3 Tips for Promotability

Adapted from my article published with Forbes in February 2021

Photo by Igor Omilaev on Unsplash

Want to get promoted – you need to stand out!   You are in the mix of great colleagues; what uniqueness sets you apart?  Being distinguishable is critical. 

Getting promoted depends on getting recognized for the contribution and value you bring to your organization.  Simply doing your work on time and within budget, even with high quality, is not enough.  These are the minimum requirements for consideration, but not the distinguishing factors that win the coveted spot.  

In the often-quite-secret promotion review process, when you’re usually not in the room, it’s critical that many parties involved can share a great example of the value you bring that exceeds work done well.  Promotion depends on orchestrating the narrative with the right people to highlight your contributions and distinguish you from other candidates.  

Three Ways to Distinguish Your Contribution

Have a Brand

Jeff Bezo’s was right when he said, “Brand is what they say when you’re not in the room …”, so what are they saying about you?  Don’t just hope; it’s best to get specific and stay consistent.  Decide how you want to be recognized and articulate that for yourself in a few key phrases.  Do you want to be the exuberant team leader, or the intelligent sage, or the calm, steady navigator? What function, process, industry, or other area is your specialty?  What is the consistent promise you deliver to your organization?  Answering these questions drives your brand – the packaging that you want others to remember when they think about you.  Once you’re set on your brand, remind yourself to act with intention and show up consistently in your interactions.  Ask for feedback to calibrate that your intention is delivering the desired impression.  Your brand is both your external packaging and your internal compass to keep you on track for success. 

Tell Your Back Story (Zoom In)

In our fast forward, multi-tasking, what’s next environment, we rarely take time to share important details.  In our effort to keep pace, we lose the opportunity to share the challenge and richness of our work and demonstrate the unique expertise that is at the core of our contribution. In coaching many executives to next level leadership, we work together to craft strategies to highlight the backstory about their work.  Our goal is to highlight something special which makes their effort stand out. For instance, “The team is right on schedule, but we had a tough week.  Let me describe how we handled this challenge …” or, “Let me share how we engaged the stakeholders, and please provide some new ideas for moving forward.” Overcoming challenges or sharing your approach with an openness to learn, provides greater insight into the leader you are. This “backstory” provides the color commentary and examples that will set you apart in the next promotion review. 

Highlight What You Stand For (Zoom Out)

Back story and brand techniques help you to share ‘what you do’ and ‘how you do it’.  The finishing touch is to help others understand your ‘personal why’.  Why are you at this organization?  Why do you give your time to this work? Why do you want to lead others in our work? Executives who can share their ‘why’ demonstrate their passion, and often bring contagious energy to their work.  You might say they have the gift of charisma, which fuels people around them and brings everyone’s contribution to the next level.  Take a step back and give it some thought.  You probably spend 40-60 hours of each week actually doing your job, and perhaps another 10 hours of work thoughts swirling in your consciousness. What’s your why?

Becoming a leader in your organization is more about initiative than merit.  It’s your job to help other’s see your value and contribution; don’t rely on them to sift that from your deliverables.  Instead, be thoughtful about how you want to show up, about the impact you want to make, and keep those guiding principles at the core of your interactions. (brand).  And, don’t rely on the standard report out to share your progress; take the time to zoom in on details or zoom out for context as a way to share a compelling example.  Taken together, these techniques can be sprinkled through your conversations to create a narrative that distinguishes you for real consideration at the next promotion summit.