As we progress up the career ladder one of the biggest single advancements we can make is when we scurry up those rungs that take us from minion to manager. Having been cajoled by colleagues into applying for a promotion (go on, you never know your luck), our prospective manager sits nervously outside the interview room. He knows he will face a grilling and so he makes mental notes of what particular skills and attributes his employers will be looking for. But, as in many areas of business, there are different demands to be met in management and there are no set criteria as to what makes good managerial material.

For example, becoming a manager within the workforce of a huge corporation is a slightly different proposition to a similar post within a small company. Within a large organisation, set practices that have been in operation for some time will be in place. In these instances it is probably better to concentrate on efficiency rather than trying to make an impact, as this could cause resentment. In a smaller company, however, there is much more room to put your own stamp on matters.

But in whichever field the new managerial recruit is to operate, one of the first things he or she will have to adopt is a new way of thinking. Those years spent as a team member were comparatively carefree as instructions were given and obeyed without the need to consider the managerial mindset that devised them. All that changes in management and you must learn to look at the job through different eyes, to be able to foresee problems that may lie ahead and to have the ability to deal with them. You are no longer working to meet those well-established goals of your days on the shop floor. Now you are setting those goals.

This new way of thinking will have you looking at factors that never cropped up in your pre-management days. Factors such as objectives, cost, value, timescale and feasibility must all be considered and a strategy planned by you. That may sound a little daunting, but bear in mind that if you have been considered managerial material, then you must have shown the potential needed to cope with the job.

Besides, as a new manager you will not be put in charge of the company's flagship project that has a very tight deadline and a heavy penalty for not meeting it. Rather you will be broken in gradually by being given smaller projects where, if you make a mistake (and we all do, so this is allowed for) then the consequences will not be so severe. However these early projects will still give you that sense that you are running the show and the responsibility that goes with it.

As your confidence increases you will be put in charge of bigger projects that bring more responsibility, and before you know it you could well be in charge of that flagship project with the tight deadline. After all, even the top bosses had to start somewhere.

Making the step up onto the management ladder is an exciting and rewarding career move and a moment of personal pride. If you think that you have management potential, then a training course on an introduction to management will show you all you all aspects of what to expect should you achieve this goal.