Top manager: who is this and how to become?

Which of us does not dream of getting a highly paid profession, which at the same time would help maintain 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 the top manager is and how to become one, how the top manager differs from the ordinary middle manager, what functions he performs, what skills and competencies a successful candidate for this position should have.

Everyone has heard about such a position as a top manager, but few people know what it is. Let’s take a closer look at what these specialists do 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 a regular manager, the prefix to the job title “top” means that he belongs to the highest managerial level.

It should be noted that although these people represent the top management for government bodies, partners and employees of the company, nevertheless top managers are employees - business owners take them to work to perform certain functions, and if they do not cope with the 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.

• Impact on the activities of the company. A distinctive feature of any top manager is the significant impact that he can have on the company's business processes. As a rule, the senior manager is responsible for any one area of ​​the enterprise. For example, the CFO oversees revenues and expenses, the commercial is responsible for sales, the development director is engaged in marketing, improving customer service and expanding the network of representative offices, and the director of staff works with staff. From the decisions of the head in many respects depends on how successful the activity of the company in a certain direction will be.
• Subordination to the owners of the enterprise. The top manager of the company may report to the owner of the company, the representative of the owner of the enterprise (board of directors) or the board, if this is provided for by the charter. Some firms have two executives: one oversees strategic work (president), the second oversees ongoing activities (general manager). In this case, the top manager can report to both at once, and to one of them.
• Extended authority. The head of the company shows considerable independence in decision-making and has the broadest powers. This specialist is considered the main in his field, which creates certain difficulties in assessing its effectiveness and the correctness of its decisions. That is why, in most cases, the results of the work of the whole organization are used to determine the quality of management at the enterprise, an incorrectly taken 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 it is not uncommon for managers of a lower level to have a sufficiently large number of employees in their subordination. It also happens that one of the top managers does not have completely subordinates, for example, the chief designer, although in practice such cases are extremely rare.
• Large company size. Speaking about top management, usually a large enterprise is meant, because the range of duties of the head of a small and medium business is significantly different from what is required in large holdings.

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

• The top manager represents the interests of the enterprise in business meetings and business negotiations. The competence of this specialist includes the development of the enterprise. The manager of the company discusses the plans, as well as approves the necessary regulations and standards. Since it is the top manager who bears all responsibility for the efficiency and profitability of the business, no innovation can do without its direct approval.
• In the event of any emergencies, when the subordinate boss cannot solve the problem, the top manager takes control of it. He oversees the situation, makes decisions to correct it, and identifies the perpetrators and makes administrative decisions to determine the measure of their responsibility.Orders of top managers can be appealed exclusively in court, not a single employee of the company, including its owner, has the right to intervene.
• 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 profit received, sends one part to the development of the company, and the other part goes to the dividend fund.
• The duties of the head of the company also include stimulating lower-level employees and approving incentive programs. In a number of 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 return.

In short, the top manager must have the ability to make business decisions (entrepreneurs call this quality a business judgement). Without a doubt, it should be a workaholic, ready for irregular working hours and frequent business trips. The manager of the company must be an ambitious person, to some extent a perfectionist, but at the same time he must meet such qualities as flexibility and maneuverability. Among other personal characteristics necessary for a successful manager, the following can be distinguished:

• adequate self-esteem - it is impossible to analyze the abilities of employees and adjust their work if the top manager cannot control himself and evaluate his decisions; self-criticism is an essential quality that any leader needs;
• ambitiousness - the top manager should be aimed at solving serious problems and conquering new heights, only in this case he will be able to maintain not only his own mood, but also “light up” the rest of his team members.
• perseverance - any successful person sooner or later faces the need to make quick and sometimes risky decisions;
• tact and sociability - in order to create comfortable working conditions, the leader must be sociable; he must demonstrate respect for the staff, while expressing only constructive criticism;
• exactingness - only the authority of the leader can ensure discipline in the workforce and coordinated performance of official duties;
• creativity - the desire for innovation and transformation, the willingness to introduce progressive working methods and the ability to captivate 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;
• teamwork skills, ability to support and motivate people;
• good knowledge of time management;
• critical thinking, the ability to rethink the situation and surrounding reality;
• education, erudition, wide horizons;
• ability to maintain a conversation on professional and abstract topics;
• the ability to distribute attention in several directions at once;
• initiative;
• desire for success;
• high speed of decision making;
• ability to competently use available financial, human and information resources;
• clear tasking skills for staff;
• ability to establish effective communication with partners and contractors of all levels.

We left the assessment of the professional qualities of the top manager in the end. For effective management of a large company priority are organizational skills, as well as personal characteristics of specialists. There are many examples when a manager comes to the position of a top manager from a different field of activity and at the same time manages to efficiently build the team’s work thanks to his ability to evaluate available resources and clearly delegate authority.

Any professional skills usually become the basis for the development of leadership skills, practical and social intelligence. As you approach the top of the management pyramid, the importance of professional knowledge decreases, because, for example, the director of the plant does not need to know how this or that machine works.

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

• erudition, breadth of views;
• knowledge of related fields of work;
• desire for new knowledge;
• high level of education;
• competence in the industry of the company;
• extensive experience in a similar position.

For the formation of a candidate for the position of head of the company, a variety of requirements are made. Some firms can be settled with only one higher education behind them: it can be humanitarian, economic or technical. Not 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”, the top manager needs to constantly improve himself. Any additional education is highly regarded.

• Studying as a business coach. Well-known mentors train managers to properly summarize and structure their knowledge. However, in this case, it is very important to choose a well-known, reputable coach - working with dubious teachers will do more harm than good.
• MBA courses. In recent decades, MBA has become an integral part of leadership training. In the learning process, the manager masters the functional material, make up for the lack of knowledge in the profession.
• Trainings and seminars. Studying at such events for the sake of deep knowledge is not worth it, 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 “brainstorm” of problem situations. Novice managers usually receive a lot of important and useful information at such congresses.

History knows a lot of effective top managers. Consider the most successful.

• Steve Jobs - the famous leader of the world famous company Apple. Under his leadership, the money invested in the development of the brand gave about 3188% of the profit.
• Yoon Jeong Yeon - Top Manager of Samsung Electronics. He managed to bring the company 1458% increase in profits.
• Alexey Miller - This is our compatriot, the head of the Gazprom holding, which managed to increase dividends by 2000%.

Among the most famous top managers in the world, there are several personalities.

• Warren Buffett – Head of Berkshire Hathaway. He is known for his incredible intuition, he gained recognition as a man who managed to earn a huge fortune from money investments - he bought only what he considered suitable.
• Lawrence Ellison. The secret to the success of the head of Oracle holding lies in the exceptional ability to manage personnel, high perseverance and organizational abilities.
• Mukesh Ambani - Under his management, the profit of Reliance Industries grew to 4% of the total GDP of India.