How To Get Promoted: The 5 Things You Need Before You Move Up

How are you feeling about your career right now? According to a the Gallup 2021 Global Emotions report, 2020 was officially the most stressful year on record. If you want to create a new experience in 2021, maybe the time is right for you to move up in your career. However, getting promoted isn’t only about having a positive attitude or doing a great job. Lots of folks are conscientious and dedicated - so what makes you stand out above the rest? Being smart about landing a promotion means internalizing how advancement really works. While every company is different, your next promotion happens inside of a context. Understanding that context, plus being great at your job, can help position your career for success.

1. Do the Job, Get the Job: have you demonstrated the key capabilities required for your new role? Before I became a Vice President, I had to lead diverse teams without direct authority. I did the job, without the title. When it was time to move into a new role, the necessary skills had already been displayed. The team I led became my real-time Yelp review. Their results pointed towards my ability to lead others. If there is any question around your skills or talents, recognize that it is your demonstrated abilities (not your ambition!) that gets you that promotion. What are others saying about you and your work? That 360-degree review needs to back up your career ambitions!
2. Context First, Contribution Second: Find out as much as you can about your company’s financial performance, or your division’s performance, right now. Does the budget support your pay raise? Even if you are the greatest employee since God was a boy, if the company isn’t positioned for your next move, you can’t make it. Consider: how will your promotion help your boss and the company? Phrasing your promotion in terms of what it means for others can help you to see that a new salary level isn’t just in your best interest - it’s in everybody’s best interest. After all, you’ve got a good arrangement with your company right now - why would they be incentivized to give you more responsibility, and more money? Part of finding the budget for your next move is showing (and sharing) what you will do as a result of the change. What’s the contribution that you have to offer? And what is your contribution really worth to your employer? You know that sites like Glassdoor and Salary.com can help with understanding what the market will bear for your new position.
3. Don’t Swing for the Fences: a common mistake is going for too much too soon. Instead of unbridled ambition, why not do the do-able: ask for the role that you know you can do. Because, if you’ve followed the guidance so far, you’re already doing it. When your performance speaks for itself, you don’t need to brown nose your boss or be the relentless careerist, always letting everyone know that you wish you had a different job title. Make it easy to say yes to your request: build a clear business case around how your promotion will help the team, or your customers, or both. Consider the service that you will provide, not just the rewards of your new role. When you serve more deeply and powerfully, you are in a better position for that next promotion. How are you helping your boss and your team to win? That service is the foundation for your next move.
4. Locate a Sponsor: Make sure you have someone in your corner who will support your new role. That someone needs to be an executive leader who knows your work, and who knows how things work at your company. The Harvard Business Review says that a sponsor - someone who will vouch for you when it’s time to move up - is more valuable than a mentor. So why stop at just one? Gain the input and influence of senior leadership. Just be sure to communicate your intentions, and make sure you have your boss’s full support.
5. Build A Compassionate Business Case: Consider your contribution in the language of numbers. What is the size and scope of what you’ve done, as well as what you are going to do? Speak the universal language of numbers, and gain buy-in from leadership: do they see that your performance is operating at a different level? Remember to advocate for your accomplishments: “I’d like to review several projects that demonstrate my leadership skills and see if you agree,” is a lot easier to listen to than, “I deserve this promotion because...” Promotions may look like a reward for past accomplishment, but really your employer is investing in your future - and theirs. Never threaten your employer with what you might do (leave, quit next Thursday, whatever). Compassion, not confrontation, is the result of a deeper understanding. You don’t need to explain your career plans to them, or make threats around leaving the company. Concentrate on being clear on what you have done, and what you will do, for the company. And if you’re not valued for that contribution where you are, it might be time to look around.

Only you can decide what career path is right for you. But the timing might be right for your next promotion. With advocates in leadership positions, plus the ability to advocate for your own accomplishments, you have an opportunity to distinguish your work from others. If the context supports you getting the job, you’re in a good place to land that new role. Wherever your journey leads you, don’t give up. Have the conversation you need and your career deserves. Ultimately, the career coaching I do is around identity: discovering the who, behind the why and the how. When your identity changes, promotion can become effortless. Not by becoming a different person, but by becoming more of the person you were meant to be. Then, a promotion is simply the next logical step in your professional development.

Can you identify with that?