Positioning Yourself for Management and Leadership: How to Prepare for the Next Step
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Making the transition from an individual contributor to a management role is a significant and often challenging career move. This webinar is designed for professionals who are ready to take proactive steps toward leadership. You'll gain a deeper understanding of what management really entails and how to assess whether it's the right path for you. Through practical insights and expert guidance, you'll learn how to begin positioning yourself as a leader—starting right where you are.
This session will help you navigate the complexities of moving into management, including how to shift your mindset, develop essential leadership skills, and strategically communicate your career goals. Whether you’re just beginning to consider a leadership path or actively preparing for the next opportunity, you’ll leave with a tailored approach to building a strong foundation for your future role.
Your Benefits for Attending:- Understand what it takes to be a successful manager and how to determine if it’s the right career move for you.
- Identify the difference between management and leadership and how to develop a mindset for both.
- Explore strategies to help you gain the necessary skills while still in your current role.
- Discover how to share your career aspirations with the right people and gain their support.
- Learn how to set yourself and your team up for success if/when you transition from “peer” to “leader.”
This webinar will empower you to take charge of your career growth by building the mindset, skill set, and visibility you need to move into leadership with confidence and clarity.
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Chrissy Scivicque
Chrissy Scivicque believes that work can be a nourishing, enriching life experience—and she loves helping professionals discover exactly what that means for them and how to achieve it. Her popular website, EatYourCareer.com, is devoted to this mission. As a certified Project Management Professiona [...]
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Aurora Training Advantage has reviewed the content of this program and believes it aligns with the CAP Body of Knowledge. We estimate this program may qualify for 1 recertification point(s), based on 1 point per 1 hour of eligible training. Final determination of applicability rests with the CAP designee, who is responsible for documenting alignment for recertification purposes.
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This webinar received a total of 3 survey responses. Attendees have given an average rating of 4.6 stars out of a possible 5, reflecting the quality and value of the content presented.
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August 29, 2025
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August 29, 2025
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After listening and obtaining the information from the prisoner, it helped me to be more confident that I am meeting all the points of what she stated in the presentation. This will help me to continue on the path of what I’ve been doing.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Determining whether you are ready for a management role requires honest self-assessment across three dimensions: desire, capability, and context. On desire, it is worth asking whether you genuinely want to lead and develop others — rather than just wanting the title, compensation, or career milestone that management represents — because those who move into management for the wrong reasons often find it unrewarding. On capability, management requires a fundamentally different skill set than individual contribution: the ability to communicate clear expectations, give feedback effectively, navigate team dynamics, and deliver results through others rather than personally. On context, consider whether your current organization offers growth pathways and whether your relationships with key decision-makers position you to be considered when opportunities arise. Assessing readiness also means understanding what management actually entails — the operational realities are often different from the idealized version — which structured training and mentorship conversations with current managers can clarify. Taking proactive steps to develop leadership capabilities before an opportunity presents itself significantly strengthens your candidacy.
Management and leadership are related but distinct concepts, and professionals who aspire to advance their careers benefit from understanding both. Management focuses on executing through systems and processes: setting expectations, monitoring performance, allocating resources, managing timelines, and ensuring accountability — the operational infrastructure that keeps teams functioning. Leadership, by contrast, focuses on inspiring direction, shaping culture, building trust, and motivating people to go beyond the minimum — the relational and visionary dimension that determines whether people follow willingly rather than merely comply. Effective managers who lack leadership skills tend to produce adequate but uninspired results; effective leaders without management discipline can inspire great intentions but struggle to execute consistently. Professionals preparing for their first management role benefit from developing both dimensions simultaneously: building operational discipline alongside the emotional intelligence, communication capability, and coaching skills that define genuine leadership. Understanding this distinction helps aspiring leaders set more targeted development goals and make more informed decisions about the kind of leader they want to become.
Developing leadership skills as an individual contributor requires deliberately seeking experiences that build the capabilities management requires — without waiting for a formal promotion. Volunteering to lead projects or cross-functional initiatives gives you practice in coordinating others, managing competing priorities, and communicating with stakeholders. Mentoring newer team members builds coaching and feedback skills. Taking ownership of team communication — running meetings, writing summaries, representing the team in presentations — develops the communication capabilities that leadership demands. Seeking out feedback from managers and peers on how you influence, collaborate, and resolve conflict gives you data to work with. Pursuing professional development through training, books, and networking with leaders in your field accelerates capability-building. The most powerful signal to decision-makers that you are ready for management is consistent demonstration of leadership behaviors before you hold the title: taking initiative, developing others, thinking about team outcomes rather than just personal output, and bringing solutions rather than just problems. Structured career development training helps individual contributors build this leadership foundation systematically.
Communicating your management aspirations effectively is a critical and often underutilized career development step. Many professionals assume that strong performance will be noticed and rewarded with advancement automatically — but the reality is that decision-makers need to know your goals explicitly to consider you intentionally for opportunities. The right approach is a direct, professional conversation with your manager — not a demand, but an expression of genuine interest accompanied by a question: what would you need to see from me to consider me for a leadership role? This conversation demonstrates self-awareness, initiative, and respect for the manager's perspective. Following the conversation, ask for specific feedback and development suggestions, then follow through visibly. Sharing your aspirations with senior leaders beyond your direct manager — through skip-level meetings, mentorship relationships, or project visibility — expands the circle of advocates who may consider you when opportunities arise. Frame your aspirations in terms of organizational value: not just what leadership will do for you, but how you want to contribute at a higher level. Professionals who communicate goals clearly and follow up with action get considered for opportunities that others wait to stumble into.
The peer-to-leader transition is one of the most personally challenging career moves professionals make, because it fundamentally changes the nature of every relationship with former colleagues — and the personal identity shift it requires is substantial. Common challenges include navigating the authority dynamic with friends who are now direct reports, making decisions that disappoint or affect people you care about, and managing performance concerns with employees you previously collaborated with as equals. New managers often struggle with the instinct to remain liked rather than respected, which can manifest as avoiding difficult conversations, setting unclear expectations, or failing to hold people accountable consistently. Preparation involves mentally rehearsing the role shift before it happens, seeking manager training that covers feedback delivery, performance conversations, and conflict resolution, and finding a mentor or coach who has made the same transition. Establishing clarity about your expectations and leadership style early — without overexerting authority or apologizing for the role — sets a healthier foundation than hoping the relationships will naturally adapt. Professionals who prepare intentionally for this transition step into leadership with greater confidence and fewer painful early mistakes. Aurora Training Advantage offers expert-led training designed for professionals preparing for their first management role.