Experience as a manager and small business owner taught me that getting promoted is more often about what people don't do than what they do. Why? Because of that curious ingredient known as the human factor. Here's what I've learned from my experience promoting others and getting promoted myself.
1.) Don't Compete with Your Manager
Identify your manager's weak spots, not his strengths, and make these your specialty. In other words, focus on becoming excellent at what your manager can't do. Then your work will be highly valued. Suddenly, you'll fill a void in the team, you'll become indispensable. If, instead, you focus on impressing your manager in his area, your achievements are likely to be taken for granted and your chances of getting promoted will slip away.
2.) Don't Forget Your Part in the Hierarchy
If you hope to get promoted by focusing on yourself alone you'll be disillusioned. Instead, make sure you align your work with your manager's goals. Understand how he is rated in the company project and what his commitments are, then contribute to the overall success of his goals. In other words, help your manager with his promotion and he'll help you with yours.
3.) Don't Be a Jack-in-the-Box
High-visibility work, when it succeeds, can certainly help you get promoted. But high-visibility work is typically charged with high-risk. By all means, look for opportunities to get yourself noticed. However, before taking on such work make sure you fully understand the scope of the project, look at possible risks, timelines and workload. Make sure you fully understand the problem and are able to solve it. High-visibility projects can help you get promoted, but they can also get you fired if you fail.
4.) Don't Be Other People's Garbage Can
Projects that no one else wants to touch can earn you brownie points towards promotion if you take them on successfully; however, be sure that you first scope the work properly, and confirm that you can manage it with your current workload. Always place your core job above any other project, no matter how potentially glamorous, because if you fail to do the job you were hired to do, you won't only lose your chance of getting promoted but potentially yours job as well.
5.) Don't Lose Your Cool
At some point or other the pressure will be on to get results fast. Then your promotion can go out the window with one ill-spoken word. Perception in the workplace can supersede real results, so if you think that anyone will thank you in the long run for pulling a project through at the price of bullying people, think again. Any form of aggression invariably leads to retaliation later, sometimes months later. Therefore, always stay cool and collected. During stressful times this quality may get you promoted.
6.) Don't Rely on Hearsay
If you work hard, you'll get noticed. But will you get promoted? Only if your achievements are recorded and recognized. Make this a top priority if you want to grow your career. Keep your manager apprised of your success through one-on-one weekly meetings. Keep documented proof of your achievements in the form of thank-you letters or emails, positive feedback or other objective proof. Feel free to solicit feedback from customers or key people you work with. A well-rounded confirmation of your achievements will help you get promoted.
7.) Don't Tire Your Audience
When it comes to writing your annual review, be concise. Nothing spoils your chances of getting a promotion like a novel-length biography. Think about the commitments you were given, your overall contributions and highlight them in bullet form. Be very honest about what was done and what wasn't. Things can be verified fairly easily and one exaggeration can ruin an entire year of work
1.) Don't Compete with Your Manager
Identify your manager's weak spots, not his strengths, and make these your specialty. In other words, focus on becoming excellent at what your manager can't do. Then your work will be highly valued. Suddenly, you'll fill a void in the team, you'll become indispensable. If, instead, you focus on impressing your manager in his area, your achievements are likely to be taken for granted and your chances of getting promoted will slip away.
2.) Don't Forget Your Part in the Hierarchy
If you hope to get promoted by focusing on yourself alone you'll be disillusioned. Instead, make sure you align your work with your manager's goals. Understand how he is rated in the company project and what his commitments are, then contribute to the overall success of his goals. In other words, help your manager with his promotion and he'll help you with yours.
3.) Don't Be a Jack-in-the-Box
High-visibility work, when it succeeds, can certainly help you get promoted. But high-visibility work is typically charged with high-risk. By all means, look for opportunities to get yourself noticed. However, before taking on such work make sure you fully understand the scope of the project, look at possible risks, timelines and workload. Make sure you fully understand the problem and are able to solve it. High-visibility projects can help you get promoted, but they can also get you fired if you fail.
4.) Don't Be Other People's Garbage Can
Projects that no one else wants to touch can earn you brownie points towards promotion if you take them on successfully; however, be sure that you first scope the work properly, and confirm that you can manage it with your current workload. Always place your core job above any other project, no matter how potentially glamorous, because if you fail to do the job you were hired to do, you won't only lose your chance of getting promoted but potentially yours job as well.
5.) Don't Lose Your Cool
At some point or other the pressure will be on to get results fast. Then your promotion can go out the window with one ill-spoken word. Perception in the workplace can supersede real results, so if you think that anyone will thank you in the long run for pulling a project through at the price of bullying people, think again. Any form of aggression invariably leads to retaliation later, sometimes months later. Therefore, always stay cool and collected. During stressful times this quality may get you promoted.
6.) Don't Rely on Hearsay
If you work hard, you'll get noticed. But will you get promoted? Only if your achievements are recorded and recognized. Make this a top priority if you want to grow your career. Keep your manager apprised of your success through one-on-one weekly meetings. Keep documented proof of your achievements in the form of thank-you letters or emails, positive feedback or other objective proof. Feel free to solicit feedback from customers or key people you work with. A well-rounded confirmation of your achievements will help you get promoted.
7.) Don't Tire Your Audience
When it comes to writing your annual review, be concise. Nothing spoils your chances of getting a promotion like a novel-length biography. Think about the commitments you were given, your overall contributions and highlight them in bullet form. Be very honest about what was done and what wasn't. Things can be verified fairly easily and one exaggeration can ruin an entire year of work
