How To Demonstrate You Are One Of Their Future Leaders
If you’re looking to reach the top in recruitment, you must first be the best recruitment consultant you can. That means providing an unparalleled service to both your clients and candidates and becoming a top biller. However, recruitment is a competitive business and there will be other consultants demonstrating these skills and abilities, so it is up to you to differentiate yourself.
What are your company looking for in a leader?
You’ll know from being a recruitment consultant that two outwardly similar companies can be different places to work, each company having a unique ‘culture’ or ‘personality’. It also means that those individuals whose personalities and aspirations are most closely matched to those of the company are most likely to get ahead.
Take a look at who are in management positions in your organisation? What do they all have in common? You should see certain characteristics so it’s these that you should concentrate on developing. If these character traits aren’t really you and you don’t feel comfortable developing them, then maybe you should be looking at working at another company more suited to your leadership style.
Don’t be afraid to show your ambition
“Ambition is the path to success. Persistence is the vehicle you arrive in.” – Bill Bradley
You can be as ambitious as you like, but if you don’t vocalise this then how are people to know that you want to get to the top? Don’t go about it in an obnoxious and egotistical manner as that will only irritate people, but don’t be afraid of portraying a healthy amount of optimistic ambition as this marks you out as a positive, proactive member of the company. This is a good foundation on which to base your future leadership ambitions.
Become a leader NOW
You don’t have to wait until you are offered a management role to start showing your leadership qualities. There are lots of opportunities available even if you’re at the very start of your career.
– Ask for additional responsibility – Be proactive and ask for additional responsibility. As well as being a great opportunity for you to exhibit your skills, it shows that you’re not just focussed on taking a wage home at the end of the month, but that you care about the company and want to get on.
– Ask for training – In your development review, state your ambition to become a manager and talk about how you can achieve that. State your case clearly and hopefully you should be able to undertake some form of management training. If not, fund it yourself. That will really show dedication and commitment.
– Become a mentor – If you’ve been a consultant for some time, why not ask your manager if you could act as a mentor to some of the junior members of staff? As well as taking some of the burden off him or her, you’ll be seen as someone who has the greater good of the company at heart and understands the importance of bringing the next generation of talent through. When a managerial vacancy comes up, such experience will mark you out as a highly attractive candidate.
Are you a recruitment manager? How did you get there? What did you do to mark yourself out as a future leader in your earlier career? We’d love to hear from you.
Until next time,
Cheryl