Top manager: who is he and how to become?

Who among us does not dream of getting a highly paid profession, which at the same time would contribute to maintaining prestige and high social status. One of these types of activities is a top manager, this profession opens up many prospects and benefits, but at the same time, the requirements for applicants are extremely high. In this article, we will tell you more about who a top manager is and how to become one, how a top manager differs from an ordinary middle manager, what functions he performs, what skills and competencies a successful candidate for this position should have.

Everyone has heard of such a position as a top manager, but few people know what it is. Let's take a closer look at what these specialists are doing and whether it makes sense to strive for such work. The first thing to understand: a top manager is one of the first persons of the company. Unlike an ordinary manager, the prefix to the title of the position "top" means that he belongs to the top management level.

It should be noted that although these people represent the top management for government agencies, partners and company employees, nevertheless top managers are employees - business owners hire them to perform certain functions, and if they do not cope with the assigned tasks, they can be fired, as well as any other employees. There are several criteria that distinguish a top manager from any other middle and lower-level manager.

• Influence on the activities of the firm. A distinctive feature of any top manager is the significant influence that he can have on the business processes of the company. Typically, a senior executive is responsible for one area of ​​the enterprise. For example, the CFO oversees income and expenses, the commercial is responsible for sales, the development director is responsible for marketing, improving customer service and expanding the network of dealerships, and the director of personnel works with the personnel. The manager's decisions largely determine how successful the firm's activity in a certain direction will be.
• Subordination to the owners of the enterprise. The top manager of the company can report to the owner of the company, the representative of the owner of the company (board of directors) or the board, if provided for by the charter. Some firms have two leaders: one oversees strategic work (the president), and the other oversees day-to-day operations (CEO). In this case, the top manager can be subordinate to both of them at once, or to one of them.
• Extended powers. The head of the company shows considerable independence in decision-making and has the broadest powers. This specialist is considered the main one in his field, which creates certain difficulties in assessing his effectiveness and the correctness of his decisions. That is why, in most cases, the results of the work of the entire organization are used to determine the quality of management in an enterprise; an incorrectly made management decision can cause significant damage to the business, and in some cases even lead to bankruptcy.
• A large number of subordinates... The presence of a large number of subordinates is one of the main, but not the main, sign of a top manager, since situations are not uncommon when lower-level managers have a sufficiently large number of employees in their subordination. It also happens that one of the top managers has no completely subordinates, for example, the chief designer, although in practice such cases are extremely rare.
• Large company size... Speaking of top management, we usually mean a large enterprise, since the range of job responsibilities of the head of small and medium-sized businesses differs significantly from what is required in large holdings.

Top manager as a senior specialist in a reputable company is responsible for the business processes that take place in the company.

• The top manager represents the interests of the company at business meetings and business negotiations. The competence of this specialist includes the development of the enterprise. The manager of the firm discusses plans and approves the necessary regulations and standards. Since it is the top manager who bears the full responsibility for the efficiency and profitability of the business, no innovation is complete without his direct approval.
• In the event of any emergency, when a subordinate boss cannot solve the problem, the top manager takes control of it. He oversees the situation, makes decisions on its correction, and also identifies the perpetrators and makes administrative decisions on determining the measure of their responsibility.The orders of top managers can be appealed exclusively in court, not a single employee of the company, including its owner, has the right to interfere.
• The functional responsibilities of the top manager include managing the organization's budget; at the end of the financial period, he makes reports on the expenditure of funds. The manager distributes the received profit, sends one part to the development of the company, and the other part goes to the dividend fund.
• The responsibilities of the head of the company also include incentives for lower-level employees and the approval of incentive programs. In some cases, he can entrust this to other specialists, but he is obliged to monitor the implementation of this task. The main goal of the manager is to create conditions in which the staff will work with the greatest efficiency.

In short, a top manager must have the ability to make business decisions (this quality is called business judgment by entrepreneurs). Without a doubt, this should be a workaholic, ready for irregular working hours and frequent business trips. A company manager must be an ambitious person, to some extent a perfectionist, but at the same time he must correspond to such qualities as flexibility and agility. Other personal characteristics necessary for a successful manager include the following:

• adequate self-esteem - it is impossible to analyze the abilities of employees and correct their work if the top manager cannot control himself and evaluate his decisions; self-criticism is an essential quality that any leader needs;
• ambition - a top manager should be focused on solving serious problems and conquering new heights, only in this case he will be able to maintain not only his own attitude, but also “ignite” the rest of his team members.
• persistence - any successful person sooner or later is faced with the need to make quick and sometimes risky decisions;
• tact and sociability - to create comfortable working conditions, the manager must be sociable; he must demonstrate respect for staff, while expressing only constructive criticism;
• exactingness - only the authority of the leader can ensure discipline in the work collective and well-coordinated performance of official duties;
• creativity - the desire for innovations and transformations, the readiness to introduce progressive methods of work and the ability to enthrall others - these are the real qualities of a successful top manager.

Among the main business qualities that correspond to the position of an effective leader, the following can be distinguished:

• the ability to carry out strategic and tactical planning of the company's activities;
• teamwork skills, the ability to support and motivate people;
• good knowledge of time management;
• critical thinking, the ability to rethink the situation and the surrounding reality;
• education, erudition, broad outlook;
• the ability to maintain a conversation on professional and abstract topics;
• the ability to distribute attention in several directions at once;
• initiative;
• striving for success;
• high speed of decision making;
• the ability to competently use the available financial, human and information resources;
• skills of a clear statement of tasks for personnel;
• the ability to establish effective communication with partners and contractors at all levels.

We left the assessment of the professional qualities of a top manager for last. For effective management of a large company organizational skills, as well as personal characteristics of specialists are priority... There are many examples when a manager comes to the position of a top manager from another field of activity and at the same time was able to effectively build the team's work due to his ability to assess the available resources and clearly delegate authority.

Any professional skills usually become the basis for the development of leadership skills, practical and social intelligence. As one approaches the top of the management pyramid, the importance of professional knowledge decreases, since, for example, a plant director does not need to know how a particular machine works.

Nevertheless, for any candidate for a high position, qualities such as:

• erudition, open-mindedness;
• knowledge of related fields of work;
• striving to acquire new knowledge;
• high level of education;
• competence in the industry of the company;
• extensive experience in a similar position.

A variety of requirements are imposed on the education of a candidate for the position of head of a company. You can get a job in some companies, having only one higher education behind your shoulders: it can be humanitarian, economic or technical. By no means always diplomas with a specialty "manager" provide a direct path to the ranks of managers. It is almost impossible to get a position of a top manager immediately after graduation. Usually, in the first few years, a young specialist has to gain experience in lower positions.

To always stay "afloat", a top manager needs to constantly improve himself. Any additional education is highly regarded.

• Studying as a business coach... Renowned mentors teach managers how to properly summarize and structure the knowledge gained. However, in this case, it is very important to choose a well-known, reputable coach - working with questionable teachers will do more harm than good.
• MBA courses. In recent decades, MBA has become an integral part of leadership training. In the process of training, the manager masters the functional material, makes up for the lack of knowledge in the profession.
• Trainings and seminars... It is not worth studying at such events for the sake of deep knowledge, but they more than make up for the lack of energy and help develop self-motivation skills.
• Congresses. Here managers exchange best practices, get an assessment of their own actions and arrange a “brainstorming” of problem situations. Novice managers usually receive a lot of important and useful information at such congresses.

History knows many successful top managers. Let's consider the most successful ones.

• Steve Jobs - the famous leader of the world famous Apple company. Under his leadership, the funds invested in the development of the brand gave about 3188% of the profit.
• Yoon Jong Young - a top manager of Samsung Electronics. He managed to bring the firm 1458% increase in profit.
• Alexey Miller - this is our compatriot, the head of the Gazprom holding, who managed to increase dividends by 2000%.

There are several personalities among the most famous top managers in the world.

• Warren Buffett – head of Berkshire Hathaway. He is known for his incredible intuition, he was recognized as a man who managed to make a huge fortune from cash investments - he only bought what he considered suitable.
• Lawrence Ellison... The secret of the Oracle CEO's success lies in exceptional talent management, persistence and organizational skills.
• Mukesh Ambani - under his management, the profit of Reliance Industries grew to 4% of the total GDP of India.