Career Aspirations: Journey to Becoming Head of Operations

Lloyd is committed to analyzing and documenting the many individual paths that lead to specific career destinations. If you are a young professional, Lloyd’s blog is the place for you. We analyze the career journeys of individuals who have gone on to become anything ranging from Creative Director to VP of Finance to Head of Product. Our goal is to take the mystery out of what it means to navigate your career. Whether your journey involves a linear path or several career switches along the way, Lloyd is here to help you develop a clear direction and specific goals.

In this piece, the team at Lloyd collected data from the paths of a number of individuals who worked their way to becoming Head of Operations. This data, as well as a number of figures and patterns (which will be released periodically on our Instagram and LinkedIn!), have been given to Perry Asibey-Bonsu. Perry is a young professional interested in becoming Head of Operations. Read on to see our summarized data points, hear Perry’s perspective, and see quotes from a dedicated leader who is already Head of Operations.

As always, we’d love to hear from you. Feel free to leave a comment and subscribe to our newsletter!

1. Not many of the people in the dataset actually studied Business Administration. The most common degrees were in Finance, Art History, and Engineering. 

2. 32% held MBA degrees.

3. As you said, Big Tech companies were a definite feeder into Head of Operation roles as those people tended to switch companies fewer times before becoming Head of Operations.

4. Most people worked at an average of 5-6 companies before becoming Head of Operations at their current role.

5. 5 people had quite big career shifts. They had either worked in art, journalism, or founded their own companies before moving to a Head of Operations role.

6. The people who had gone through career shifts started as interns in the new field before advancing through company ranks.

7. Only 4 people had been at a single company for more than 5 years. The rest moved companies several times.

I’m currently working at a company that specializes in offering office space and developmental resources to start-ups and entrepreneurs. Thus far, I’ve learned a great deal about the necessary precision for back-office operations – especially when our customers are at the nexus of critical procedures such as leasing, event planning, and relationship management. My fascination with the career path of Head of Operations comes from a desire to become more proficient in assessing task workflows, isolating inefficiencies, and implementing improvements which amplify the efficiency and creativity of my teammates.

When assessing Lloyd’s compiled data, I’m left wondering what skills each tracked professional acquired over the course of their journey to becoming Head of Operations. The professionals Lloyd tracked in their data set are all in different industries, so without knowing the specifics of their specific responsibilities, I can’t get an accurate sense of what abilities one would need to be a successful Head of Operations. What the data shows me clearly is that there is no single, optimal starting-point to becoming Head of Operations. I was the most fascinated by the professional who began as a writer studying journalism and ended up as Head of Operations of a 200+ employee video technology company. To me, this signals an individual who managed to leverage their education in a more traditional medium for a modern, fast-paced one.

I think that readers who see this data need to understand that it is not designed to tell the entire story of an individual’s professional development. A person’s title does not necessarily indicate their skills or knowledge. Additionally, the fact that forty- percent of the tracked professionals held positions listed as “Other” indicates that professional roadmaps often break convention. For me, this data suggests that my approach in career advancement should not focus on collecting titles but rather skills I can leverage to maximize my contributions to whatever firm I join.

Advice: First 15 years are investment years, use money as a barometer but don’t let it be your only metric.

My Story: At my first job out of grad school, I was told that I can start “looking” 2-3 years into a job and then leave when someone offers me a 20% pay bump. I took it to heart, but proceeded to change companies twice since then with a pay cut both times (-35-40% the first time, and -33% the second time). Results? Each time, I made it back and then some such that I exceeded what I would have made had I stayed. None of this was known to me per se, and results not guaranteed, etc. But the point is, it’s important to broaden and deepen your experiences early on even if you have to do it as “an investment” when it comes to pay. Each time, stay humble in the new role, figure out how to rock it, and you’ll see the returns come back to you not only in money but also personal growth and career options, and for me in operations – helping others along the way.

Operations has been very fulfilling for me as I’ve been able to work in areas of startups which were greenfield; building process, teams, products, and departments. If you enjoy puzzles and deconstruction problems to make things work, are comfortable with the idea that your first two or three tries will fail before you succeed, and you love seeing your work help others succeed; I’d recommend operations. 

The key to success is really understanding the business model of the company / industry you’re in. Once you know how an org actually makes money, you’ll be on your way to creating great process and driving a ton of value.

I believe that people who are most successful in operations are detail-oriented systems thinkers, meaning they can navigate everything from the small details of specific processes to the big picture business strategy. My advice to those looking to build a career in operations is to 1) get curious about how the system works, 2) think critically and creatively about new ways to make the system more efficient, effective and inclusive, and 3) be willing to experiment and get messy; we learn the most from testing out ideas and seeing how they play out in the real word.

The role of Head of Operations will look wildly different depending on the industry, because the skills and knowledge it takes to run a business will be unique. I was thrilled to join Raise The Bar because I’m inspired by our mission, passionate about our industry, and aligned with our culture – if you’re looking to build your career, that’s the place to start.

Advice to his younger self:

I’d tell myself to take on as many different disciplines as possible — product, sales, marketing, support, etc. Head of Ops (usually a role in early stage companies) basically means being a utility player for the company. I’d also tell myself two other things: 1) be eager to translate customer needs to internal teams (i.e., engineers); and 2) learn to manage a team effectively + efficiently. The latter takes growing into but will teach you to prioritize and manage time appropriately, which a Head of Ops with multiple responsibilities often has to do.