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Strategizing your next promotion

In the last article, we went through the 5 high level concepts that are critical to developing a strategy.

Today, we’re going to discuss what those concepts mean in practical terms.

You’ve been working at the same job for a few years and you would like a promotion. There’s a position open that you are qualified for with a higher salary and greater responsibilities. What should you do?

If you only start working towards this promotion when you see the open position, you are already far behind. So let’s start a year earlier. You decide that you would like to advance in your career and you look at our 5 concepts.


Determination - What are you willing to do to prove yourself worthy of the next level?
  • Put in extra hours at work?
  • Take classes and study in the evening?
  • Volunteer for extra tasks?
  • Give presentations at conferences?
It is a good idea to pick a set of roles that you are going for instead of just one specific one, because that will raise your chances of getting chosen for one of them.

Remember there are always going to be multiple candidates for every position and you need to stand out. The more you are willing to do that will ensure that people think you’re the obvious choice, the better chance you have.

Timing
The best time to present yourself as a candidate for a new position is after a noteworthy success. People expect success to breed success. On the other hand, if your department or team has recently had some setbacks, even if they are not directly related to you, it would be wise to take a step back and wait for it to blow over.

Environment
The environment is the playing field and in order to play the game, you have to know the rules.
  • What are the qualifications for the positions you are interested in.
  • What experience and/or education do you need to qualify?
  • Who are the decision makers for these jobs?
  • Who among your colleagues do you see as competition?
  • Does your manager support your aspirations?
  • Are there additional tasks, workgroups or initiatives that you can volunteer for that will get you noticed by decision makers?
  • Are you working with the latest technologies and/or knowledgeable about where the market is heading?

Leadership/Direction
Let's say you got the promotion that you want. What would you do? Developing a vision is a great way of understanding what you have to offer the position. Share it with your manager and suggest that you work on it together.
  • Can you envision the position a couple years after you get the promotion?
  • What are you going to do to make it better?
  • Share credit with the people above you and also your peers and/or underlings.
When you collaborate and make sure that everyone is recognized, you are showing strong leadership.

Ask people for advice - more experienced people will love to tell you how they advanced in their careers. Less experienced people will be excited that you’re asking them and may have more knowledge/experience than you in specific areas.

Don’t cut other people down, there’s plenty of room on the totem pole and people will remember you. Always remember, respect must be earned.

Methodology
It is important that you actually have a plan to implement. The more you write down, the better understanding you will have of what needs to be done. Checklists are marked down after hard work. Make sure that your accomplishments are noticed, but without being a braggart. The plan should not be written in stone. As they say “No battle plan ever survives contact with the enemy.” Life is very dynamic and you need to be able to see a few steps ahead so that you can keep turning in the right direction.



Each situation or job promotion is going to have its own unique challenges. These steps should enable you to develop a strategy for any situation.


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