Act Like Your Next Title

Lead from where you are: Act like the leader you aspire to be, not the one you currently are

We all aspire for the next bigger responsibility in our career , but the challenge is that , we are either not aware of what the next role exactly looks like or we focus is our current role . And due to these reasons our bosses also looks in the same manner as our current title, unlike next level of title .

I this blog I am going to give you few actionable tips, how can you strategically think to your next aspiring role.

Think yourself, What is that you want your peers to talk about you. What would you like to be talked about you by other colleagues or professionals in your industry, this is your branding. And you need to work on backwards, not forward and your messaging has to be like accordingly. Suppose you want to be a Director of product/engineering, you start behaving like a director in your voice, responses, actions etc.People should start talking about you like like a director , unlike as your current role/position.

Make your message clear. The shorter the message is better . If you talk more , means you have vague knowledge .

You need to show to the outside role what are you looking for . Unlike suppose you are an senior manager and aspiring for a director role in the next level, and if you still showcase only managerial capabilities as your current role, you will still be treated like a manager unlike a director. You need to showcase your actions like a director to give a impression that you are actually capable of handling responsibility of a director. You should be very clear about that and then work backwards .

Professionally : Your day to day action in your work days has to have a pattern in every activities like in meetings, one on one, the projects you take up, how do you say 'No" to, and you should be absolutely knowing your pattern nobody else :) .

In this case example , here is what you might be doing to transit from a manager to director:

• Write articles on Vision , mission of your company or product

• Share your thought process how can you expand your product ; eg. to expand to a new geographical area, to a new customer segment or new offering etc.

• Create financial forecasting models for your new initiatives showcasing how it can bring revenue to the business by showcasing the Cash flows, Net Present Value,Customer acquisition cost , Lifetime value etc. It will demonstrate your business acumen .

• In the ears of GenAI space, write blogs on how should be your GenAI strategy for your business lines etc.

The idea is , the position of director comes to you, instead of you chasing the positions ever by showcasing your tag that your want to be seen by the other sponsor .It is an imaginary ora .

Practically are you actively doing the activities that a director do day in and day out ,even though you are not in that title right now. Think what would be your response if you are a director level position and given a challenge that a director face. In that way People will start recognizing as a next potential director level and will be a chance for you in that director position. That's how you increase your value of your brand.

Here is a small example from my own personal story :

I was always passionated about innovation and new product development that offers values to the user as well profitability for the business . Mostly you may have limited opportunity in your immediate possibilities. So I followed a different approach and here is how.

I started my own market research on a new fitness product to understand the whole product life cycle of entrepreneurship, starting from researching the market , users till pitching to the potential clients. However, professionally I am still playing a different role in the organisation. I wanted to establish myself as a innovator rather than only a executor . I think you got my point. Here is the full story.Now let's come back to the main topic. Now for you think about, is there an instance where you tried to demonstrate more than what you are actually doing. May be participated in a hakathon showcasing how your idea can generate value to the company , even you being software engineer where you might not have direct exposure to the business .By doing so you are showcasing that you are not only a software engineer , but also understand how to solve a real problem and connect your technology skillset.

You start doing whatever you want, and see where do you reach . Start increasing your brand (Tag that hold as your personal brand ).

In profession , the more you go higher in the ladder, you talk more in business vocabulary, or value addition rather then task completed. Tell by doing this this is how the business could lead. By practicing this while speaking to the upper management , you train your own brain to communicate in value terms(or business terms).

Here is how can you practice :

• Start practicing while speaking with your immediate boss every time . (This will be your training ground before you actually play in the real title)

• Next, when you met actually with the VP level or executive position, you will be naturally will be talking in that language that a VP may what to hear from a senior business person.

• See, how are you additionally add value to the company .Need to build the Network conciously and create a brand in that way and how are you sustaining that relationship. eg you can you LinkedIn to show your expertise.

Your introduction is also important :

• You need to stand out even while introducing .

• Focus on what can you bring to the table as a value addition . How can be later part.So every time in your personal branding you should be focusing on your value proposition ( while talking / LinkedIn post)

• People may not be really interested on your TITLE or No of years of experience.

And also, don't give mix signals of yours, people will be confused. It will help in your brand. Your individuality needs to be showcased, may be it is you are Innovative and passionate .

To conclude, suppose if you want to be Director of Product for AI products, start writing blogs as a practitioner in AI and product strategic side, people WILL start believing exactly in that way .

Good luck !