Whether your path takes you to retail storefront supervision or account management for a youth sports team, you'll find at least one common element among staggeringly diverse career options: The majority of management positions require some sort of higher education.
This makes sense on a strictly logical level—a degree in your hand shows potential employers that you've made and conquered long-term goals, that a credentialed organization has given you their seal of approval, and that you're competent in areas that apply to your field.
But let's dig deeper and explore your desire to pursue online masters degrees for reasons beyond "because the job I want says I have to." On an infinitely more satisfying level, your pursuit of higher learning will make you a better manager down the road by honing both the knowledge you need to succeed and the hands-on skills required to stand out in a crowd.
The Intellectual Edge
The term "manager" casts a wide net in today's job market, and you'll have your choice of nets to cast as a Miami Hurricane. Public administration or a master's in finance —your options for management-oriented studies are plentiful. While each degree comes with its own distinct track, the knowledge you'll gain from university study takes your management potential to a whole new level.
Apart from foundational knowledge such as marketing management, managerial accounting, and personnel administration, you'll delve into specific and relevant topics ranging from managing information systems to international investments and valuation.
In terms of leadership, studying past the high school level will sharpen your decision-making ability with courses such as Statistical Analysis for Managerial Decision Making. It will expose you to the most effective and current management models, and even encourage you to take a hard look at your management style as you learn how to manage responsible behavior and explore the legal implications of high-level decisions.
Leadership Skills
While K-12 education is often tailored to meet the needs of standardized tests, university study emphasizes more specific key traits of effective managers. But which degrees in finance lend themselves to stronger management?
Researchers at Development Dimensions International (DDI), a global leadership development consultancy, examined how educational degrees translate into leadership skills. They compared the performance of undergraduate business degrees and MBA degree holders against eight leadership skills: financial acumen, business savvy, compelling communication, driving execution, driving for results, entrepreneurship, influence, and inspiring excellence.
Although MBA graduates were stronger with financial acumen, business savvy, and strategic decision making, other degrees performed better in coaching, result orientation, and visionary leadership.
The researched also showed that "MBA students need more well-rounded background and experiences to learn the important interaction and inspirational skills they will need to truly excel as leaders," remarked the study's lead author Evan Sinar, Ph.D., DDI’s Chief Scientist and Director, Center for Analytics and Behavioral Research.
Communication is an essential leadership skill and you're expected to maintain effective contact with your peers and professors when you pursue an online graduate program. From collaborating on successful group projects to participating in intellectually challenging discussions—each of these polishes the communication skills you'll need for virtually any management position.
Learning Accountability
Taking the virtual classroom route certainly flexes your communication muscles, but it also puts your time management skills to the test. The flexibility offered by distance learning makes you your own manager in a very real way. It requires you to exercise self-discipline and accountability every step of the way.
That last notion—accountability—is like oxygen for managers. A strong sense of responsibility, care, and supervision is what differentiates a good manager from a great one. You'll curate these stewardship skills every day when you take your education into your own hands, whether that education happens on a laptop or in a lecture hall.
As a manager, all that's left is for you to take that sense of accountability you've learned and applied it to others. Take that sense of stewardship and make it something bigger: the management of an efficient, well-oiled, happy, and productive team.
References
U.S. News and World Report: Why Most Managers Need Degrees
BusinessZone: Five Essential Management Skills
Fast Company: 4 Essential Skills Good Managers Have
DDI: Do MBA Graduates Make the Best Leaders?
