You will probably take less than 10 minutes to read the complete blog. But, I assure you that when you are done reading it, you will certainly be an effective enterprise-level leader. All you need to be is a leader with fairly good understanding of leadership qualities. I will not cover things like considering your team’s effort, motivating them, delegating work, etc. These are the things that you as a leader would already be aware of. What I will focus on is becoming an enterprise-level leader as a result of a promotion while you were previously heading a strategic business unit (SBU).
Here are the essential transitions that you should make to your daily work as a result of the promotion.
Micromanagement to Macro-Management
This is the core requisite when you transition from an SBU’s head to the enterprise’s head position. As a leader of a unit, you managed only one business aspect and therefore, were involved in multiple tasks which can be deemed as micromanagement. For example, you are in a Software development outsourcing business and you were heading the R&D department. As a leader in that unit, you were responsible for learning and development initiatives which would keep your team abreast with the technological advances. Now, when you become the head of the enterprise, you are no longer required to be involved in such specific initiatives rather you should focus on enterprise-level initiatives.
Policy Implementer to Policy Framer
The business decisions are usually taken by the top authority and now you are one of those. Your involvement in implementing the policies or business decisions would be very little. As an enterprise leader, you will be required to oversee implementation and you can proactively make suggestions but the essential requirement would be to frame policies and delegate the implementation work. Continuing with the same example of a Software development outsourcing business, as a leader you might decide to revamp the business approach by incorporating time tracking systems, but the actual work that requires equipping the teams to adhere to the change and make sure they are doing what is required is the unit head’s responsibility now.
Worm’s Eye View to Bird’s Eye View
You have been involved in an SBU and are familiar with the functioning within the unit. This is the same role that you now need to take up at the enterprise level with a slight difference in the view. As an SBU leader, you had a worm’s eye view of the situation, but as an enterprise level leader, you will be required to be aware of all that is happening without being too involved in everything. The bird’s eye view of the work being done within each unit will suffice. So, if you are a leader of a software development outsourcing company, then, you should not indulge in the research, design, or development phases, but, just be informed about what is happening.
Conclusion
A leader who is an expert in managing a team would not really need hand holding in terms of getting used to the new responsibility. All that is required is to understand the requirements of the new role and mold the handling techniques accordingly. Stepping into the shoes of an enterprise leader is exciting but also challenging. Although, you will not be required to personally take care of the work, you will have the greater responsibility of taking decisions that can make or break your business. The transitions listed above if adopted properly will help you become an effective entrepreneur who is looked up to by the team members as a trusted authority.
