From Manager to Director: 4 Key Shifts You Need to Make

READING TIME - 5 MINUTES

In this newsletter, I’m going to show you exactly how to make the leap from manager to director.

The jump isn’t as simple as just doing more of the same—you have to adjust your focus, your skills, and your approach to leadership.

Learning how to make this transition is crucial for your career growth.

Moving from a front-line role to supervisor or manager is one thing, but moving to director-level?

That’s a whole new ballgame.

As a director, you enter the first tier of executives, and your impact on the organization becomes much greater.

Unfortunately, most managers miss the mark when it comes to this transition.

They believe that what made them a great manager will automatically make them a great director.

But that’s not the case.

Why Managers Miss the Mark

• What worked at the manager level doesn’t work at the director level. The skills that got you promoted aren’t enough to make you shine as a director.
• Your focus needs to change. As a manager, you were focused on day-to-day operations. As a director, you must shift your attention to strategic goals, organizational health, and long-term vision.
• How you manage changes. Managing up, down, and sideways becomes your new reality. Director-level leadership requires you to communicate effectively at all levels.
• Storytelling becomes a key skill. Directors need to inspire, engage, and get buy-in from different teams. You can’t just rely on the numbers; you need to tell the story behind them.
• Influence matters more than authority. As a director, your power comes not from your title but from your ability to influence and collaborate across the organization.

Now, let’s dive into how you can develop the skills you need to make the jump from manager to director.

Step 1: Start Thinking Strategically, Not Tactically

The first thing you need to do is shift your focus.

As a manager, you were likely bogged down by tactical execution—hitting deadlines, managing processes, and solving problems.

As a director, you need to start thinking about the big picture.

Start by asking questions like:

“How does this decision impact the company long-term?”

or “How does this initiative align with our overall strategy?”

This shift will help you start making decisions that impact the organization on a larger scale.

For example, one of the best directors I know started shifting their focus by taking a step back and looking at data from a strategic perspective instead of just operational metrics.

This allowed them to identify opportunities for company-wide improvements.

Step 2: Master Managing Up, Down, and Across

As a manager, your role is primarily focused on managing your team.

But as a director, you need to manage at all levels—up, down, and sideways.

Managing up means influencing senior leadership, managing down involves inspiring and aligning your teams, and managing sideways requires collaborating with peers in other departments.

The mistake many new directors make is thinking that they no longer need to manage the details of their teams.

But managing your team’s morale, progress, and engagement continues to be critical, even when you’re focused on bigger-picture initiatives.

At the same time, communicating effectively with senior executives and cross-functional teams is key to success at the director level.

Step 3: Develop Your Storytelling Skills

A director’s job isn’t just about having great ideas.

It’s about telling the story behind those ideas in a way that resonates across the organization.

Your ability to communicate with impact is what will get buy-in for your initiatives, help rally support from your teams, and persuade others to join you in driving change.

One of the most influential directors I know used storytelling to secure funding for a project that seemed risky.

They didn’t just present the numbers—they presented the vision, the "why," and the potential impact in a compelling way that inspired others to get behind it.

That’s the kind of storytelling you need to master.

Step 4: Build Cross-Functional Relationships

As a director, you’ll be working on projects that span different departments.

Being able to collaborate with people outside your immediate team is critical.

Start by building relationships with colleagues in other departments.

Understand their priorities and challenges.

When you can connect the dots between different teams and align their goals, you’ll be in a much better position to drive company-wide initiatives.

The best directors I worked with were excellent at building cross-functional teams.

They made it a point to meet regularly with peers in other departments, and this collaborative approach made all the difference when we needed to implement a major company-wide initiative.

The transition from manager to director isn’t easy, but it’s a critical step in your career.

By shifting your focus, mastering the art of managing at all levels, developing your storytelling skills, and building strong cross-functional relationships, you’ll be well on your way to becoming an impactful director.

It’s time to start thinking bigger, acting more strategically, and influencing those around you.

The journey from manager to director is about evolving the way you lead and learning the skills necessary to drive company-wide success.

Are you ready to make that leap?