Do you dream of joining the ranks of senior executives in your
business and being shoulders to shoulders with giants like Shayla
Sandberg and Satya Nadella?
If you are currently a director and you're looking to make that leap
towards becoming a VP in your industry, a VP in your company, then
you're in the right place.
In this episode, what I'm gonna share with you are the key principles
and the crucial skills to make that leap from director to vp.
Let's go.
Before we begin, it would be important to understand the four levels
of value in the industry.
And these four levels of value will apply to any industry marketplace,
no matter what industry you're in.
It could be technology, it could be oil and gas, it could be
healthcare, regardless of your industry,.
These are the four levels of value in the marketplace.
And with each of the four levels of value, this is where there's an
ascension into becoming executive levels in your career path, right?
When you start out, we start out as individual contributors and
individual contributors are at the lowest level of value in the
industry, and the lowest level of value is implementation.
Individual contributors are implementers.
And then what happens is that eventually there's a promotion, there's
an as uh, ascension into management.
And at the management level, this is where the level of value of
managers is unification.
At the level of unification, you are using your management skills, you
manage people, projects, sometimes processes, sometimes and policies.
So that's the second level of value in the industry.
And then what happens is that you go from implementation to
unification, and the higher level of value is communication.
Now, this is where there's a transition and really important
transition from unification to communication.
You were a manager and now you step up into director level roles,
director level roles, VP roles, C-suite roles.
These are all at the level of communication where communication skills
are increasingly the most important.
There's communication internal and external.
So that's the highest level of value in the industry.
Now, there's one more level of value from that, and you go from
communication to imagination.
Imagination is the C-suite executives, namely the ceo, the founder,
the visionary of the organization.
And at the level of imagination, this is where they paint the vision
of where we are going as a company, the strategic direction as well,
and how the impact that they're making in the industry.
So when you are a director and you dream of making that leap into the
vp, it will be utmost important to be operating from the top two
levels of value in the industry.
The top two levels of value being communication and imagination.
And this is what I have called the career growth codex.
This is the ascension, the four levels of value in the industry and
how that corresponds specifically to your career growth.
When you were an experienced manager at that job level, you acquired
some skill sets, some specialized knowledge as well, and your ability
to hold teams to be able to hold them accountable and to be able to
build inspires teams around you.
Those were the skill sets you built as a manager.
Now, currently as a director, you've expanded on that skill.
You have a more expansive responsibility.
You also have some fiscal responsibilities in the company as well.
So as a director, you've also built some skill sets as director.
Now, the skill sets that you have built when you were a manager and as
you were currently a director, those skill sets become a given at the
VP level, they're given, they are minimum requirements.
Now, when it comes to the VP level, their requirements and the
responsibilities are very specific to that role.
So what I'm about to share with you are the ABCs on how to move from
director to vp.
And I'll go through it, a, B, C.
So each of those principles will start with the letters of the
alphabet.
Let's get started.
Principle letter A, align and oversee with the governing board.
What does that mean?
As a vp, one of the most grounding principles to becoming successful
as a VP is to be able to align the individual department goals with
the goals of the organization at large.
As a vp, you're gonna be communicating with the C-suite as a vp, it'll
be really important to have a pulse on what are our fiscal
responsibilities, where are we right now as a company and where are we
going, right?
When you are a director, you're a director right now, and you've had
the opportunity to lead teams within a certain business function.
However, as a vp, as VP's gonna have a number of directors reporting
to them.
And as a result of that, they're gonna be providing strategic
direction across all departments, relevant goals across all
departments that align with the overarching goal of the whole
organization.
So this is where, yes, it is important to bring your historical
knowledge and your historical wisdom that you have developed as the
director in your history of becoming, of, of, of being a director.
Bring that wisdom, bring that insight into the role as a vp.
Yes, absolutely.
But one of the additional things that is gonna be important in that
transition, and it's a big leap from director to vp, one of the most
important transitions is to be able to bring on the wisdom and the
insight around prioritization, because you're gonna be governing
across business functions instead of focusing on just one.
So the prioritization is prioritizing goals for each department,
relevant for each of the functional departments, prioritizing
projects, pro prioritizing demands.
Different directors that are gonna be reporting to a a VP are gonna
have different demands.
Demands for resources, demands for human capital, demands for budget.
So this is about prioritization and more importantly, prioritizing
resources.
How are they gonna get allocated as well?
Physical resources, non-physical resources, monetary resources,
non-monetary resources.
How are they gonna be prioritized so that we have fiscal
responsibility?
So as a vp, you're building a team, you're having teams of directors
reporting to you, and can, does every team understand what their
mission objective is?
Does every team understand the vision of the whole organization?
And does every team understand their business function and how their
priorities within the business function and the goals within the
business function are going to be aligned with where we are going as a
whole company?
So this is where with that clarity and with that prioritization and
the wisdom and the insight with prioritization, as a vp, it would be
important to know how to build these teams and to build strong
relationships that are able to receive your strategic prioritization.
Because when it comes to your vp, your role as a vp prioritization is
key.
And sometimes you're gonna have directors who don't agree with your
prioritization, who would want the prioriti prioritization to look
some like something different.
So can you build a team that can receive your strategic
prioritization?
Can you build a team that understands the vision?
Can you communicate a compelling vision to them so that they can be
intrinsically motivated and so that they can be held accountable for
the fiscal responsibilities that you are accountable for?
So focusing on that team and those and those relationships and that
accountability with fair exchange, that would be the most important as
well for the VP role and how you align and oversee with a governing
board.
Principle letter B is bring your thinking to the business.
As a vp, you heard me say this earlier, one of your responsibilities
is fiscal responsibility.
And even as a director today, as a director, you do have, you already
start to have some fiscal responsibilities that are more clearly
defined and are more narrow on the spectrum.
But when you become a vp, as a vp, you're gonna have much broader
fiscal responsibilities.
So what do I mean by fiscal responsibilities?
Fiscal responsibilities are all the responsibilities with clear
metrics and KPIs that allow the business to have a competitive
advantage over time.
It's a sustainable competitive advantage in the industry marketplace.
And those are fiscal responsibilities.
So when it comes to being a vp, VPs bring foresight when it comes to
contributing to the growth of the business.
And they bring insight when it comes to addressing specific uncertain
problems that they foresee or that they are that are happening right
now.
So there's both foresight and insight.
So that means that as a VP, it'll be utmost important for you to be
able to understand the grounding principles and have identified some
proven principles, field tested principles, so that your contribution
as a VP can be contributed across different business units.
And from there, from those grounding principles, a VP is gonna be
making some hard decisions.
And this becomes a day-to-day making hard decisions with extreme
ownership and accountability.
Cuz even if those decisions don't turn out well for the business, and
even if the outcomes are less than desirable, the VP is accountable
for those outcomes.
So that's the extreme ownership part.
Being accountable even if things don't go well, but also being able to
know how to pivot and navigate that ambiguity.
Because as a director, you're currently a director, you're already
beginning to make decisions for the business on behalf of the
business.
You're making strategic, you're involved in strategic conversations,
but at the VP level, this takes it to a whole new strategic level and
you're gonna be making harder decisions with less and less information
available.
So that extreme ownership and that accountability is going to be on
you in terms of that in certain certain KPIs.
But in terms of deciding across business units, the principles can
help you make those contributions.
Principle letter C, communicate with fiscal responsibilities.
You have been a manager, you are currently a director.
As a manager, you were responsible for supervising.
We supervise as a director.
You had responsibilities in terms of implementing to execute executive
strategic plans.
As a vp, this is where it's important to be able to communicate with
fiscal responsibilities because oftentimes the VP is the face of the
company, and this is where you're communicating both internally and
externally.
Oftentimes, VPs are very much involved in diplomatic relationships,
internal and external.
They're also volun.
They're also the face of the company when it comes to large media
outlets and press releases.
They also represent the company and the mission objectives and also
some of the philanthropic efforts of the business as well.
So the VP's communication is gonna be heard through a megaphone and
the actions of a VP are going to be seen through a microscope.
So your communication is gonna be most important when it comes to how
do I manage diplomatic relationships between all of these people in
internally and externally.
When people come at it with very different perspectives, very
different experiences that they bring to the table, very different
cultural backgrounds as well, and different opinions about why things
are the way they are and how we should move forward.
So as a vp, you're coming in and how can you create unification or
harmony so that there is productivity and so that there's innovation?
And more importantly, what do you do when there is conflict?
How do you manage conflict?
How do you manage these differences between individuals so that you
can have diplomacy and so that there can be a way forward, right?
So that is communication with fiscal responsibility.
Now, if you are listening to this and you're a director right now and
you're saying, yes, I do dream of becoming a VP and that dream is
within the next five years, this is where I wanna be.
But you're also understanding that as a director right now, the
communications really does need to be increased.
The diplomacy, that understanding of how to manage conflict, you don't
wanna shy away from that.
You wanna be able to be professional and hold your ground and have
that presence, that executive presence there.
And if this is what you recognize and you're serious about developing
that for yourself, then I invite you to work with me below this
description, the description below, there is a link for you to book a
call to speak to myself or a member of my team.
And this is where we're gonna explore how is it that we're gonna help
you with achieving this goal?
With the principles that I'm sharing with you today, the ABCs of
moving from director to manager, I'm gonna take you by the hand, step
by step so that you can achieve the goal in a meaningful timeframe.
Principle letter D is develop strong self-governance with such a
tremendous demand on a VP to have that visibility, to have fiscal
responsibilities and communication, to be very accountable, even when
making hard decisions under the most adverse circumstances.
It will be very important to have a heightened self-governance.
So what does self-governance mean?
Self-governance means having the presence and the awareness to know
how you come across to others.
Self-governance also refers to being able to manage emotions so that
you don't take things personally so that there's no requirement that
people like you, they like your ideas, or that there's agreement that
people have to agree with you.
And self-governance means that you have the personal empowerment to be
able to say the hard things and to make the hard decisions even when
there are powers that be who disagree.
And self-governance also means that you have that heightened
self-awareness to know what your self-worth is and to have the
professionalism to be able to carry through and follow through on
those demands.
And self-governance also means that you understand what is the path
moving forward, that you are truly authentic and genuine in this role,
and that this role is a fulfillment of your highest priority in your
true life's purpose and mission.
So all of these things constitute self-governance.
And as a vp, self-governance is true important since what you say will
be heard through a megaphone and the things that you do will be seen
through a microscope.
Now, as a director today, you are a director.
Up until now, you've had a degree of self-governance.
But when you get to the next level, and as I mentioned before, it is a
leap between director and vp, it is quite a leap.
So then the demands on your self-governance will be even greater when
you do make that leap.
In principle letter E is to exude confident conviction.
Confidence means the belief that I'm going to talk the talk, and I'm
also gonna walk my talk.
Confidence means that I know my own self-worth and I know what mission
that I have here, and that is aligned with my true life purpose and my
taught priorities for myself and for the business.
The conviction means can you say the things with belief in what you
are saying regardless of who agrees with you, who does not like what
you're saying, or who has a complete opposing opinion to what you are
saying.
That is conviction.
Because as VP oftentimes you're going to be involved in terms of
making hard decisions on what is the strategic priorities right now in
the business and what will they be moving forward.
So that conviction is important so that all layers of management
beneath you when they hear your recommendations, when they hear your
speeches, when they hear your conversations and your directives, that
they can feel confident and trust your leadership.
So with that, I have prepared an episode in the past where I talked
about the five rules on how to step up into executive leadership.
So if you are serious about this and this is your journey, that five
rules of executive leadership is coming right up next.
I'll see you there.