[closed] What type of person does it take to work his or her way up to the position of a manager?

Hi Aimee,

Here is my take:

Having a very strong desire to be a manager seems to be one of the most important things you'll need to be one, particularly if you want to be a manager early in your career. The people that make it to management early in their careers tend to be the ones that will stop at nothing to become one. This translates into asking for it at every opportunity, applying for management training positions, volunteering to take on additional work that is management related, working late, proving yourself extremely competent in the role you were hired for, and doing things better and faster than your co-workers. Showing an interest in how the business runs and how the business makes money are also important for managers. Having a great relationship with your boss (and on up in the org) is also key, because it is your boss that is most likely to be the one who recommends you for a management role. Keep in mind if you become a manager of people that you use to work with, you'll need to establish yourself as the leader, which can be very tricky if you use to pal-around with them and are now expected to manage them. They may be bitter, so my advice is to keep all your relationships at work professional, yet friendly. That way your co-workers will respect you after you become their manager. Having a 4 year management degree will help, but you'll need an MBA at some point if you want to get into upper management. People make it without one, but it does help you qualify for roles that will lead you there. Getting your first management role is difficult. Why should anyone trust you with such a responsibility? In order to overcome this and gain trust its a good idea to build your management skills at school or in volunteer positions or in smaller jobs. For example, if you worked at Starbucks and then became a shift manager, that is a great start, because you would have had to deal with co-workers not showing up for work and you would have had to delegate responsibilities to the other staff members. Although this isn't a big high paying management job, it is a great way to gain some experience. Experience like this is what other managers are going to want to see on your resume.
Hope this helps. Another thing to keep in mind is that you don't need to be a manager to be a leader. A leader is someone who takes the initiative to improve the business. People will naturally follow someone who takes the initiative. It may take some time, but you'll get there if you want it badly enough. Go for it!