3 Tips to Target a Promotion
If a tree falls in the forest but no one sees it or hears it…. Did it actually fall?
If you want a promotion but no one knows it… Is it actually going to happen?
If there’s a new product on the market but no one knows about it… is it actaully for sale?
You might get where I’m going with this but here’s the deal: If you are working your ass off waiting for your company or your manager to promote you into a new role, you're waiting for nothing.
Harsh. But it’s true. How do you know if a new product is on the market if you don’t advertise it? The same applies to your career. You are the product. Your organization is the market. And your communication skills are the ads to help you get a promotion.
We are told that if we work tirelessly, we will get rewarded. We are told that if we take initiative in the workplace, we will be valued. We are told that hard work unlocks doors for our career.
But… there’s more to just clocking in and clocking out and expecting a promotion. Yes, we need to work hard AND we ALSO need to advocate for ourselves in the workplace. We need to learn how to communicate our worth. We need to learn how to communicate the amount of work we are achieving. And we need to learn how to communicate what we need out of our careers.
Most people (even your boss – in fact, especially your boss) are mainly concerned with their own personal and professional livelihoods. They are not waking up in the morning jazzed to get you that promotion (sorry) and they are not thinking about your career progression throughout the day/week/month/year.
The only person looking out for you, is YOU. You need to start advocating for your career progression and communicating your needs and wants when it comes to achieving a well deserved promotion. And yet - I know how challenging this can be. Recently, I’ve had people ask me,
“With all the lay offs happening, should I/ how do I continue to push for my promo?”
“My boss just left, and now I’ve been quiet-promoted to his exec position without the pay or the recognition. What do I do?”
“How do I ask to take on more projects for professional development?”
“How do you talk to your boss about asking for permission to apply for a new job within the company when I’m only 3 months into my role?”
It’s hard asking for more. Especially when we are busy and overwhelmed with our current workload. But I’m here to remind you that you are not ungrateful for wanting more out of your career. In fact, if we want MORE out of our careers, it is only going to benefit the organizations we work for.
We deserve to unapologetically ask for that promotion and we deserve to explore new teams, new projects, and new opportunities (both internally and externally). I’m here to help you communicate more effectively in the workplace.
Here’s how to take control of your career and start advocating for our own advancement -
Don’t be timid
This is the #1 mistake I see people make when it comes to advocating for themselves. They feel like they need to ‘earn the right’. The length of time in your role does NOT negate you from exploring other opportunities to explore your career. It’s scary – and it takes practice – but the sooner you can shed the layer of being timid, the quicker you will be able to advocate for yourself.
Here’s how - start practicing with your family, family, or those you trust most. Start talking to them about roles you want to explore or positions that you want to get to in your career. Practice talking about your promo dreams in low stakes environments as this will help you gain confidence when the opportunity to have these conversations in professional settings presents itself.
2. Identify exactly what you want to explore
It is your responsibility to identify what you want out of your career. If you can’t identify what you want, you can’t communicate what you want.
Here’s how - Start a list where you ask yourself each of these questions: What skill sets do you want to acquire? What experiences do you want to obtain? Which teams interest you the most? What projects do you want to work on? Who do you want to mentor you?
3. Make the ask
Don’t wait for someone to ask you what you want out of your career. Waiting for someone else to recognize your potential and your value in a losing game. If you keep waiting, you’ll wait forever. Give yourself the responsibility to make the ask. You are in control of your career. People will not know how to support, advocate or promote you if you do not ask. Make the ask!
Here’s how - Use this exact template when you feel comfortable and ready to start communicating to your job that you want a promotion.
Hey xx, we [have or haven’t] had a conversation specific to my career progression. Now that we have entered a fresh calendar year, I’m thinking about the next steps in my career. My goal is to [insert how you have defined your next career move here, i.e. title, project, skillset, etc]. I’m curious if we’d be able to have a larger conversation around how I could hold myself accountable to this goal and how I could gain support from [you/the team/organization] moving forward. Would you be open to connecting on this topic in the coming weeks or next month?”
Communicating effectively means we are always finding our own voice, our own communication style and how we can best advocate for ourselves in a professional setting. It’s not easy, we don’t have many productive examples to learn from, but with a little help from Career Civility, it is possible.
And if there’s one thing I can leave you with, it is this: Your employer and the company you work for will always consider you a means to an end and a line item in a budget. You owe it yourself to make yourself MORE than a replaceable line item. You deserve to that promotion and you deserve to start advocating for yourself. Go get what you deserve.
