“I AM A GREAT BELIEVER IN LUCK, AND I FIND THAT THE HARDER I WORK, THE MORE I HAVE OF IT” – THOMAS JEFFERSON
One of my favorite things to do is mentor and coach people as it gives me a lot of personal joy not only in sharing some of my knowledge but the knowledge I get in return. Mentoring in my opinion is a 2-way street where not only are you coaching but also learning in the process. I have been very fortunate in my career and have had a lot of success due to the mentors I have had in my life teaching me and showing me the way. At this point, I would like to pay it forward and share the lessons I have learned through my journey in the corporate world. I have worked my way up from a frontline position to now having multiple board positions. The road has not been easy and has been filled with challenges and is littered with the many mistakes and personal failures but it has been rewarding.
Based on what I have learned over the past 18 years, the below are 10 surefire ways to get promoted at work:
Fake it till you make it – Now I am not suggesting by any means to do anything disingenuous, shady or underhanded. What I mean by this statement is that in your mind you have to fake your mind in believing you have your desired position already and make decisions and act accordingly. There are a lot of things that you won’t be able to do due to lack of assigned authority but you will be surprised as to how your thought process changes and how you start making your boss’ life easier by just practicing this little concept. You start becoming more pro-active and start looking at the bigger picture and stop focusing on the little things. This belief will result in you making positive behavioral changes and subconsciously you will be prepared when that chance for a promotion opens up.
Find great mentor/s – A great mentor has the ability to completely change your life, if you have multiple great mentors then that’s an even bigger gift. Pick someone who is higher up in the company and someone you admire and respect. In my case I was lucky to have great bosses that I worked for while I was at T-Mobile and every one of them turned out to be a great mentor to me. A great mentor has the ability to not only highlight your strengths and weaknesses but is also able to help you navigate through the corporate maze. Ideally, look for someone who has a lot of experience and someone whose role you desire to fill some day. You can then learn the challenges they faced on their journey and what it took them to get there. A great mentor is someone who is willing to share their personal experiences and is not afraid to talk about their failures or mistakes. Real learning comes from facing obstacles and setbacks and if you can learn from a mentor’s experience that makes your learning process that much faster and prevents you from making similar mistakes.
Take calculated risks – To get promoted faster it is critical to practice taking calculated risks. Most people get comfortable in their jobs and their daily routines. You won’t get promoted faster if you only do things that are expected of you. You get promoted faster when you go above and beyond and constantly exceed the expectations of everyone around you. To ensure you do that, you must be willing to take risks and push yourself outside your comfort zone. A few ways to do it would be to ask for lateral positions so you can learn different parts of the business and become well rounded. You could also ask for short term assignments and be willing to move and be flexible with your job responsibilities. The important thing is to work on additional tasks that go well above your job description. It is the fames risk/reward equation, greater the risk results in greater the reward.
Focus on continuous learning – Many people think that as they grow older they can’t learn new things any more. Personally speaking, I think that is farthest from the truth. If you aren’t growing, you are dying. To live is to learn, the focus should always be continuous learning and becoming better at your trade and learning new things. So what exactly is continuous learning? Continuous learning is the ability to apply strategies which support learning the ability to adapt to change. I really like the picture below , created by Josh Bersin (a big linkedin Influencer) , that shows the continuous learning model and compares it to traditional training. Whereas traditional training is effective after the training event concludes it loses its effectiveness over time. With continuous learning there is no retention loss because you continue to work on your skills using different mediums as shown in the picture
Be accountable and show results – To move up the career ladder the ability to be accountable and deliver consistent results that meet or exceed expectations is what separates the winners from the rest. Results should be quantified and the communicated effectively. Do not take credit for things you didn’t do but make sure you do communicate the things you did do well effectively. Also, accountability is the ability to take responsibility for things that you didn’t do well. Take responsibility for your mistakes and work on an action plan to ensure you don’t make the same mistakes again. Another important practice to follow is establishing stretch goals for you. Your company will probably set company goals and department goals as well as possibly individual goals for you, those should be table stakes. To really get promoted faster you need to establish stretch goals for yourself and find a way to meet them. It is hard to deny stellar results.
Unleash the power of the team – Humans are social animals and we are all part of a greater social fabric that binds us together. Too often, we focus on ourselves so much that we lose sight of those around us. To be successful and get promoted in an organization, it is critical to never lose sight of your team members whether they are peers or direct/indirect reports. You can show greater results and have a greater impact on the bottom line when you work collaboratively within the team. Your aim should be to find ways to make the team successful. Focus on the strengths of all the team members and understand their limitations as well. Instead of pointing out all their limitations, work with the strengths of the team members and delegate responsibilities accordingly. Delegation can happen amongst peers as well provided there is trust built amongst peers.
Focus on solutions not problems – The workplace is filled with people identifying problems with the business, customers, vendors, management and other employees. Very few people actually come up with solutions or follow a solution centric approach in the workplace. The few that do focus on solving their boss’ problems or find solutions to the big challenges that the business is facing have the highest probability of getting promoted. We have to remember that we get what we focus on, so we focus on problems we get more problems, if we focus on solutions then we get more solutions and answers. Problems are draining whereas solutions reinvigorate you and energize you. The mind is a powerful instrument and when it is tuned to providing solutions it is unstoppable.
Recognize good work – Everybody wants to be recognized for doing good work. Ironically, most of us have the hardest time recognizing others. People may have different needs around recognition e.g. some people like public recognition and some like private recognition. However, the need for being recognized or appreciated is an innate quality in human beings. Life is so distracting that we spend time in discussing things that went wrong but don’t spend nearly enough time discussing what went right. To move up the corporate ladder, recognizing those around you is a big differentiator. Recognition needs to be genuine to be effective otherwise it comes across as forced and unreal. It is also important to recognize all those around you, one common misconception is that bosses should recognize their team members. I believe recognition needs to happen in all directions. If you catch your co-worker doing something great recognize her for the good work. If you were impressed by something your boss did, recognize him and share it with others. Even if the person is in another department, you should still practice recognition on a daily basis.
Know your blind spots – Feedback is a gift when delivered by people who know you and are capable of giving constructive and candid feedback. Perception is reality so it is important to know what people at the workplace think of you. One good tool to get an idea of complete feedback is the 360 degree feedback survey where you get your boss, peers and direct/indirect reports to fill out a survey that includes various competencies and the participants are asked to rate you on them. I can tell you for a fact that this survey is an eye opener and helps flush out blind spots you never knew existed. You might feel like a lot of things aren’t true but frankly you will see trends of how you are perceived and those are good areas to focus on for improvement. In addition to the survey, you should be soliciting feedback on a regular basis from your boss to ensure your boss is pleased with you performance and will continue to support you for any future opportunitites.
Stay Positive in the face of adversity – This can be very hard to implement and practice in real life but is a quality that deserves a lot of credit. As you move up in rank, the total number of positions available diminishes significantly and it gets a lot harder to get promoted. There are times when you might feel that you deserved the position but it went to someone else. It is at those times when you have to keep your head up and be positive. Although you may not have gotten the position at that time, it is not the end. The only thing constant about life is change. Everything is temporary so if you fall prey to negativity at this time it will limit your chances of getting promoted in the future. Focus on staying positive, receive feedback with an open mind and start planning for a better future. My father has always said to me that everything happens for a reason and it always is a good reason. It may not feel that way at that moment but my personal experience has shown that it all works out in the end.
So, there you have it! 10 surefire ways to get promoted at work. I would love to hear your opinion or comments on the article and if there are any topics I should elaborate on in subsequent posts!