Moving up?

One common pitfall a school’s top management commits in promoting people to higher positions is their negligence in matching a candidate’s existing skills and knowledge with the

to. This happens when top-level administrators are blinded by the impressive performance of the candidate in his respective specialization and expertise. They automatically equate a sterling performance with the excellent qualities of an administrator.

But this is far from reality and the truth. Such presumption can create a scenario where the best math teacher becomes a lousy school principal or an excellent professor, let us say of biochemistry, the worst college dean. Becoming an education leader or manager demands a different set of skills and knowledge other than the candidate’s specialization and expertise. If not closely checked, such a handicap can yield results that are counterproductive.

To move up some notches higher in the organization would mean improving on the following important areas: First is what Ram Charan from the Harvard Business School calls as “people acumen.” If you want to lead and manage, the next question is, “Do you like people?”

leisure and pleasure of spending time with people to discuss or talk about business. You should have the natural perception of people’s needs and interests. This is important because when you become an academic leader or manager, you shift from being in-charge of your own contribution on teaching and learning to being in-charge of the contribution of other people, your people. If you are not interested in people, you must be contented in just being an individual contributor to your school.

Second, moving up to a higher position in an organization means assuming bigger and more important responsibility. You are expected to have a deeper commitment, consistency in displaying a good set of values, and undisputed probity of life. These are implied qualities not anymore verbalized by school heads to you. But it only means one thing: your unquestionable integrity, which is the foundation of any sound leadership and management, should be evident in your behavior as observed by the higher ups. These qualities you possess should be seen to have the potential for continual growth. Your personal values and principles in life must be aligned with the over all core ideology of your learning institution.

Moving up the organization ladder should also go hand in hand with your willingness to expand your breadth and depth in the business. In the context of the school, you should know the latest trends, approaches, issues, and the environment that affect teaching and learning. You should add this to your arsenal of fundamental knowledge and skill in teaching and learning.

Although you have your own expertise, it does not mean you must also be an expert as your individual people in their own expertise. The effort, exerted to at least gain the basic or general knowledge of your people’s specialization, would be to your advantage in leading and managing You cannot lead and manage in the absence of knowledge.

And lastly, time management is of essence if you wish to move up the academic organization. Unlike when you are an individual contributor, you spend your time solely on your own contribution. This time you need to divide your time and attention almost in equal weight as the person in charge of the contribution of each of your people.

The key principle in moving up in the organization is to grow deeper into the organization. This simply means the formula or strategy that had led you to success in your previous position most likely will not help you anymore succeed in your next promotion.

As the organization coach Marshall Goldsmith says: “What got you here, won’t get you there.”