Look around at the players in our shared services community, and you’ll see four distinct pathways to leadership. Each pathway corresponds to the level of maturity of the model, and at the same time is shaped by the business context in which the model operates. Which pathway characterizes your career? What kind of a shared services leader are you? Are you a lifer, having worked your way through your function’s ranks to the ranks of shared services leaders? Are you a loyalist, having started your shared services career when asked to fix a flailing operation? Are you a moonlighter, assuming the mantle of shared services leadership (and keeping your day job) because you see shared services as a better way? Or are you an expert, moving from company to company, taking on increasingly responsible roles in other countries?
Sourcing Change, in conjunction with sharedserviceslink.com, are conducting an industry-first study that examines the different career pathways that characterize the development of today’s shared services leaders. If you hold the position of manager(the leader) of a shared services center, a network of shared services centers, or are the leader of all shared services center initiatives globally, we invite you to complete this important survey.
The results will help us better understand how careers in shared services are evolving, and how the industry you work in and the size of your organization impacts your career progression and your leadership style.
A copy of the findings will be shared with you along with the Paths to Leadership Guide illustrating the four pathways that define the different leaders in this market.