Promoting Yourself into Leadership: Leading from Above, Beside, Below, and Outside

Abstract

This chapter offers readers multiple ways to promote themselves into leadership, especially as a systems engineer. Leadership can come from many places within an organization, not just those tasked by management with leadership responsibility: (1) leading from above with formally assigned leadership responsibility (including assignment as a project lead without management designation); (2) leading from beside, by influencing peers as an informal leader (not assigned a leadership role); (3) leading from below by influencing decision-makers including those higher in the organization as an informal leader; and (4) leading from outside when a person provides leadership to an area outside their primary management chain, as an informal leader. We describe experience-based approaches (case studies included), suggest actions, and discuss the toll, challenges, and risks of promoting yourself into leadership along with the implications of emerging trends in systems engineering. We offer ways a person can find mentoring to facilitate their journey as they practice their leadership skills. There are a few organizations which have a nurturing and supportive culture, which look hard at every employee to identify and develop leadership potential. For someone working in these organizations, becoming a leader may be accomplished by taking advantage of the support and resources the organization offers. For the many other organizations which do not have such a nurturing and supportive culture, people are more likely to become leaders if they “promote themselves into leadership” by actively seeking opportunities to use their own insights and talents to identify and meet unmet needs of the business.