Road to Director/VP
For all of you Directors/VPs out there, how did you get to your current position. I'm starting to think that trying to climb the corporate latter, starting as an engineer, is not the best way to get to senior management, and wanted to know how you all got there. MBA, other degree, startup & acquired, build and expand an org...
Do an MBA from a reputed school after may be 8-10 YOE
Maybe but MBAs are pretty much useless unless from top 5 program.
There are no shortcuts but there's different ways to get there. The more classic way is: Eng -> TL -> manager -> director. It takes time to master by doing, , failing, learning and a lot of hard work (and stress). * you probably changed companies while in each role to get more experience.
I’m not a director or VP but I can promise you that the first thing you have to do is to see yourself in that position. You have to believe. You have to be dedicated to advancement, which means being very conscious of how you think and approach your job and how they do it. You have to learn and identify skills gaps and fill them. You’ll probably have to see your job/work in a different and maybe uncomfortable way and get used to that.
I went the MBA route. It helps when people want to put you in that position. That being said, I'm not at a huge company. My ideal path would be eng - team lead - MBA - manager - director. I would look to go to an MBA program (preferably top 15) after 4yoe or so
spot on, MBA being optional but a worthwhile investment if you want it
Find the right boss
The right boss and peers will take you there, if you’re not jumping ship chasing TC.
Basically politics - no hard work or intelligence
Dumb luck
I'm really trying to not believe this answer but it's getting harder to discredit