What if you had a pile of gold, and
someone came up to you and said, “You should really give me some of
that. I’ve been your neighbor for a long time, so I deserve it” or
maybe, “You know, I don’t have any gold, so you should share yours with me.”
Would those be compelling rationales for you?
I seriously doubt it.
But every day, I see employees
asking for advancement – raises, promotions, bigger jobs – using exactly this
flawed logic. they go to their bosses and say, in effect, Promote me because
I’ve been here for awhile without being promoted, and I need more money.
The reason this hardly ever works: it’s entirely self- focused. It’s about what
you need, vs. what you’re doing for the organization.
Assuming that your boss is a
reasonable human being, here are three ways to make yourself promotable:
Do your current job really really
well – too often, I see people lobbying
for bigger, more interesting or highly placed positions when they’re not doing
such a fabulous job in the position they have now! (And some people even
have excuses for this, “It doesn’t play to my strengths,” “I’m not being
challenged to excel.”) The very best way to demonstrate that you’re ready
for the next step is to knock what’s right in front of you out of the park.
Provide tons of value right now. Being truly excellent in your current
job, especially if you can do it in a low-maintenance way, makes a powerful
statement. When people see someone doing a job extremely well without looking
like they’re even breathing hard, the next logical thought is – what more is
this person capable of doing?
Put your hand up – This goes both to relationship and value. When
someone on your team asks for help, and you could do it without compromising
your own results – say yes. We often get into a kind of reflexive ‘not my
job’ mentality, saying no to such requests just as a matter of course. When
bosses are thinking about who to promote, they reflect not only on who gets
great results, but also on who supports the success of the larger team. And
when colleagues have the opportunity to support someone’s success, they’re more
likely to stand up for the person who has supported theirs. Which goes to
the third point…
Be an ally to those you want as
allies – In any workplace, you will have
allies (people who will work for your success), adversaries (people who will
work against your success), and fence-sitters (people who will watch from the
sidelines). Getting promoted is partly about building allegiance among
those who can influence that decision. So, you certainly want to create a
strong ally relationship with your boss, but it also makes sense to think about
who else might weigh in on or influence any decision about your promotion, and
build them as allies, too. (For instance, maybe your boss’ boss, or the head of
HR, or one of your peers will have a big say in whether you get promoted.)
Please understand: I’m not talking
about some low-rent cheesy backroom politics kind of thing. The best and
most honorable way to build an ally is to be one. So think about who can
affect the decision about whether you get promoted, and figure out how you can
genuinely and authentically support their success. Can you get behind an
idea of theirs (that you genuinely believe in)? Can you help to remove an
obstacle to something they want to accomplish? Can you provide useful
information, insights, or resources? Can you simply be a sounding board
for them?
If you focus on how you can provide
value to your organization and to others around you, and build strong mutually
supportive relationships with the people who have the most impact on your
career, you’re giving your best. And that makes it much more likely that
you’ll get something back: the next step in your career.
___________________________
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cool
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