Many professionals start their career by focusing on specific functions of a workplace. However, as they advance into broader leadership roles, expectations expand and change. Here are two mindset shifts that can help the transition.

• From functional expertise to enterprise integration. An important shift to make is learning to think beyond a single function of a workplace and instead approach things from a workplace-wide perspective. This can require leaders to learn how to reassess how they approach challenges and strengthen their ability to manage across functions through ongoing learning. Having a broader perspective can help leaders navigate complexity and make decisions that benefit the whole workplace.
• From department goals to business-wide ownership. A clear sign of leadership growth is the ability to think beyond specific departments and focus on workplace-wide success. While a specialist leader may ask how their team can improve their performance, a general leader should evaluate how decisions impact the entire workplace. Moving from department-wide goals to workplace-wide ones is an important step in the transition to executive management.

For more information, read “Transitioning from Functional Expertise to General Management Responsibilities” from the International Institute for Management Development.