Eight years ago when I started Zach on Leadership, some of my first blog articles were about helping people advance in their careers.

I love techies. I’m one of them. I spent years of my career as a technician and engineer. Then I advanced and started climbing the corporate ladder.

I truly believe that techies make the best technology leaders, but few of them are equipped to succeed in leadership. That’s where I come in. I detailed the pathway that I took, so others can follow in my footsteps.

Here are my original articles. They are eight years old, but still tried and true:

• Rules for Advancement: From Newbie to Tech Lead
• Rules for Advancement: From Tech Lead to Manager
• Rules for Advancement: From Manager to Director

I was a Director at the time I wrote these articles. About 5 years ago, I was promoted to Vice President. Ever since that happened, I figured I should add another chapter to this series, but I resisted for a variety of reasons.

First of all, when I wrote the last chapter about advancing from Manager to Director, I had already been a Director for 4 years, so I was pretty comfortable describing the difference. When I had initially been promoted to VP, it felt like I’d be bragging to write about my promotion on my blog. Additionally, it was so fresh that I didn’t believe I could clearly articulate it with a good perspective. Now that five years have passed, I think I can finally do it justice.

Before I get into it, I’d like to reference one more of my past articles. I wrote this one explicitly for Directors: A View from the Middle: Understanding the Unique Value of Middle Management. If you’re a Director, and you’re reading this. Read that article first, then continue on here.

Now, let’s get onto the main subject. What’s it like to be a Vice President, and how is it different from being a Director?

I’ll start off with the caveat that this is simply my point of view. This varies from company to company, and from industry to industry. But, I think there’s enough common wisdom, that this will apply broadly to all who seek executive leadership.

1. Span of control. In the hierarchy of the organization, you usually need a significantly sized team with multiple layers of management under your direction. That’s not always the case, but it sure helps. If you lead really big teams, and you’ve already established that you can scale your capacity and develop leaders within your team, then you probably have what it takes to get to VP. If this is a challenge for you, I recommend you read this article: What Does it Mean to be a High-Capacity Leader?
2. An officer of the company. Vice Presidents and above are typically designated as “officers of the company.” That’s a loaded term. It means they have responsibilities for financial controls. They bind the company in contracts. They have fiduciary duties. This is a big deal. It’s also a mindset shift. Directors and down the hierarchy are simply employees of the company. Vice Presidents are employees too, but they carry an extra burden. If you are curious about what that entails, read your company’s bylaws. It should be spelled out there.
3. Enterprise first. Every Vice President has a particular area of responsibility in either a function or a business unit, and that’s a key piece of their job. But also, when you’re an executive, you’re a member of the executive team. This team is charged with developing and leading the entire corporation as a whole. At times, it’ll mean putting the interests of the company over the interests of the department you lead. If that makes you queasy, I get it. But as an executive, that’s where your heart must be. If you need to work on that, read The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni. The team you are on is more important than the team you lead.
4. Executive presence. To be honest, I sort of hate that term, but it is what it is. It seems to be very much in the eye of the beholder, but I offer you my own definition. It’s a whole lot more than “dress for success.” Can you command the attention of a room? Do you speak with confidence? Are you comfortable in your own skin? Do people naturally look up to you? Are you seen as an expert in your field? Are you decisive when you need to be? Are you visionary and inspiring? I’ve spent a lot of time working on this. Like any other skill, you can learn it. But the key is, you have to want it.
5. Board interaction. Once you reach the Vice President level, that’s when board interactions usually start. That’s very different from any other corporate meeting. There are Robert’s Rules of Order. There are pre-reads. You have to present your knowledge leveled appropriately to the governance needs of the board, which is challenging.
6. The rule of thirds. I first heard about the rule of thirds back when I was a Director. Seriously working on it made me ready to advance to Vice President. Here it is: One-third of your job is to run your function. One-third of your job is to influence the company. One-third of your job is to influence the industry. Okay, I know what you’re thinking right now. You’re thinking, I’m probably running at 98:1:1. Maybe 90:5:5. Can you fathom getting to 33:33:33? Well, you can’t unless you get seriously good at delegation, influencing the company, and influencing the industry. These are no longer “development opportunities.” It becomes the job itself. Need to work on it? Read this.

Those are my observations. I could go on, but I think those are the big differentiators. Here’s the best part: You can work on all of these as a Director. The more you do, the more you’ll ready yourself to get to VP one day.

I hope this helps. I think many perceive the jump from Director to Vice President as just another rung on the ladder, but this one is different. I think there is enough uniqueness that it’s worth pondering and experimenting with these skills as a Director. If you have “Make it to VP” as a career goal, then I just provided you with some excellent items to populate onto your development plan. Get to work and good luck!

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