3 Self-Reflections to Help You Get That Promotion

You’re great at your job. You work hard, deliver great results, and are ready for the next step in your career. But for whatever reason, you’re not standing out. Maybe your boss is overlooking you for advancement or development opportunities. Or maybe you simply feel you’re forced to bide your time, waiting hidden below the radar.

There are so many open positions today, particularly higher-level positions, that remain unfilled. More employers are starting to realize that, rather than looking externally to hire, they should start looking internally to promote. Even in today’s work environment, where employer-employee relationships are more short-term and transactional than ever, it is still possible to rise from hidden talent to senior leader. All it takes is a little self-reflection.

Before you try harder for that promotion, take a step back and think about what you need to prioritize for success.

Source: Pexels/George Milton

How did you get here, anyway?

There are so many reasons people become ‘stuck’ at lower levels of the organization:

• Gaps in education or training
• Coming back to the workforce following a leave of absence
• Career pivot to a new industry or role
• Moving to a new location
• Being relatively young or inexperienced
• Poor timing

Consider what the case is for you. How did you get to be in the position you’re in? List all the potential factors, both internal and external. Use that list as your starting point. After all, you have to know where you’re starting from to make a map to where you want to go.

Just how far are you willing to go?

When leaders evaluate high-potential talent for further development, they often consider three things: the person’s ability, skill, and will. Ability and skill are easy to measure. Will is a little trickier. And that’s true when it comes to self-evaluation, too.

Ask yourself just how far you are willing to go in this organization or on this team. How much of your time, effort, and energy are you willing to invest? There is no right or good answer. It’s critical to be honest with yourself. The more clearly and authentically you can communicate your limits, to yourself and others, the less opportunity there will be for disappointments later.

What makes you great to work with?

If you’re being considered for a promotion, it’s safe to assume everyone else being considered has comparable skills and experience. (If that’s not the case, fill those gaps.) What differentiates candidates are the more intangible aspects of working with them.

What do you bring to your working relationships that make you great to work with? Think about how this applies to every relationship you have at work—up, down, sideways, and diagonal.

These are the qualities of the most successful internal promotions:

• Demonstrated desire and talent for learning new skills and knowledge. Are you someone who takes initiative when it comes to continuous improvement? Do you take active steps to learn from experience and from others?
• A track record for adding value in every interaction. Do you approach relationships in terms of what you need from others, or from what you have to offer them?
• Not just the willingness to work hard, but efforts to work smart and execute. Do you consistently deliver on promises or commitments? Or do you routinely become overwhelmed by overcommitment? If the latter is true for you, it’s time to reexamine your work habits and get back on track.
• Doing great work and being a go-to collaborator. Does collaboration result in something greater than the sum of its parts, or is working with others more like pulling teeth? Go-to collaborators are great at aligning themselves with the needs, goals, and conflicts of others.

The number one thing you can do to get the attention of leaders or potential mentors is to increase engagement with your boss. Unfortunately, too many supervisors don’t provide enough guidance, direction, support, and coaching. But your boss is the key to getting what you need to succeed at work.

Refuse to be undermanaged. Start having routine one-on-one conversations with your boss about the work: what’s expected, what’s required, and what you need to do to achieve great results.