Moving up to senior management

Q. What are the best strategies to move up quickly to senior management?

Very bluntly put, the right strategy for you would be largely dependent on the organization you are in and the prevalent ecosystem. Here are some of the strategies that have worked for me, more than once:

• Go significantly beyond your call of duty.
  Provide objective evidence that you have delivered more than what was expected of you. What matters is the results you produce, and not just the effort you put in.
• Demonstrate the competency needed for a specific senior role that you may be eyeing.
  This can be best done by actually delivering consistently on a KRA (Key Result Area) that is typically the domain of senior management in your company.
• Pick proven best practices in other industries and custom fit them to your organization's unique challenges to produce results that you need.
  This will establish you as a quick learner and a creative leader.
• Build a healthy rapport of trust and dependability across your peer and cross-function groups.
  Your subordinates may sing your praise, but you are taken even more seriously when your colleagues publicly acknowledge your help at her/his time of need and refer to you as the 'go to' person.
• Escalate against your biggest client if truly required.
  Having the courage to stand up for what is right and push back appropriately (and respectfully) will set you apart from the rest of the breed who bend backwards to over accommodate. The icing on the cake is if you can provide an alternative solution, with an implementation plan... not just push back and stay put.

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