Skip first-line management and go straight to executive
A reader question if it's possible to get into management without previous people management experience
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A reader asked:
“Dear Ethan, How can I skip first-line management and go straight to the executive level?
Can you post about how to break into executive leadership and management, specifically for a mid-career person without previous management experience?
I have the necessary tech, ops, and execution skills, but I don’t have the people management experience that I need for job applications or internal opportunities.”
That is a tough transition.
Companies usually don’t put someone into middle or executive management if they have not managed a smaller number of people.
Managing people is a separate skill that takes practice.
If you want to go into management, you may need to start with just a few people and focus on learning management skills.
The most common way to do this is to go to a startup.
You will potentially get the title you want, but manage a small team (or no team at all) and "grow into" your title.
So if you start out as a "Director" with zero reports, this becomes 10 and then 20 over time. Then you start hiring managers under you, and then you have leadership experience.
There are 2 things I want to highlight, which are neither good nor bad (they are just facts).
Titles are very different depending on the size and stage of the company. This is why you will often see Senior Managers at Amazon who were SVPs at smaller companies.
This is a way to “skip” to the Director title, but there is no way that I know of to skip to Director responsibilities in an established company. They will always look for concrete people-management experience, regardless of what titles you have held.
Think hard before going into management, because it is not for everyone.
Many people find themselves in management by accident or as a result of a career escalator, and end up not wanting to dedicate themselves to learning the necessary skills.
It can seem glamorous, but it is a very different life than being an IC.
What advice would you give to this person?
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After four years as a manager, I’ve come to appreciate just how intense the stress can be compared to my time as an individual contributor (IC). The level of responsibility and the emotional load that comes with managing people are things we can't fully be prepared for. If I had jumped straight into an executive role, I’d probably have developed ulcers by now. Even though making that leap is possible, I wouldn’t recommend it without preparation.
Managing people from diverse backgrounds, cultures, values, and levels of understanding—something I learned during my time in the Army—is one of the most significant challenges of leadership. People management is a separate and complex skill set that takes deliberate practice and a high level of Emotional Quotient (EQ). As a manager, you’re not only driving projects forward but also taking care of the people who execute them. And whether or not they report directly to you, they look to you as someone who should have the answers and provide stability.
Ben Horowitz, in The Hard Thing About Hard Things, emphasizes that leadership isn’t just about guiding people; it also involves making difficult decisions, such as letting people go, which can deeply impact an organization. Horowitz also discusses how executives are ten times harder to find and replace, even in the best cases. This reality underscores the immense pressure that comes with higher-level roles. As leaders, our decisions reverberate through the organization, and finding the right person to fill a critical leadership gap can be incredibly challenging and costly.
Navigating these complexities is tough, but the personal and professional growth that comes with it is invaluable. The stress is intense, but so are the rewards of making a meaningful difference.