I recently had the honor of being the featured guest on ChaChanna Simpson’s BlogTalkRadio Show, A Stellar Day with ChaChanna. The 45-minute show, “Movin’ on up in your company,” covers how to have promotion conversations, tips for moving up the corporate ladder, and common promotion pitfalls to avoid. Listen here, or for those of you who don’t have the patience to listen to audio (like me!), I’ve summarized my talking points below.
Summary of my key points – 10 Tips for Moving Up the Corporate Ladder:
- Don’t just focus on promotion as an end in itself - It’s like losing weight: you can either focus solely on the number on the scale or on getting healthy overall. Getting healthy has many more fringe benefits. Similarly, don’t just focus on the promotion itself. Focus more on the competencies, expectations and behaviors that will lead to a promotion; you’ll be better off in the long run and most likely get there faster.
- Build your career like a pyramid not a ladder (Carol Bartz) – Don’t be afraid of horizontal moves. Focus on finding work that is soul-stirring (as Tim Gunn would say) and make adjustments along the way. Much better (for most people) to focus on finding work that is a great fit rather than just on getting promoted. Sometimes you have to make a lateral move, but if it leads to greater happiness and productivity, it’s probably worth it in the long run.
- Have the right conversations – ask your manager: what does success look like? In 3-6 months, what would you love to see me doing? What should I be doing to operate at the next level?
- Be an observer – Pay attention to people who have been recently promoted or who work in the level above you. What skills, experiences and attitudes do they have?
- Save the entitlement – You may think you deserve a promotion (and you might be ready) but also be aware that much of the time people think they deserve promotions earlier than their managers might think so. Be willing to compromise and navigate this through open, direct conversations. Also remember that it often depends on many factors outside of your job performance alone (the economy, other people in the company, etc).
- Networking is key – Often there will be more people involved in deciding whether to promote you than just your direct manager. Try to get experience working on projects that involve other leaders within the company.
- Want a promotion? Ask for more responsibility instead – In many companies, you pretty much have to already be operating at the next level before you get promoted. Keep this in mind. Keep asking for more responsibility.
- Stand out - Make yourself indispensable by being proactive, having a positive attitude and being a flexible “team player.” Come up with ideas, solve problems before your manager asks. Do what it takes to be their right hand.
- Don’t sacrifice your sanity just to work toward a promotion – It’s not worth it! You’ll get angrier and angrier if the promotion doesn’t come right away, but mostly because YOU are giving too much. Keep the balance and remember to have fun, even as you’re trying to move up the ladder.
- Focus on impact, not just output - As you are taking on more and more responsibility, focus on delivering quality work that makes an impact. Be able to show that the work you are doing is improving the company in a material way (for example: increasing sales, making processes more efficient, making programs more effective).
What did I miss? Any other tips for moving up the corporate ladder?
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While you have your headphones on:
For those of you social media newbies out there, I also recently delivered a 40-minute webinar for People OnTheGo called “Accomplishing More with Less: 4 Social Media Tools You Don’t Want to Live Without.” I cover the basics of Google Reader, Delicious, TweetDeck and WordPress. Take a listen: Part 1 and Part 2.
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Hey Jenny,
This is excellent advice. Speaking to #2 and #7 specifically:
#2 I think this is one of the scariest things, to take a step horizontally. I think it is easy to feel like your previous work is being tossed aside. For me, the key to feeling like I was still progressing was to (1) being stepping into something I loved more. That made a big difference. and (2) bringing some of your old skills, even if it's just a few, from your old job to help you with your new job. Even having a few things be easier because of previous experience can help make a horizontal move less scary and more comfortable.
#7 In my old company, this actually was the only way to move forward. It was exclusively the people who had taken on greater responsibility, shown the interest, capability, and drive to take on new and greater projects that inevitably were promoted.
Great post. Send it a several of my friends who have been feeling stuck at their current positions.
Very insightful advice for a common employee. Here are my 2 cents regarding the advices in general and #9.
a) How applicable do you think this is to a lot of people where staying at the same organization for more than 2 or 3 years isn't a reality? Also, how applicable do you think this is for employees in small firms where they can't really climb the ladder other than switching employers?
b) Is a promotion really one, if one's work life balance is severely compromised as a cost of accepting such promotion? For example, a promotion with ceremonious raises in salary and benefits but distinctive increase in required working hour contributions.
9) I like your remarks about not sacrificing sanity just to work towards a promotion. In my opinion, no sanity equals no promotion, as management is unlikely to promote an insane employee other than for other political agenda.
Excellent post! Thank you, Jenny!
Hi Jenny,
Thanks for the post.
Here is my favorite part:
“Focus on work that is soul-stirring (as Tim Gunn would say) and make adjustments along the way. Much better (for most people) to focus on finding work that is a great fit rather than just on getting promoted.”
I LOVE the phrase “soul-stirring” (I had never heard this before) in the context of finding the right work for you.
In the long run, when you do work you at least like and hopefully love, your work performance will likely be so much better. This should obviously translate to more promotions, more money, etc. But like you mentioned, it will immediately result in more happiness.
I also agree that networking is extremely important. I think a big problem with business schools (or at least it was when I was there in the mid 1990s) is that they don't focus enough on the importance of networking and selling. I think selling is especially important for entrepreneurs, but networking is important for everybody. And if you work for somebody else, this includes networking both inside and outside of the company.
One fascinating thing that I have noticed about promotions is that people often have to go to another company to get them. In some cases, managers can't get stop viewing employees in the same way that they were when they were hired. A person might have been hired 3-4 years ago and grown tremendously during that time. But the manager can't or doesn't want to see what the employee has become. It's similar to when parents can't accept their children as being adults, because they remember them when they were very young.
[...] doing should be a prerequisite for getting a job. It should be like having a high school diploma. Impact matters more than output, and doing your best doesn’t matter if you can’t [...]
My favorite thing to do is offer unsolicited help. You know THAT sticks out in someone's mind!
[...] Jenny Blake, a blogger who also works in career development at Google, has ten great tips to get you promoted faster. [...]
Hey Rachel! Sorry for the delay in replying – I'm honored that you sent this post to your friends who have been feeling stuck. Promotions remind me a lot of dating – it's almost like the harder we grasp for them, the less successful we will be.
It's awesome that you found a way to do more of what you love my making a horizontal move, even though you weren't sure how it would turn out. That's HUGE – and it sounds like it's really paying off for you. Love what you said too about bringing your old skills into your new job – it's amazing how even things that seem unrelated can really help.
Have a great week!
Hey Stanley! Sorry about the delaying in replying to your comment. You bring up a great point that this might not apply to the job-hoppers of today's generations, or to employees in small firms. Even though promotions themselves may not be as relevant, I think some of the points (about mindset and responsibility and open, honest conversations) could still apply. When I worked at the start-up company, there was no such thing as a promotion, which made it all the more important that I was doing work that challenged me (b/c I certainly wasn't in it for title or pay increases). Ultimately, though, I ended up leaving because I couldn't see how I would progress or move up.
Glad you agree on not sacrificing sanity just to work toward promotion – I think that's so important! I'm sooo with you – no manager is going to promote an insane (or at the very least miserable) employee either – they want to see people who can handle their work with a positive attitude.
I hope all is well with you!
Thanks so much Dani! I hope you're doing well
LivitLuvit – totally! Just that “What can I do to help?” question makes such a big difference! I think that's the essence of being a team player.
Hey Greg! Thanks so much for the thoughtful comment – as always
Yes – the phrase “soul-stirring” is one that I now apply to all areas of my life (shopping, dating, apartment-hunting with a friend…you name it!). We all should seek things that are soul-stirring to the extent that we can – it's what makes life worth living.
I love everything you said in your comment – the importance of finding work you at least like (if not love), creating happiness where you are, and the part about networking in AND outside of the company. It's all so important – especially since work is often such a huge part of our lives.
Thanks again for stopping by – I hope you are having a great week!
Great post,
What are your thoughts on leading/managing older colleagues? Do you have a post on that?
Hey Erik — thanks for stopping by! When I was managing a small team last
year, all of my direct reports were older than me. In the beginning they
were skeptical, but I just focused on listening to them, collaborating WITH
them, and adding value in all the ways that I knew how (helping them
troubleshoot, brainstorm, problem-solve, etc). I treated them as peers as
much as possible, and showed up as a leader when it mattered. Even though I
didn't have as many years of experience as they did, they knew I was giving
100% every day, always pushing myself and learning, and challenging them to
do the same. I think it's an honor to be in a role where you are leading
people older than you – if that's the case for you, kudos!
Have a great day
Thanks for your reply. I actually have a blog entry summarized from BC community about being likeable among employees and such (remarked in your interview). I don't know when I'm going to publish it yet. I'll let you know once I publish it.
[...] Promotions: 10 Tips for Moving Up the Corporate Ladder @ Life After College [...]
Hey, Greg.
Just want to push back on one thing: the concept of “selling” is so last century. No one likes to be sold to and people generally buy from those they trust or have a rapport with. So, instead of plain old selling, I think that “connecting” is the name of that game. Doesn't mean bringing in biz is not important. Au contraire — it's critical!! Especially now, as there's zero room in companies for people who are just overhead. Everyone needs to be thinking about signing business, even those who think they're above it or too academic or too noble.
Also, networking is much more fun when you can take the selling out of it. Instead, go into networking with the idea that you're gonna see how you can help someone else. Kind of goes hand in hand with the “soul stirring” part of career management
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