Get That Promotion: Strategies for Moving Up The Ladder

Look around at your office -- are there positions that you believe you could perform? A supervisory role? A management slot that you believe you could handle?

The first step to getting a promotion is determining what position/role you want to be promoted to -- otherwise, how can you prepare a plan to get there?

Too many people wonder why they get passed over for positions, when they never actually worked toward those positions in the first place.

Just like taking a trip, you get there fastest and easiest when you know where you're going.

Do you know the goals of your boss? Do you know what the top dogs want to accomplish with your (current) department or with the company where you work?

Most people work with blinders on -- they focus exclusively on the task at hand, and never rise above it to see OTHER PEOPLE'S GOALS.

Once you understand the larger picture, you can begin to create a strategy to get noticed, and to start the process for your promotion.

What does it mean to work "as if"?

Pretend that you have already been given the responsibility of the position you want. What would you do? What would you need to accomplish? How would you go about your daily tasks?

Working "as if" means you begin to think like you already had the position. Think ahead -- and begin working to achieve the goals required of that position.

Trust me -- once you begin focusing on the same goals of your supervisor/manager, the more quickly you'll get noticed.

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Getting promoted means that upper management believes you're able to understand, and then execute a strategy to achieve the company goals.

The way you get noticed -- and continue to remain in the sights of management -- is to have a plan for working each day.

How is this done?

First, listen closely to the directions you're given. Listen in meetings (or if you aren't a part of the meetings then take note of the plans/strategies that are coming up.)

Read every memo you can get your hands on -- study them to get a solid understanding of what upper management wants to accomplish.

Now ask yourself -- "what would I do if I was in X position?" X = the position you want to be moved into. How would that person handle responsibility? How would that person deal with customers? Approach their daily activities?

Develop a plan that describes what you need to do each day that furthers the company goals. This alone will cause you to rise above 95% of your peers.

Nowhere!

Too many people believe that to get a promotion they have to connive and outmaneuver others by undercutting their peers, or (particularly) by talking badly about the person who is currently in the role you want for yourself.

If you work behind someone's back to get their position, the person you're trying to impress will become aware that you can't be trusted.

Companies don't promote untrustworthy people.

Oh, sure, we've all seen someone with tremendous drive begin moving up the ladder... but the slashing and burning will come to haunt him/her. If you've been around in the corporate world a while, you've probably seen it. They hit the "ceiling" of where they can go because management doesn't want to deal with them.

Be the sort of person people want to work alongside.

It may seem obvious, but I've seen it so many times -- someone wants to "get ahead" and they'll stop at nothing...

What does their ruthlessness get them? A reputation for ruthlessness.

And that's a sure-fire way to NOT get a promotion.

I remember working with a woman who wanted to be promoted into her supervisor's position. She worked hard at it for several months -- and she was getting noticed -- but then she started getting irritated that she wasn't getting new, and larger, responsibilities.

She let her feelings be known... and slowly eroded all of the goodwill she had developed up to that point.

Why?

She thought that upper management should have promoted her immediately. The corporate world simply doesn't work that way. You have to be willing to perform at a high level for months -- maybe even for a couple of years -- before you get the promotion.

If you can be patient -- and continue to work toward the company goals -- you will begin moving up the ladder. Once you start moving up, the promotions tend to come more often.

Moving out of the ranks of "the workers" and into management, or upper management, doesn't happen overnight. Patience is required.

You are being watched. Trust me on this. Once you begin to perform at a high level, people are watching you and weighing how you might fit into the larger structure even if no one says this to you.

If you get frustrated easily, or expect immediate gratification, the higher-ups are taking note.

Make sure that what they are seeing are your best qualities -- your ability to understand short-term and long-term corporate goals, your drive to accomplish, your strength in working with others... and NOT your impatience and frustration.

Moving up takes time. Make that time work for you by remaining aligned with company goals.

Final thought -- respect the people you work alongside, and the people who work in the mail room, in the supply room, in fulfillment, in operations.

One day, when you begin moving up the ladder, you will need their help and support. How you treat them today will determine how they treat you tomorrow. I've seen many people's effectiveness in the workplace completely LOST because they thought they could walk all over the so-called "little people."

The "little people" are the ones who help you accomplish your goals, and by extension the goals of your department, and of the company.

You would be surprised how many top dogs develop relationships with the guys and gals in the mailroom, and those in low-level positions. Successful people in the corporate world know that there's lots of "inside" information they won't hear from colleagues but they WILL hear from the guy in the supply room who listens to what other employees are saying.

What are the people you work with saying about you?

The corporate world is a tiny one. You may already know this. Your corporation -- even if it seems huge on paper -- is often "tiny" in that people know who people are, even if they don't know them personally. People get reputations.

What's your reputation?

It will precede you, and it will follow you. Make sure it's one that upper management feels they can work with.

Keep your eye on the goal -- that promotion -- develop a plan and follow through with it every day. Seek to understand the goals of the company, and work hard to help the company achieve them.

It's not easy -- nothing worthwhile ever is -- but you'll get noticed. Positive attention from higher-ups always leads to getting more responsibilities... and that soon means that promotion!