It's Your Career Stop Giving Control to Others
It is unbearably hot. I am not sure if it is on purpose or just by chance but given the stakes, I assume they are purposely keeping it at an uncomfortable heat. Weeding out the weak so only the strong can endure it to the finish line.
If the heat is not on purpose, then it is certainly coming off the bodies of the two dozen or so business leaders dressed to impress. All of us cramped into what must have been the only conference room available. Not a single seat is open and not everyone can sit at the table, even the corners are full.
The dossiers have been distributed and the negotiations are about to begin.
If the rumors are true, there will only be four winning applications this year.
The owner of the process stands up and makes some opening remarks, “Thank you all for taking time out of your busy schedules, I know it is the end of Q4. I recognize there is a lot of work in flight and some of you are anxiously awaiting time with your families. You and your teams outperformed yourselves this year and I am incredibly grateful for your leadership and your teams' performances.”
The speaker takes a long pause and then continues, “We do however have strong headwinds going into next fiscal year. So for this period, we have 4 open slots.” The speaker once again pauses, as if he to purposefully allow for a reaction.
An audible groan rolls through the room. Each leader knows what that means. The negotiations this year will be tough and no one can afford to take it easy on their pitches or to find opportunities to poke holes in the pitches of others.
The process owner continues, “Since there are only 4 open slots and 40 applications, we will begin by disqualifying applications that don’t meet these criteria...”
After the disqualifiers are stated and those applications physically removed from the dossier, the list is down to 15 applicants. A lot of quality candidates were just left by the wayside. Maybe for them, it is better luck next time or maybe they will never be heard from again.
The reality is every one of the applicants has accomplishments deserving of promotion but the limit has been set at four and that is the only thing that won’t be negotiated or debated today. Let’s get ready to rumble (professionally of course) ...
Six hours later the same leader that opened the meeting stands up to close.
“I know that it has been a long day, the spirited discussion is part of what makes this team great. I appreciate the candor, respect, and openness each of you displayed. Please continue to pursue excellence each and every day and congratulations to our new Vice Presidents. Reminder everything that was discussed today should be considered confidential and no one should share the results until…”
The speaker continues but few are listening. Everyone is exhausted and ready to check on whatever fire needs their attention next.
Is this a retelling of actual events no, a paraphrase nope, but is it closer to reality then most would think? You should know the answer is yes, much closer than you would think and before you get mad, let’s do some fact-checking.
Fact: All of the candidates in the promotion process deserve to be in consideration. Everyone in the process will have exceeded expectations, gone above and beyond, been a top performer, is considered best of the best or too valuable to lose. Everyone on the slate has the results worthy of being in the discussion. In that way none of the candidates are unique, they are more similar than different.
Fact: The more sophisticated and tenured the promotion process is at your company the more likely the statement above is true. The reason is that a vetted list of criteria/qualifications exists and has been communicated to leaders. Why? To make the process fairer and to ensure everyone included has met a minimum standard.
Fact: There will always be a limited number of opportunities. If everyone is promoted then the promotion means nothing. So purposefully creating scarcity makes the title worth the effort and drives people towards looking to exceed expectations.
Fact: Bias’ exist (unconscious, confirmation, recency) There are plenty of articles about them. The articles cover why they exist, the dangers, and how to overcome them. But I do not recommend leaving your career in the hands of others, hoping that everyone in the room is aware biases exist and self-aware enough to slow down to make sure they are being unbiased when making the decisions.
How is differentiation created in a sea of Top Performers
In a promotion discussion where everything is equal (or darn near close), the differentiation I have experienced most is who is known. Who have the decision-makers gotten to know more and who have the decision-makers gotten the most comfortable with.
When your names come up for discussion you have a better chance of being promoted if others act like Buddy the Elf and say “<insert your name> I know him.” Rather than everyone saying “who?”.
This is because the decision is not about who is qualified for the promotion (remember everyone on the slate is) it is about who are others most comfortable can handle the promotion and grow into the next role. Comfort comes from experiences and experiences are the result of interactions. The more interactions the greater the level of comfort that can be created. How does one create the opportunity for interactions, through building relationships?
So it's not a matter of who do you know, but more about who knows you.
Don’t get mad; Don’t get even; Get Known
Before you do anything else you need to ask yourself this question (courtesy of my former boss Stan) why do you even want to get promoted?
Beyond the perceived benefits to you (money, prestige) there are a lot more things that come with the new title that might not be appealing. Things like increased expectations, more work, likely different types of work, fewer experts who do the job to give you advice and more exposure which is a double-edged sword.
If you are strictly in it for the what’s in it for me benefits the victory of promotion is likely to taste bitter sooner rather than later. But if a promotion is a part of your overall life strategy goes in with eyes wide open.
This is why when asking questions about what it takes to be promoted you should also ask questions about expectations at that new level. There are always things you would never think of that come with promotion.
Consider taking these actions
If you a promotion is true to your life motives, here is an approach for increasing your chances for being known which in turn increases the chances you will stand out in the crowd.
1. Start with making your motives know (include the why). No one will care more about your career than you do (or should) if you want to be promoted tell people. It's not that hard. Start with your boss. Here is a simple approach
Start with what “I really want to reach the next level in the organization
I want to get there because… what is in it for me, what I bring to the organization
Getting there will help me achieve this part of my life’s goals
2. Then be bold and ask what it takes: You only know what you think you know. Don’t guess or assume, ask. IF you are not in an environment where you can ask, then why are you wasting your time in that environment? Go take your skills somewhere else.
What are the things I need to be doing to get to the next level here?
Are there criteria for promotion that you can share with me?
Based on what you have seen from me in what ways would you be comfortable recommending me?
Based on what you have seen from me what things do I need to do more, different or better before you would recommend me?
3. Be sure to start earlier than you think you should: The cycle starts as soon as the last one ended and the reality is the timeframe for a promotion is years not months. Almost all mature promotion systems require employees to demonstrate what it takes for multiple years.
4. Build relationships for the long term not out of selfish intentions. You aren’t that clever and other people aren’t naïve. If you show up with an attitude of singular focus it won’t go well.
Start by stating your intentions... I am looking to take my career to the next level; to me that looks like this…and its important to me because…
Then tell the person why you want to talk to them … I have been told that you are an influential leader in our business who can help me move towards this goal…
Next, tell them about you and your results… Here is what I have accomplished thus far…here is how I went about accomplishing them…
Then ask what the qualities are that they have seen in others who achieve the promotion…
Then thank them and ask permission to meet again… and ask for a homework assignment… is there anything I can do between now and the next time we meet that would help me?
5. Tell your story with a focus on what you did and how you got the work accomplished… going to the next level will require you to get work done differently. NE sure people understand what you have done and how you accomplished it. Figure out your potential pain points for your next job while doing your current job. Then begin to develop them.
6. Don’t get discouraged or impatient. The process will be hard here are a few things to prepare for
It is going to take years. If you prove me wrong let me know.
The people you reach out to will reschedule your meetings. Don’t take it personally they are busy and they don’t know you enough not to like you.
Just because you do everything someone tells you needs to be done doesn’t guarantee success.
7. Be grateful and express gratitude. No matter the results say thank you and be grateful. Everyone is busy so anyone who helps you gave up doing something else to help.
Just one point of view on how to help you grow your career, but it is an informed view, so please consider it. Disagree/agree whatever let’s start a conversation in the comments.