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Just what is it that differentiates the rank-and-file manager from the functional Vice President, the functional Vice President from the COO, and the COO from the CEO? Or in my context, what differentiates the Manager from the Senior Manager from the Managing Director from the Partner?
Or in other words - why do some hard-working, intelligent people top out relatively low in the Grand Hierarchy, while other people with a similar work ethic and intelligence manage to "go all the way"? Why do some intelligent and hard-working people make Partner at age 29, while other intelligent and hard-working people languish as Managers well into their late 40's?
As I reach the pinnacle of my academic career and prepare to soon embark on the admittedly terrifying odyssey of corporate life and my real career, I find myself thinking more and more about this deceptively simple question as I attempt to plot out my long-term, lifelong strategies for development and advancement. So many years of school, two college degrees from great schools, and yet I feel so helplessly ignorant of the forces at play here. Office politics? Innovation? Pure luck and chance? I sure as hell don't know for sure, other than what one knows through common sense. You have to create value for your company and positively impact the bottom line. You have to be an expert in your specific area (in my case, Information Technology) while also possessing broad, general business acumen on things like accounting, finance, and HR management. You have to know your company inside out - what does it contribute to the world, how does it work? You have to be an amicable person, somebody who is trusted and liked by people. You have to be innovative, shaking up the established order and finding smarter, more efficient ways of doing things. You have to not only be able to produce results yourself, but serve as an effective manager and produce results through other people (a very scary prospect, and something with which I have basically zero experience.) And of course, you have to be able to communicate and persuade effectively - you have to be able to sell your ideas and, ultimately, sell yourself.
All of the above must be done by any successful businessperson. Duh! Sure they're easier said than done, but even doing them and doing them well is not, apparently, any type of guarantee of the corner office, and that is what is very frightening - the idea that somehow your best just might not be enough.
Sigh. It's so different from the academic world. You study hard, you pick a subject that you enjoy, you work hard, and you get good grades, win awards, and get admitted into great schools. It is not rocket science. But in Corporate America, people sometimes work hard and intelligently for their entire careers and never win that key promotion, and they may even ultimately end up the victims of a "corporate re-engineering" project envisioned by somebody who did somehow land in the nice office with a kickass view. (Of course, even CEOs and Partners can and do get fired, but they've typically acquired so much personal wealth at that point that they essentially get to enjoy an early retirement.)
Anyhow, I did manage to find a very interesting article from a Canadian magazine (CA Magazine) that discusses some of these issues. You can read it by clicking here ; it is entitled "Invite to partner".
Here's to all of my fellow 20 - 23 year-olds, hoping that we all have fruitful, successful careers!
Or in other words - why do some hard-working, intelligent people top out relatively low in the Grand Hierarchy, while other people with a similar work ethic and intelligence manage to "go all the way"? Why do some intelligent and hard-working people make Partner at age 29, while other intelligent and hard-working people languish as Managers well into their late 40's?
As I reach the pinnacle of my academic career and prepare to soon embark on the admittedly terrifying odyssey of corporate life and my real career, I find myself thinking more and more about this deceptively simple question as I attempt to plot out my long-term, lifelong strategies for development and advancement. So many years of school, two college degrees from great schools, and yet I feel so helplessly ignorant of the forces at play here. Office politics? Innovation? Pure luck and chance? I sure as hell don't know for sure, other than what one knows through common sense. You have to create value for your company and positively impact the bottom line. You have to be an expert in your specific area (in my case, Information Technology) while also possessing broad, general business acumen on things like accounting, finance, and HR management. You have to know your company inside out - what does it contribute to the world, how does it work? You have to be an amicable person, somebody who is trusted and liked by people. You have to be innovative, shaking up the established order and finding smarter, more efficient ways of doing things. You have to not only be able to produce results yourself, but serve as an effective manager and produce results through other people (a very scary prospect, and something with which I have basically zero experience.) And of course, you have to be able to communicate and persuade effectively - you have to be able to sell your ideas and, ultimately, sell yourself.
All of the above must be done by any successful businessperson. Duh! Sure they're easier said than done, but even doing them and doing them well is not, apparently, any type of guarantee of the corner office, and that is what is very frightening - the idea that somehow your best just might not be enough.
Sigh. It's so different from the academic world. You study hard, you pick a subject that you enjoy, you work hard, and you get good grades, win awards, and get admitted into great schools. It is not rocket science. But in Corporate America, people sometimes work hard and intelligently for their entire careers and never win that key promotion, and they may even ultimately end up the victims of a "corporate re-engineering" project envisioned by somebody who did somehow land in the nice office with a kickass view. (Of course, even CEOs and Partners can and do get fired, but they've typically acquired so much personal wealth at that point that they essentially get to enjoy an early retirement.)
Anyhow, I did manage to find a very interesting article from a Canadian magazine (CA Magazine) that discusses some of these issues. You can read it by clicking here ; it is entitled "Invite to partner".
Here's to all of my fellow 20 - 23 year-olds, hoping that we all have fruitful, successful careers!
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