How to get the promotion you deserve
Most of us believe that if we put in hard work, hit our targets and get things done, we’ll get promoted in our organizations. But doing our job, and doing it well, only takes us so far. Getting promoted requires more than just diligence and devotion. It requires a set of skills and commitments that many workers overlook.
So if we want to put ourselves in the position to move up the corporate ladder, what do we need to do? Research shows that four things are essential:
(1) Understand your environment: To move up, you need to uncover your company’s unspoken expectations. These are typically soft skills that are hard to define and vary based on who you ask. If you want to find out what your company values and promotes, start by examining your organization’s environment, especially those individuals who were recently promoted. Ask yourself what projects do they get involved with? How do they spend their time? Who do they work with? How do they resolve tricky intra-company issues? And how do they communicate?
One coaching client of mine told me that understanding these soft skills was the key to her success at her firm. When she asked questions about what it took to succeed at the next level, she realized that her peers who took the time to build strong connections with senior leaders, who worked on high-visibility projects, and who spoke up in meetings were the ones who got promoted. Understanding what her company valued helped her to fine-tune her career focus.
(2) Perceptions matter: People who get promoted understand that perceptions matter. Promotions, after all, are handed out by other people. So getting feedback early and often is key. You can start with your manager and a few stakeholders – like trusted peers, mentors or senior colleagues. Share with them your career ambitions. Let them know where you are and where you’d like to be, and then ask how they think you can get there. Remember that your colleagues don’t always know about your aspirations, and they can only help you if they know what you want. In these conversations, project a sincere desire to understand what you do well and what is holding you back. Ask questions like what skills and capabilities do you need to get to the next level? If you don’t understand the feedback, ask clarifying questions. One client of mine had her manager tell her that she needed to improve her “leadership skills.” But it was only after she asked her manager what they meant by “leadership skills” that she discovered what the company sought: they wanted her to delegate more. Understanding these kinds of otherwise unspoken perceptions is an essential skill.
(3) Set goals: For a lot of leaders, the “soft skills” required for promotion don’t come naturally. To build them, choose one or two areas where you’d like to improve and then set clear goals on how to improve them. Ask yourself what company leadership focuses on? Who can you learn from? Where can you practice? Depending on your level of comfort, you may want to fine tune your new skill in a low-stake environment like a meeting with trusted peers. Next, set goals to keep yourself accountable. For example, if you’d like to become more visible to company leadership, you could commit to sharing your ideas publicly, find ways to collaborate with leaders across the organization, or simply speak up more in meetings.
(4) Be compassionate: It isn’t easy to learn new skills. Anxiety and fear can stop us in our tracks. To break out of our habits, we need to be compassionate with ourselves. When we forgive ourselves for being hesitant or procrastinating, we’re more likely to move forward. It also helps to imagine our future selves talking to our current selves. What advice would my future self give me? Would they really judge us so harshly? And, lastly, remember that once we start learning a new skill, it is rarely as difficult as we think. In fact, we might even enjoy it.
Decoding the rules of promotion can feel tricky. But by taking action, we can put ourselves in a better position. These four steps have helped my clients to get promoted, and I hope they will help you too.
Please reach out to me if you need professional assistance with this matter. Drop me a note through the Contact page if you have any questions.
