“All you need is the plan, the road map, and the courage to press on to your destination.” – Earl Nightingale
The road to an operations manager is a windy path. People rarely start off their careers hoping or planning to go into operations. Mark Swiggum, manager of business operations at StackSocial wanted to be an NBA star. Kalisa Martin has a major in food science. Christopher Peters graduated with a bachelor’s degree in music. They all stumbled their way into operations and are very grateful they did.
Big Picture
Thinking almost childlike believing anything is possible and an ever-curious nature can feed a productive and motivational environment. Seeing how everything works together currently and simultaneously how everything can be improved for the bigger and better days ahead. The “sky is the limit” mindset driving you to keep going and growing past the current stature. Oftentimes, a company is afraid of is getting stuck in a rut. Operation roles are there to constantly develop something new, not always something exciting but something new.
Hard Skills
The world of operations is full of logistical, analytical, and organizational thinkers, you have to be in a field full of scheduling, planning, and managing. Skills like good communication, data entry, processing, and budget development are extremely important to make sure everything runs smoothly. You have to go from analyzing workflow to forecasting an annual budget to recruiting and training a new employee. Doing so much it requires an extensive toolbelt of skills to carry around everywhere.
Teacher and Teachable
When implementing new techniques, or systems being a good teacher is necessary. While on the flip-side when receiving feedback, whether it be positive or negative, you must be able to teach yourself and grow from what was said. Having this mindset forces you to be adaptable and a quick but critical thinker to help you stay on your feet and not get overwhelmed with information.
A lot is asked from those in operations and my respect for them has grown immeasurably in the past week.