Executive Careers
From functional head to general manager
The step from running one function to running a whole business is one of the hardest transitions in a career. The skills that got you here are necessary but not enough.
Nextlevel Editorial Team · 22 September 2026 · 6 min read
A brilliant head of sales, finance or technology is often the obvious candidate for a general management role. Many succeed. A surprising number struggle, not because they lack ability, but because the job is fundamentally different from the one they have mastered.
What actually changes
- You are no longer the expert in the room on most topics
- You must arbitrate between functions, including your old one
- Your success depends on people whose work you cannot fully judge
- Time horizons lengthen, and feedback becomes slower and noisier
Build fluency, not expertise
You do not need to become an expert in every function, but you do need to ask good questions in each. Spend time with the heads of the areas you know least. Learn how they measure success, what keeps them awake at night and what they wish leadership understood.
Let go of your old job
The most common trap is continuing to run your former function from the general manager's chair. It is comfortable, and it undermines the person who now leads it. Appoint a strong successor and give them room.
How to position yourself for the move
Seek cross-functional responsibility before you need it: lead an integration, run a region, take on a commercial programme outside your discipline. On your CV and in interviews, emphasise decisions you made that balanced competing interests, not just the depth of your functional achievements.
General management is less about knowing the answers and more about making sure the right questions get asked.