Being a Generalist Makes You More Valuable
Do you have your sights on the management table? Possibly even the C-level job description someday? Here’s a hint: Avoid specialization. Surprised? Don’t be.
Why Generalization
The highly respected Stanford Graduate School of Business researched this issue and found the answer they were pursuing. Stanford economist, Edward P. Lazear, discovered that those employees having knowledge of various operational areas were more likely to enjoy promotion within their company or with new employers.
Specialists are valuable, but as they move higher up the management ladder, they often confront challenges that generate adversity. While initial management responsibilities may require specific talents possessed by a superstar specialist, the management pyramid, although becoming ever narrower near the top, creates concepts that are ever more diversified.
Once a specialist moves beyond managing a single team or specific projects, the challenges typically diversify into other interrelated or non-related operational areas. When this occurs—as it will—the specialist can become lost. Executive management is apparently aware of this risky consequence.
Lazear’s study analyzed a 1997 survey of 12,500 Graduate School of Business alumni. Of those with a minimum of 15 years’ experience, those respondents who specialized had only a two percent chance of reaching C-level status. In contrast, those who held five different area positions enjoyed an 18 percent probability of reaching the C-level suite.
Other data supported the value of generalization. Those employers with an effective management training program require their participants to adopt many roles during their grooming period. Becoming familiar and knowledgeable in many capacities is simply more valuable than becoming an expert in one discipline.
Aspiring Managers’ Considerations
Those wanting to start and continue a management career should heed these words and statistical results. You should first decide how you’d like your management career to advance. For example, if you love your specialty and believe you’d be content managing an equally specialized team and specific projects for the foreseeable future, do what you love, and continue to enjoy your specialization.
Conversely, if you’re focused on reaching the highest levels of company management, strongly consider diversifying your expertise. You will need to forego some higher specialization in your current arena of achievement. This decision might be your greatest challenge. You must decide to slow down your broadening specialized expertise in one area to keep your “eyes on the prize” of qualifying for senior management positions.
There is no obvious right or wrong answer. The best answer for you is the one that leads to your desired destination. You should understand that no matter how outstanding your current specialty, from a corporate perspective, you will usually become more valuable to the organization by developing additional knowledge and abilities.
Even the hiring function involves valuable generalization talent from management. Just as company HR departments recruit, screen, and often interview candidates, they seldom make hiring decisions because they are unfamiliar with the specifics of the department or position to be filled. Management of the department or division craving talent usually makes the hiring decision.
Managers, therefore, need more generalized proficiency to be familiar with all precincts of the department and the company as a whole to make the most informed hiring decisions. This ability explains why top employment search firms, like Kelly Services, are so effective. They become “specialized” generalists by developing excellent knowledge of their clients’ operations, needs, and corporate culture.
If you’ve set a goal for a management career, consider learning about other areas of your employer. Should you identify more “visible” promotion opportunities with your current company, reach for them. Mr. Lazear’s research also uncovered the importance of high profile jobs that better showcase your decision-making ability. Incorporate these more visible jobs (i.e., marketing) into your career plan for generalization. As others witness your increased knowledge and workplace decisions, your credentials for management positions will also increase.
Consider other opportunities if you believe your current employer doesn’t offer the chance to learn about or work in company areas outside your specialty. As you become more of an “experienced generalist,” your opportunities to elevate to—and within—the management team will increase. Should you continue to develop your management expertise as a well-rounded professional, you might even have an opportunity to sit at the C-level table in the future.
Source:
http://www.gsb.stanford.edu/news/research/LazearleadershipAug20.html