The Brave Commanders

More than glorious prestige and privileges, the title of a managerial role comes with hefty responsibilities that only the toughest can support. Ownership comes naturally to you and you find fulfilment in that of others. Your intuitive inclination towards caring for people and conviction towards excelling at work makes you a natural leader people gravitate towards for advice and guidance.

More than giving commands

Management roles and responsibilities are often misunderstood simply as the carefree role of giving orders. However, the responsibility of a manager is as heavy as it is empowering. According to Peter Drucker, the founder of modern management, managers have 5 key functions:

You’ll be heading the goal-setting for your staff. Goals and dreams are different, and it's your job to distinguish them and ensure these goals are backed by sturdy objectives.
Expect to do multiple levels of delegation - handing down the right tasks, allocating staff to suitable teams and assigning tasks to people based on their strengths.
One of the most fulfilling responsibilities of a manager is to foster cooperative teams. Ultimately, the end goal is for a seamless communication across different teams and departments.
Besides all the people management, you are to ensure that the functional roles of your team are met. By setting targets, tracking progress, assessing outcomes, you will constantly be in the captain’s cabin ensuring the ship is heading in the right direction.
Above all, you are in the position to make a great positive impact to the careers of your followers as you hold authority and trust that can guide them up the

The Career Ladder - Management positions

Management positions are not levelled, but exists in the form of the prevalent and familiar phrase that always comes into discussion - the career ladder.

Entry-level Management

If you’re fresh out from school and already seeking for a management position, look out for management associate opportunities. Management Associate Internships are opportunities created by organisations to nurture their next generation of leaders. These positions are hot seats. Prepare to compete for against many other exceptional individuals eyeing a headstart in their Management Career.

Middle Management

Senior Managers

You lead a group of managers that each have their own set of functional roles and a reporting team. The role of a senior management carries great responsibilities because of the diverse teams under your supervision.

Top management

Chief executive Officer (CEO)

A jack-of-all-trades and a master delegator - the king of all kings, the Chief Executive Officer. With the reign of a kingdom comes paramount responsibilities. A CEO is in charge of everything in a company. Even, say, the cleanliness of your workspace. It is hence unsurprising that CEOs, who are fellow humans, do heavy delegation to cope with the walloping scale of their responsibilities. Not all tasks are too trivial for the CEO’s personal attention though. In particular, the inception of a sturdy business strategy, company culture and finances are the main focuses of a constantly multi-tasking CEO.

Chief Operating Officer (COO)

Working closely with the CEO, the COO oversees the day-to-day functions of the entire company and reports to the CEO significant developments. As the conductor of an entire orchestra, the COO coordinates diverse business functions to achieve the operational goals of the business. The COO supports the vital strategies derived from the CEO, ensuring its fruition with effective actions. In short, the COO translates the company’s vision into reality through careful coordination and the masterful art of translating business intricacies into the harmonious grind of daily operations.

Chief Technical Officer (CTO)

Given the growing role of technology in most, if not all, businesses, the Chief Technical Officer is crucial to the success of the business strategy. By offering technologically-backed solutions and insights, the CTO complements the CEO in strategy-building. Similar to a system update, the CTO ensures that the business stays ahead of the game alongside rapid technological advances. While the CTO of start-ups are required to be more hands-on in the technical operations, those of larger corporations focus more on maintaining and updating the technical functions of the business. Either ways, the CTO is crucial to all things technical to the business while their roles change dynamically according to the technological needs of the business.

Muhammad Irfan Abbas