You may be enjoying your profession and like taking on challenges that come with working as a PM but some people want to progress vertically either within their organization or elsewhere. In a lot of cases, people tend to wait until they are noticed, or when a next-level position becomes open for them to apply for a position that is above the one they currently hold. Even though this tends to work, you could end up waiting for several years because you are reliant on factors that are primarily outside of your control.
What kind of career path does one take to go from PM to CEO? Well, it goes without saying that becoming a CEO is no easy feat and demands a lot of discipline, determination, and also luck. Let us look at some of the things you can do to put yourself in line to become a CEO.
- Develop Your Personal Brand
How are you viewed by your peers in terms of your personality, expertise, skills, and leadership qualities? Being highly viewed by your peers in these categories will help get you noticed and regarded as a future leader, but you must establish yourself by:
- determining what you want to be known for as an expert
- performing research and reading leadership books
- networking on LinkedIn and at events or conferences
- expanding your professional online presence
- Behave like a Leader
This relates to how you speak with others and generate positive influences, your body language, and empathy while dealing with your teams and stakeholders. There is no need to always be serious but at the same time, you must show that you never blame others when things do not go well, and always take accountability and ownership for everything under your oversight. These traits help instill leadership virtues that pay dividends while on a trajectory towards a CEO role.
- Speak with your Manager About your Intentions to Seek Promotion and Grow
PMs should speak with their directors or VPs that they report to regarding what they envision for their own career growth. You should approach these discussions with objective facts about your specific accomplishments and how you are seeking the next career challenge as you continue learning and growing. Document your own metrics and KPIs that will exhibit how important you value the exercise, and this will benefit your case for not just an immediate promotion, but future ones as you progress in your career path.
- Search for Opportunities Outside your Organization
It is not uncommon to find yourself in a situation where there are many other qualified candidates as yourself within your organization, which in turn reduces the odds of you gaining a promotion. Other companies may be hiring for similar roles that you are aspiring to as you move up on your career path and you should always apply to them and prepare to interview well so you give yourself the best opportunity to receive an offer. Be confident in your own abilities and present examples of situations you have experienced that make you a great fit with a hiring company.
If you take these approaches and apply them to your career trajectory, you will soon find yourself in consideration for CEO roles with several companies.
At PM Imperative, we cover the latest trends in Project Management and Product Management. As PM practitioners, we understand the value the Project Managers and Product Managers bring to each organization and that’s why we focus on the most practical strategies that Project and Product Managers can implement immediately. If you found this post useful, be sure to check out our latest book: The PM Imperative – Guide for Leading & Managing Projects, People & Delivering Value. https://pmimperative.com/shop/
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