Moving Up in the World

I wasn't in with the right people at my company, so the good work that I did was constantly overlooked by the higher-ups. I watched kids five or six years younger than me getting all these high-profile assignments, and I started to get burned up about it. So I decided to try a different strategy. I love playing racquetball, so I signed up for the company tournament and just ‘happened’ to get paired with a senior exec in my division. We got to know each other a lot during that week, and I dropped in just enough info about work so that this guy knew what I was made of. When one of his employees left the company, I asked him if he was looking for a replacement. He hadn't thought about it yet, and he didn't think about it anymore—he hired me!

---

---

Mike, 29, New Jersey

In case this wasn't obvious already, you need to do more than just master the performance review process and leave the rest to chance if you want to get promoted. According to Harry Chambers, author of Getting Promoted: Real Strategies for Advancing Your Career, factors that affect promotion include:

1. Yourself (your skills, your abilities, and your willingness to do what you need to do in order to get ahead).
2. Your visibility in the organization and people's perceptions of you.
3. Opportunities within the organization to move up the ladder.

Intentionally moving your career in the right direction means successfully controlling Factor #1, influencing Factor #2, and assessing Factor #3.

Chambers suggests that people who want to be promoted do the following:

• • Perform at such a high level that their candidacy cannot be denied.
• • Demonstrate informal leadership before formal authority is attained.
• • Keep themselves free of baggage and political skirmishes.
• • Position themselves as agents of change who are willing to support current company policies, while also embracing future opportunities.
• • Seek to expand their influence and challenges by broadening the scope of their responsibilities.
• • Develop and support the people they work with by driving processes forward.

Of course, the skills I've discussed throughout this book, including maintaining a strong corporate persona, proactively setting goals, confronting and solving problems, communicating effectively, and greeting challenges with a positive attitude will serve you well as you position yourself for your next promotion. I also cannot emphasize enough the importance of relationships in this process. In Chapter 3, I talked about how networking can increase your visibility and establish personal connections that will help you move forward. Reading this book cover to cover and becoming as good an employee as Tiger Woods is a golfer will not do the job unless you get out there and meet the right people. At this stage in your career, you should be jumping at any opportunity to interact with higher-ups—from attending your company's social events and sitting in the right place in the cafeteria, to volunteering to work on special projects and serving on office committees. In these situations, don't be afraid to strut your stuff. Just be sure you know what you're talking about!

It also doesn't hurt to be assertive in determining your own destiny. Just like asking for a raise, bringing up the topic of promotion with your manager is appropriate and legitimate, provided you've earned the right to move to the next level. Rather than accosting your boss in the hall during a moment of extraordinary stress and blurting out, “I want a promotion,” give the matter a great deal of thought before initiating a conversation. Develop a bulletproof case for why you are entitled to advance by making a list of the weekly hours you spend doing tasks inside your job description and the weekly hours you spend doing tasks at the next level. The goal of this little exercise is to show that you are accomplishing much more than you were originally hired to do. If you're doing the work of more than one full-time employee, note that as well. Then, as you're talking to your boss, point out that your efficiency saves him money because he only has to pay one person instead of two.

Be prepared to compromise. No matter how valuable you are, chances are your boss is not going to promote you right then and there, so talk in terms of time frames and how you can ensure that you perform at a level that will warrant a promotion in three to six months. Once you and your boss agree on a promotion plan, remember to get it in writing.

At some point in your early career, it's inevitable that you will be denied advancement. The circumstances vary. Maybe you will ask your manager for a promotion, and she will turn you down outright. Perhaps a higher-level position will open up and one of your colleagues will be slated for it instead of you. It's also possible that your performance review or promotion plan says you are due for advancement, but your boss thinks you still have some work to do before moving ahead. In any case, being denied a promotion can be disappointing and hurtful. However, it does not mean that your boss doesn't like you, or that the company doesn't recognize your contributions. Often, promotion decisions have more to do with the politics of the organization than with you as an individual. It's vital that you don't demonstrate your displeasure, because the “powers that be” might be watching to see how you react. Instead, take an honest look at the reasons behind the decision, and work to overcome real and perceived weaknesses so that you can be successful at the next opportunity.