How can an IT manager become a director?
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Evolving your approach/mindset from tactical-focused to strategic-focused. Additionally, is being able to leverage your influence skills as you will deal with cross-functional stakeholders/peers. Finally applying more Emotional Intelligence to your interactions to ensure active listening and understanding of different perspective and priorities and how those cross-functional goals can be achieved in a collaborative environment.
To transition from an IT Manager to Director, the individual must become more strategic and learn to build relationships across the organization. At this level, more effort is placed on business alignment and relationship building, as these relationships will determine whether your program will garner the support it needs to succeed or not.
Effectively managing down and up
it is related to how much s/he can be away or detached from day to day operation support and understand the industry and business he is in and contribute to the strategic level of it.
Having said that, it also related to the maturity level of his environment and organization he is working in.
Yes. Develop experiences in building coalitions and allies outside of the technical groups towards providing higher levels of value (positive U/X, technical capabilities that enable others missions). Finding a threat to the mission, share, co-develop a plan to address, partner, and work through the barriers. The tier 1-4 can find success in director work, but they need to gain experiences in a different scope of complexity. I suggest read Phoenix Project by Gene Kim.