Want to get promoted this year?
Here's what you might be missing in your approach...
Happy new year and welcome back to Lead with Intention! I hope you all had a restful and peaceful festive break. I was laid low with the flu for most of it, but on the upside, that meant a lot more time in bed watching crap TV and good movies!
I’m now back and ready to embrace January, but don’t worry, I’m not here to make you swear allegiance to the gym, give up chocolate or anything like that - the month is hard enough without pesky resolutions IMHO!
BUT - I do want to make sure that you start the year off in the most positive way for your career - that’s why I’m here after all.
On that note, I’d LOVE to hear from you. What topics do you need most support with in your career and particularly as an aspiring leader? Drop me an email and let me know, so I can tailor this newsletter to what is most helpful for you this year.
I’d also love to run another Zoom workshop, so keep an eye out for dates and topics! And more free content coming your way soon too.
Today, we’re talking about PROMOTIONS.
It’s a word that often springs to mind as we think about the year ahead at work, and our professional goals and aspirations. If you’re committed to your leadership development (as evidenced by subscribing here), then a promotion (or the path to a promotion) may well be on your dance card in 2025.
But it doesn’t always pan out the way we hope. And there are two main reasons why in my experience.
We are too passive: Just like asking for a pay rise (of course the two often, but not always, go hand in hand!), putting your case for a promotion can feel hard, icky and not “the done thing”, especially in the UK where I’m from. It somehow feels impolite to ask for what we want and what we deserve! So we don’t ask and we wait, and we wait and we wait to be noticed, hoping that just being quietly competent will work…
However, I moved to the States in my late 20s for work and quickly realised that this was NOT the way business was done in my new world of San Francisco. I learnt a valuable lesson (that has always stayed with me), in terms of advocating for myself, my work and my worth, and being proactive in shaping my career. And the good news is that you can do this in an intentional, authentic way.
We’re not clear about our value and impact: If someone came to you with a business proposition, you’d want to know what was in it for you (the business), as well as what they would get out of it themselves. Exactly the same rules apply with making the case for a promotion at work. But it’s amazing how often we can forget this when it comes to our career development. I guess it makes sense - we can get so focused on what’s next for us, we can forget to make the case for why it should happen and why the business should care enough to consider our proposal!
I’m fond of asking my coaching clients (who are working on their leadership development) to “focus on outcomes and impact” and this goes double when you’re making the case to be put on a development or promotion path at work. What’s in it for your a) manager b) team c) senior team d) business or organisation e) stakeholders, partners, customers, users, patients? Why should they promote you? Where’s the benefit and how can you quantify and articulate it?
Now, I can hear you all saying (louder at the back!) “Well that’s all well and good Louise, but there are LOTS of other reasons i’m not getting promoted. There isn’t enough budget, I can’t move up until someone else does, etc etc etc.”
The coach in me will challenge you back with this.
What are you in control of that you can do and act upon to get closer to your goal of promotion? Are you doing those things, or are you letting other reasons or blockers get in the way of you doing the work? And are you using your self-limiting beliefs and lack of agency as excuses not to act?
By the way, if you are willing to put in the work, it’s a safe bet you’ll have options when it comes to the crunch.
No budget left this year? But you’ve proved you are an exceptional leader in the making? Have a conversation about it with your manager about a reasonable timeline that DOES work with the budget. Too long in your estimation? Maybe another organisation is ready to snap you, and your brilliant leadership skills up right now?
Like I said. Choices.
If you’re ready and willing to do the work this year, then you can get to a position in your career where you have choices and agency. Then you can make the decision that’s right for you.
And on that note, I have something rather special to help you kickstart your promotion action plan for 2025. It’s for paid subscribers only, because it’s packed full of value - I hope!
🚀 The Leadership Accelerator Playbook: Your Blueprint for Promotion Success
I have developed a step-by-step guide, based on more than 20 years in corporate leadership roles (often as one of, if not, the youngest) and drawing on my coaching expertise to help you secure that promotion and make a step change in your career.
In five powerful yet concise chapters, you'll learn how to:
Build your professional brand and increase your visibility
Identify key stakeholders for your success and how to build relationships with the people that count
Set outcomes-based development goals that chart a clear path towards promotion and your leadership development
Confidently navigate promotion conversations so you are clear, confident and nail the brief
Develop your Executive Presence, so that people see you as a trusted, senior advisor, vs a tactical "doer"
If you’re ready to make 2025 your year of professional growth, then the digital guide is down below the paywall - and is completely free if you’re already a paid subscriber.
I have LOTS more to say on promotions - is this something you want to hear more about? What other topics would like to learn about this year, so you can flourish at work? Reply and let me know! (I’ll also set up a conversation thread in Substack for those who want to do it that way.)
Have a wonderful week,
Louise