How do I become a first time manager?

To become a first time manager, take initiative, lead projects for your team, and earn an internal promotion. The requirements for a management career vary between industries. Managing a restaurant is a completely different experience with completely different challenges and responsibilities than managing a human resources team at a large corporation.

What defines a good manager?

A good manager is defined by their communication skills, goal-driven leadership, and ability to empower their team. Managers must balance the weight of their responsibilities with the needs of their team in a way that meets their goals efficiently.

What qualifications do I need to be a manager?

The qualifications needed to be a manager are a bachelor's degree and at least five to seven years of work experience. This can vary depending on field and company, but most managerial roles have these qualifications as base requirements to be hired in the role.

How To Become A Lead Manager: What It Is and Career Path

What is a lead manager and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted Experts

Steve Wages Ph.D.,

Kerem Cakirer Ph.D.

The Lead Manager is a role generally meant to employ a number of methods and strategies to increase and maintain profit, efficiency, customer engagement, and brand loyalty.

The Manager is tasked with systemizing marketing and advertising efforts and increasing revenue and sales. They also focus on customers, engage with them, improve customer service, and conduct research to understand how a company's consumers behave and how they engage with the company's products, services, and advertisement efforts. Though it may seem simple at first glance, the Lead Manager will have to engage with an increasing number of teammates, consumers and clients, investors, higher management, and even employees and managers of other businesses.

A good Lead Manager will have a few years of experience in sales and marketing and might even have an Associate's or a Bachelor's degree in Marketing, Public Relations, or Sales, or a closely related subject, though the experience and the portfolio of past projects and results are often more important.

What general advice would you give to a Lead Manager?

Steve Wages Ph.D.

Director, Cloverdale Center for Youth and Family, Faulkner University

As soon as possible, establish a formal mentoring relationship with someone who is seasoned in pastoral counseling. Generally, the research demonstrates that the performance of employees with mentors is of a higher quality, they advance in their responsibilities and careers faster, and they avoid common mistakes exhibited by other employees. Establish short-term goals (6 months) for your position and a plan for overcoming obstacles; then ask your mentor to hold you accountable for implementing your plan. As part of your self-care. you also need to be proactive in developing a few close friendships, perhaps including colleagues, who can be a source of emotional support and encouragement to you personally.

You should be confident in your training while also being realistic and transparent about your limitations. There is still a lot that you do not know and much you will learn with experience. Until then, be willing to say "I don't know" when faced with problems you have not addressed before. Then commit to learning more about the issue through personal study and/or consulting with a more experienced colleague or mentor. In some cases, you may need to invite a more experienced counselor to meet with a client or where appropriate refer them to someone else.

You need to equip yourself to address structural changes to the delivery of pastoral care and counseling as a consequence of the pandemic. You will need to adapt to providing pastoral counseling virtually perhaps via Zoom sessions. Give thought as to how the virtual context impacts the counseling process and the spiritual resources you employ. For example, if you are comfortable praying with a client in your office, will you be equally inclined to pray with them online or over a phone. In light of the pandemic, Dr. Chuck Lawless noted, "Good pastoral care has required being more proactive than reactive." Ordinarily, pastoral counselors are reactive in that they respond to needs when they hear about them or when they are

ScoreLead ManagerUS Average

Salary

7.7

Avg. Salary $101,883

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability Level

9.6

Growth Rate 6%

Growth Rate 0.3%

Diversity

3.5

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.47%

Asian 6.37%

Black or African American 6.19%

Hispanic or Latino 15.22%

Unknown 4.34%

White 67.40%

Gender

female 45.79%

male 54.21%

Age - 44

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 44

Stress Level

9.6

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity Level

9.2

Complexity Level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work Life Balance

3.6

Work Life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a lead manager

Explore lead manager education requirements

Most common lead manager degrees

Bachelor's

51.9 %

Associate

17.0 %

High School Diploma

15.2 %

Start to develop specific lead manager skills

Skills	Percentages
Safety Procedures	14.87%
Sales Floor	12.36%
Gross Margin	11.89%
PET	9.11%
Performance Evaluations	8.07%

Complete relevant lead manager training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New lead managers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a lead manager based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real lead manager resumes.

Gain additional lead manager certifications

Lead manager certifications can show employers you have a baseline of knowledge expected for the position. Certifications can also make you a more competitive candidate. Even if employers don't require a specific lead manager certification, having one may help you stand out relative to other applicants.

The most common certifications for lead managers include Certified Manager Certification (CM) and Project Management Professional (PMP).

More About Certifications

Research lead manager duties and responsibilities

Lead a team of in home geek squad agents that have the highest productivity in the company.
Define processes and procedures for manual and automate testing and implement tools to achieve the overall QA objectives.
Manage social media networks for increase public visibility through Facebook.
Manage employee payroll activities and effectively evaluate employee performance for promotion opportunities.

Get lead manager experience

Generally, it takes 4-6 years to become a lead manager. The most common roles before becoming a lead manager include sales associate, cashier team lead and assistant manager.

Apply for lead manager jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a lead manager job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do lead managers rate their job?

-/5

5 Stars

4 Stars

3 Stars

2 Stars

1 Star

Lead Manager reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Apr 2022

Pros

I have leadership skills I always hire employees who like to work in a team I like to see sales increase and love to see the best customer service is given

Cons

In reality, i do not complain as its who i am

A zippia user wrote a review on Jul 2020

Pros

Ability to resolve issues, timely delivery on goals and mantainance of inter personal relationship and organizing.

Cons

Insurbordination, failure to deliver on tasks and targets.

A zippia user wrote a review on Jun 2020

Pros

Educating employees and getting everyone on the same mindset about what it takes for a company to succeed.

Cons

I don't like it when moral is low and nothing seems to perk employees up to become more productive at work.

What is a lead manager and how to become one

What general advice would you give to a Lead Manager?

Lead Manager career paths

Key steps to become a lead manager

Explore lead manager education requirements

Most common lead manager degrees

Start to develop specific lead manager skills

Complete relevant lead manager training and internships

Gain additional lead manager certifications

Research lead manager duties and responsibilities

Get lead manager experience

Apply for lead manager jobs

How Did You Land Your First Lead Manager Job

Average lead manager salary

How do lead managers rate their job?

Lead Manager reviews

Lead Manager FAQs

How do I become a first time manager?

What defines a good manager?

What qualifications do I need to be a manager?

Search for lead manager jobs

Lead Manager jobs by state