The 7 Unspoken Rules of Becoming a Senior Manager or Director

So you’ve decided you want to set your sights on a senior management or director role?

Congrats! It takes ambition and focus to want to keep moving up.

I worked as a VP HR and have served as an executive/career coach to thousands of individuals, so I’ve learned the patterns of success in a corporate setting. And I have some bad news and some good news.

The bad news: you won’t get promoted to the top by just putting your head down and doing good work. Good work is necessary but not sufficient.

But the good news is, there are some unspoken rules that separate managers who stagnate from those who keep climbing the corporate ladder. In this article, I’ll teach you those rules so that you can continue your career journey upward. 

Rule 1: Crush Your Current Role

This is a baseline necessity. No matter how good you are at networking or strategizing, you’ll be hard-pressed to get promoted if you aren’t wowing your superiors in your current role.

There’s a management theory called the Peter Principle that suggests that people get promoted based on how good they are at their current role (as opposed to how good they’d be at the role they’re get promoted into).

So, if you want to become a senior manager or director, your first task is to do A+ work at your role and to deliver a measurable impact on the company’s bottom line.

Rule 2: Solve Problems Your Boss Hasn't Recognized Yet

If you want your boss to sing your praises, you can take a valuable lesson from the art of gift giving.

Think about all the gifts you’ve received over the years; which ones stand out as the best? For me, the best gifts have been the ones I didn’t even realize I needed. It was like my friend was one step ahead of me in knowing what I wanted.

You can use this same principle to win over your boss. 

There will be times when they have a nagging sense that something isn’t working quite right. If you can identify the issue before they do and propose a solution, then you’ll give them that same feeling of receiving a perfect gift.

To become proactive like this, you need to shift mindsets from being a problem-solver to a problem-identifier.

Here’s how to find unsolved problems. Look for:

• Patterns that cost the company time and money—bottlenecks, outdated processes, or inefficiencies.
  

• Processes that frustrate customers or employees—become extra sensitive to recurring feedback and complaints.
  

• Alignment with company goals—fixing problems that don’t matter to upper management won’t get you noticed.  

If you notice problems, propose solutions, and take the initiative to solve them, you’ll put yourself first in line for a promotion.

Rule 3: Start Thinking Like a Senior Leader

As a middle manager, success depends on how efficiently and effectively you complete your tasks. Whereas senior managers and directors need to focus more on the big picture.

The more you can think like a senior manager or director, the more you'll be ready to become one.

You'll need to shift from focusing on the trees to the forest—or, in other words, from handling day-to-day tasks to thinking about how your work impacts the company as a whole.

Here's how to start thinking more like a senior leader:

• For every task, ask yourself how it aligns with company goals. Don't just complete assignments—understand why they matter and how they tie to the bigger picture.
  

• Look to scale your impact. If you solve a recurring issue for yourself, don't stop there. Ask, "How can I create a system that fixes this problem for everyone?"
  

• Develop a solutions-oriented mindset. When you bring up problems, always come with a proposed solution or recommendation. Leaders notice employees who think proactively.
  

• Practice thinking ahead. Get in the habit of spotting changes before they happen. Pay attention to industry trends, AI, company shifts, and potential challenges on the horizon. 
  

• Think across departments. Directors don’t just manage their own teams—they coordinate across departments. Seek out opportunities to collaborate with other teams and and lead cross-functional projects.

If you can strengthen these strategic thinking muscles, you'll make it clear to upper management that you are equipped to move up the ranks.

If you want to double down on your strategic thinking, try the book Good Strategy Bad Strategy: The Difference and Why It Matters by Richard Rumelt.

Rule 4: Managing Up Is Just as Important as Managing Down

Most middle managers focus on leading their teams skillfully. But if you want to position yourself for a promotion, you need to learn to manage up just as well as you manage down.

That means proactively creating a relationship with your boss to make their job easier. It’s about learning their priorities, communication style, and pain points so you can show up as an A+ employee.

Managing up has nothing to do with flattery or politics. It’s about strategic communication.

Here’s how to do it effectively:

• Understand your boss’s priorities. What keeps them up at night? What metrics or business goals matter most to them? 
  

• Learn their communication style. Do they like detailed reports or quick bullet points? Scheduled check-ins or impromptu updates? Phone calls, Looms, or emails?
  

• Anticipate their needs. Like we touched on before, try to solve problems before they even realize they exist.
  

• Make them look good. When your boss succeeds, you succeed. Support their priorities, and share credit generously.
  

Mastering the art of managing up strengthens your trust and reputation, which ups the odds that you’ll be top of mind when a senior role opens up.

Rule 5: You Need to Be Seen as a Leader Before You Get the Title

Here’s something brands have understood for decades: people don’t always buy the best product; they buy the product with the best brand.

For example, when you buy new toothpaste, you might pick Crest without a second thought. Not because you analyzed all the options but because you already see their brand as a beacon of reliability.

This same principle applies to your career.

You have a “brand” in your office. When people in your company think of you, do they associate you with dependability? Decisiveness? Leadership?

The good news is, you can actively shape this perception. And you don’t need to do anything sleazy—you just need to exude executive presence so others naturally associate you with leadership, reliability, and trustworthiness.

Here are a few tips to build your leadership brand:

• Dress like a leader. How do senior leaders dress and present themselves? Try to match their level of professionalism.
  

• Speak with clarity and confidence. In meetings, don’t mumble or upspeak. Enunciate your ideas clearly and back them up with data and strategic thinking.
  

• Mentor junior employees. When you coach other employees, you become the person that others turn to for guidance.
  

• Take on high-impact projects. Volunteer for complex, visible projects that your peers avoid. You’ll show your initiative and just how capable you are.

If everyone in the office (including you) already sees you as a leader, getting the title will just be a formality.

Rule 6: Your Network is Your Fast-Track to Promotion

There’s a reason that 80% of professionals believe that networking is important to career success.

While performance matters, relationships often determine who gets promoted. More often than not, leaders advocate for employees behind closed doors.

To make sure your name comes up in those conversations, follow these tips:

1. Build relationships with decision makers.  Identify who influences promotions, and develop a relationship with each of them. Ideally foster an informal mentorship. Get coffee, listen to their story, and ask for their advice on how to succeed in the company.
   

2. Create 1-2 recurring calendar slots for coffee. Maybe every Thursday at 2 pm you invite someone to coffee. It could be anyone at your company—a peer, a mentee, or folks from other departments. The more people who know and like you, the more opportunities will come your way, and the more chances to make your leadership skills visible.
   

3. Expand your network beyond your company. It’s not uncommon for directors to get hired externally. So if that’s the role you’re aiming for, make sure to build relationships with leaders outside your company.
   

4. Always seek to add value. End every networking meeting with an action item of adding value to the other person. Introduce them to a colleague, send them a helpful podcast, or clue them into an upcoming webinar. When you add value to others, you become valuable. And when opportunities arise, you’ll be the first person they think of.

As you build relationships in your company, it can also be helpful to be upfront about your career ambitions.

Rule 7: Let Your Career Goals Be Known

Don’t assume your boss knows you want a promotion. One of the simplest yet most effective career moves is to explicitly state your desire to advance.

Then, ask for their advice on how you can make that happen. Ask candid questions like:

• What are the skills needed to succeed in a role like yours?
  

• Do I have any weaknesses I need to work on before I’m ready to advance?
  

• Do you see opportunities for me to move up in this company? What can I do to improve my chances?
  

It also won’t hurt to bring up your ambitions in casual conversation with your colleagues and mentors. Ideally, when people think of you, they’ll think of someone who’s aiming to be a senior manager or director.

Get Career Support

If you’re serious about getting to the next level in your career, you may consider working with a career coach.

They can help you clarify what you want out of your career and then help you take the tactical steps to get there.

If you’re interested in career coaching, you can learn more here.