individuals having flair in leadership, a chance to excel.
A lot of student graduates gravitate towards a flourishing career in the management field. If you have an inner zeal to lead, then there is nothing that can deter you from grabbing opportunities to engrave your footprints. Management offers tons of avenues in varying sectors, which you can channelize based on your interest area. However, to impress prospective employers, what you need is to brush up your management skills.
Social psychologist Robert L. Katz gave three types of management skills:
- Technical: Gaining technical expertise in the mechanics of a specific job and being commercially aware of the functionalities of the tasks involved;
- Interpersonal: Maintaining sound and effective human relations at work, earning the respect of colleagues and building rapport with them; and
- Conceptual: Presenting abstract thinking, keeping forward-planning approach to think of the big picture, formulating creative ideas, and analytically solving hurdles which the business/department may encounter as a whole.
As you climb up the career ladder, more reliance on conceptual skills is desirable as compared to technical skills. Learning and practical experiences serve as a key to developing managerial skills. Executives who nurture sound management skills extend a helping hand towards propelling the company’s mission and vision in the desired direction.
A career in management studies gives you an opportunity to assume fast-track responsibility as you successfully pass through an array of job roles from bottom to top, thus, enabling you to give orders to subordinates for the majority part of your career span. This profession is apt for you if you don’t relish taking assignments from superiors.
If you are among the ones whose valuable opinion is often sought of by fellow students amid a conundrum; and who look forward to devising plans and meeting goals, then management domain is probably the signalling factor waiting for you to take charge.
Here are a few things which you might need to kick-start your career in management:
- A post graduation certification, preferably in management or business studies.
- Team leading experience, whether it be internship, short-term placements or university projects.
- In depth awareness of the organisation and industry which you wish to enter.
- Self-confidence and willingness to learn and to perform exceptionally well.
- A strong desire to succeed and aspiration to reach through the senior management level.
- Projecting an open and positive attitude for dealing with issues at workplace.
Indubitably, management careers have earmarked their place in numerous domains ranging from finance, accounting, marketing, human resource, general administration, and more.
To attain success in their respective fields, strong-minded and promising leaders must perceive that keeping their team happy and fully motivated is a pre-requisite for creating a cohesive group environment. They should strategically strive to boost the morale of office folks so as to ensure that the organisational projects can be headed to take the ultimate lead thereof.
Although technical skills of managers may vary from sector to sector, some common skills which they are expected to hold rigid with no space for trepidation are:
- Time management and ability to meet strict deadlines easily.
- Identification and plan-setting for achievable targets.
- Task assignment and proper delegation to assure satisfaction of team members as well as meet project deliverables.
- Effective decision-making and holding accountability for decision-making processes/results.
- Efficient communication of clear instructions taking all members in the loop.
- Acting as a good listener and being empathetic, wherever considered essential.
- Strong leadership with the art of persuading and motivating people to align their personal goals with that of the business.
- Dealing with crisis situations and conflict resolution.
All these required competencies can be developed by students over time and can be easily honed with the help of a number of activities such as joining student societies, taking part in extra-curricular initiatives, internship and volunteering activities at individual and group levels, opting for professional qualifications or management courses, taking part-time employment, working closely with campus unions, and so on.
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