The professional landscape constantly evolves. Career advancement is no longer a linear path; instead, it’s an opportunity to develop your potential and career. Diego Chavez Pebe, MSc, Senior HR Global Executive at Deloitte and esteemed Guest Lecturer at the Rome Business School, led the recent workshop “Strategizing your vertical growth from middle to top management.” He provided participants with useful tools to navigate and best manage this journey.
This event offered concrete guidance. It emphasized the crucial need for a proactive, forward-thinking approach for those aiming for top roles.
During the workshop, we explored vertical growth through three key pillars. All are essential for aspiring to a successful career.
Self-awareness is the starting point for every professional advancement. During the workshop, participants completed an in-depth self-assessment. This included analyzing personal interests, distinctive personality traits, and technical and transversal skills.
We focused on identifying not only your strengths, but also areas where growth and improvement are possible. This process is crucial; it helps you consciously explore and evaluate future opportunities, both within and outside your current work.
Indeed, the true secret, as emerged from the workshop, lies in defining SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound). This transforms simple ambitions into concrete, measurable steps towards success, offering a clear roadmap for your development path.
Developing effective leadership is fundamental for managers aiming to advance. The workshop highlighted seven key leadership competencies:
We discussed each competency as an essential building block. It helps you construct a complete and influential leader profile.
The workshop also presented Deloitte’s (2024) Greater Leadership Model. This model illustrates crucial behaviors and abilities in four interconnected areas: Generate, Relate, Empower, and Transform.
Moreover, we focused on three main areas: Guidance and Strategic Vision, which explored topics like transformational leadership, business vision, strategic decisions, and change management; Talent Development and Management, focusing on people development and empowerment; and finally, Communication and Relationship Building, which delved into creating meaningful connections and effective communication.
Ultimately, we promoted the 70:20:10 rule (Experience, Exposure, Education) as a dynamic model for growth. This framework suggests that most development occurs through practical field experience (70%). It is followed by exposure and interaction with experienced leaders (20%), and then formal training through courses and masters (10%).
The ability to identify and evaluate opportunities, both inside and outside your organization, is crucial for growth. The workshop provided practical strategies for analyzing the job market. This included researching specific positions, required qualifications, and salary trends across various sectors.
Crucially, we emphasized the importance of aligning your skills and interests with specific industries and roles. This maximizes your chances of success. Furthermore, we highlighted several valuable final tips for career advancement. These include: valuing all your skills (both technical and non-technical), being aware of your market value, building a solid professional network, and focusing on personal growth and learning from positions, rather than just the economic aspect.
Ultimately, we reiterated the value of continuous development of technical and soft skills. The ability to always be adaptable to change is also an increasingly determining factor in today’s modern job market.
The workshop revealed a fundamental truth: promotion transcends the simple job description. You must understand leaders’ implicit expectations, even if unstated. Learn how to strategically showcase your contributions. Hard work is essential, but building an influential network and making your skills visible truly makes a difference.
Moreover, we analyzed how the managerial role is changing. We found that managers dedicate almost 40% of their time to urgent problems or administrative tasks. A significant portion also feels unprepared to manage people. Consequently, companies are implementing a paradigm shift. They are moving from talent management based solely on work experience towards career paths that value skills, interests, and potential.
Participating in workshops of this caliber is an invaluable investment for professionals. It offers a clear vision of the current and future dynamics of the job market. Ultimately, it provides practical tools to forge a significant and successful growth path.
