3 Things My Clients STOPPED DOING to Accelerate Their Promotion, Get Raises & Resourced (And What They Did Instead)
Do you want to know what to shift and do instead when navigating that elusive promotion?
It's not complicated–even though we like to make it that way–but you need to change how you approach it and develop a strategic plan. Different actions = different results!
When it comes to promotion, people will ask:
How to have a conversation about a salary increase?
How to have a conversation on the next promotion?
How to ask for a promotion?
It's such a popular topic that these are the top 3 questions I got from people in an organization earlier this summer when I hosted a career growth Q&A on the subject.
As you may be aware, promotions are tricky, especially when you're looking to significantly jump in your responsibilities and compensation.
It differs from going for a straight job search for a number of reasons. Mainly:
It can involve more office politics than an external job search.
Because it is a re-negotiation of terms set when you were hired. It could be seen as a tougher negotiation, especially if your compensation is significantly lower than where you want to move it to now.
I think a lot about how to handle promotions specifically and how they are different from job searches because we serve both types of clients in our Career GPS program, and I have worked on both sides.
I wanted to focus on just the promotion cycle and share what's been working for the clients right now–some of the shifts that have been effective and powerful. These examples went through during the pandemic, through the Great Resignation, and are still working now.
The main thing we stress about our work with our clients is that it's so simple. Your life is already complicated and busy, we're not here to add to that. We want to show you things that are clear and simple and, ultimately, personalized and authentic to you.
That's one of the best things about being in mid-career.
You understand what makes you tick.
Now it's just a matter of leveling up what has worked in the past to do the thing as a leader now. We have a whole framework and process we put people through that demystifies and breaks down the answer to the questions:
“What do I want my career future to be?”
“What is the most effective and efficient way to get there?”
“What do I say? Who do I say it to?”
“What do I do? Where do I put my energy?”
In this blog, you will learn the 3 critical shifts–things our clients are no longer doing.
It is somewhat counter to what you've learned about getting promoted in your early career – to make the title jump to the director, VP, SVP, or even partner. And earn $ 15k-100k in raises up to almost 50% of a bump for a promotion.
Which is really amazing, those numbers are so incredible. I'm so proud of my clients for advocating for themselves internally and doing it SMART.
In all these instances, they also designed the roles they wanted and, most importantly, clearly communicated that leadership stance throughout the entire process so that they were able to justify the value they brought. Because that's part of the game when you're moving up in an organization. So I want to celebrate those clients and their successes and share what they STOPPED doing and what they started doing to get promoted.
Before we start talking about those strategies, I want to clarify: I love getting women into positions of influence and leadership that they didn't know they could get into or realize were possible in their organizations. Like, I live for this.
It has to be clear that getting into that job is an important part of the leadership transformation. But it's just a step. A part of the greater leadership journey. It's not the destination, it's the starting point.
We are a career clarity coaching program that also teaches you the necessary vision setting, branding, storytelling, influence, and marketing skills you'll need to be successful in the leadership role you eventually get.
The bigger your vision for the company or department, the better you'll have to be at demonstrating the value of your POV and influencing the strategic people you need buy-in from to make the impact you want to!
Even though it's cool, important, and thrilling to get the job, it's step one to a longer journey. One that continues to require support.
Because it's rare to have an organization that continues to support people at this level. We at AC Electric want you to have consistent career and leadership growth. And that takes the practice of these new skills until they become second nature.
A single promotion or new role does not equal career success or automatic leadership.
And what we do with clients is help them with various programs through the life cycle of their new role. From the crucial first make-or-break 3 months to their new identity as managers and leaders. So they are effectively learning and executing managerial skills and effectively future-proofing their careers for whatever comes next.
Most people think that the goal is getting the role. But once they get there, they realize… Oh, that was step one.
Now, talking about what to NOT do when seeking promotion and what to do instead. 1st thing is tough, but it's critical to recognize this…
STOP Expecting people to see you how you see yourself
I hear this so much from people trying to move up in an organization, especially if they joined a long time ago or were earlier in their career and have grown in their roles.
You know you have evolved and become more sophisticated and knowledgeable, but that is not how senior leaders or managers see you yet.
This is normal, I think about it like being in a family. Sometimes parents or older siblings and cousins have a hard time seeing you as an adult if you've often or more commonly been seen as someone who is a junior in the family.
So when you're moving up in an organization, it's not as simple as just earning your stripes (which you're sure you already have) and moving up. In some cases, this is a campaign to transform how leadership and management see you.
Instead of being frustrated or overly concerned that not everyone sees the leader you are now, it's key to acknowledge that this is not just transactional. Get to this level, stay for X number of years, and move up. But a process of transformation.
Know that if you are going for a promotion, you're inherently looking at a slightly different type of campaign than what you might have to do when you can just show up to a new role and organization. Where you are as mostly an unknown quantity without being defined by the years you spent as a former version of yourself.
That's not to say you should automatically seek a new organization if you don't think you can move up. There are many reasons to stay in your own organization vs seeking greener pastures. And I am here for that, know that it's a different animal in certain regards - starting with this transformation you have to make apparent.
Leader is a tricky term.
Because the people judging you on your leadership skills may have a definition of leadership that does not look, sound, or act like you. And that is a real consideration when talking about women in leadership. Especially in organizations where most of the leadership is this, is White, is Male.
Here's the good news…
Usually, there's more than one decision-maker, so there are a number of people with different images of leadership. There are multiple possibilities.
However, you can't control what leadership looks like to them. Nor do you want to spend a bunch of time being groomed into the mold of leadership they have for you.
What you can do and do have access to is this:
Understand what the organization wants in terms of results.
As an employee, at any level, one way to signal that you are maturing into leadership is to take an interest in the bigger picture. That means getting clear about what the vision and key results are for your organization. What part of those results–specifically those benchmarks or milestones–your managers are responsible for.
Communicating your curiosity, orientation, and prioritization around those organizational results, and then orienting your work directly toward trying to get those results is one of the most objective ways to signal that you are thinking about things differently (from the POV of the organization), which is to say leadership.
Example:
We recently had a client, who had been passed over for a promotion and was sure there was no way she could get promoted in her organization which was a huge Fortune 500 with really strict hierarchies. So she assumed she was going to need to do an external job search to move up.
This is what she concentrated on when she did the necessary work to figure out her vision for her department and the marketing industry at large.
But once she knew that she couldn't keep it under her hat, every time she was engaging with decision-makers at her large company, she framed the moves she wanted to see in the department by aligning them with the visions and results that her managers wanted.
After a few months, she started to see that she might have a shot at promotion after all. And that's what happened during the next promotion cycle.
STOP Telling people you're a leader instead of showing it
Let’s break down the last example further to clarify this point…
In our early careers, we are used to going to our managers for advice and guidance.
When we're younger, we are often rewarded for leaning on our parents or teachers. And the dynamic is one where we rely on those older and wiser people to tell us where we should go and what we should do.
And that is exactly what the client I just described was doing. Though she didn't realize that it was hurting her.
So, we can say we are a leader, and we get it, but then not demonstrate it by being in charge of our own careers and leading our managers toward what is possible for us, them, and the organization.
What is needed is to switch from that parent-child or leader-follower dynamic to a peer dynamic, even with senior leaders.
It isn't that we are better than them or know more than them. it's that we know more about the things we know more about.
We have our own subject matter expertise, and we own that.
So what we do instead of coming to the manager, senior leader, or recruiter with the question: “What should I do” is to have done the front-end discovery work.
Just like what my client did to understand her value proposition and expertise. And to be confident that in that area, she knows her stuff and, from there, brings solutions and vision for her own career and the department or organization.
Once that client articulated the value that she brought to the organization–the thing she was uniquely situated to do and found all the times she had done this successfully in the past–she grew more and more confident in that as her value proposition… When those occasions would come up where she could flex her expertise, she would own that brand and confidently share her 2 cents, even with senior leaders in the room.
Because even the senior leaders aren't good at everything. They might be super experienced, but they have blind spots, and that's where you need to come in and enlighten them that you have a sophisticated understanding of this part of the business and that you have thoughts on what could work next.
For this client, she didn't end up having to go outside her organization to rise. It took 8 months longer than she would like to wait, but she not only got the promotion, but the department heads were also on board with her vision for the department. So, not only did she get the promotion, but also the impact she was looking for.
But the fact to the matter is, the thing that is undeniable is that with a promotion, when it comes to the campaign to change the hearts and minds of leaders whose ranks you want to join and the fact that there is usually just one promotion cycle per year, this transformation is going to take time.
It is possibly longer than it would for you to change jobs if you went elsewhere. I'm taking 6-8 months until you have been able to understand where you want to have your career go, then a few more months to communicate that new vision and start assuming that peer stance I am talking about.
STOP Expecting it to happen overnight
Promotions are something of a different animal when it comes to moving up. And there's good reason for some people to stick around and grow in their organization, and it's fully possible to happen. But it's going to take longer because you're changing perceptions internally with new people who already know you vs introducing yourself in a whole other context.
Imagine convincing your senior class in high school that you're different from the girl they met as a freshman. You're now a dancer and a student leader, whereas before, you were exclusively a soccer player.
That's what you're doing when you're trying to get promoted…
To get the seniors to see you differently.
Take that and compare it to the timeline for making that transition if you transferred schools mid-year. That's what it is to go for a straight external job search. You see how it can seem much simpler to change your vibe or brand that way.
It’s not to discourage you from trying for an internal promotion, especially if you like the organization and want to grow with it.
But the things my clients have done to accelerate the promotion process, or at least know they are working on this in a productive way are:
Having a regular 1x1 or meeting cadence with the relevant decision-makers
Advocating for yourself all the time, not just at review
That means whenever you have a win, put it on a running list of wins you have and bring it up at regular 1-on-1. And framing them as wins related to the organization’s bigger objectives.
That kind of influence and executive communication is something we teach in our program's influence module - but it is most effective when you know what kind of role and leadership position you're aiming for and what you uniquely bring to the table.
Finally, if you're feeling anxious or like you've lost your confidence, there’s an outside pitch of what might also help you get to hold your chin higher around the office:
You could go look for another job to pass the time
This is wild, but I have seen it work tons of times.
Someone doesn't think they can get promoted in their organization, and they go out and interview and find they are actually a pretty valuable commodity elsewhere.
That loosened them up to be more bold in their current role and have the peer-level conversation they need to get through to that leadership level.
That's how a client recently went from thinking she couldn't get a promotion. She had tried for several years (to become a partner at the org and get a 43% pay raise.), and it had not worked.
And it was exactly getting clear on her dream role, starting to speak with other organizations, and learning that she was an attractive candidate to other places. That had her recognize her expertise and name her value in the marketplace and at her current organization.
It was the breakthrough in confidence she needed to start speaking on that peer level.
It’s when the CEO of her organization began to bring her into higher level conversations and eventually to promote her to partner.
It's funny to think, but it's not dissimilar when you are seeing someone who is not taking you seriously for some reason or another. They won't talk about moving in or going steady or getting married, but when you go out and start getting interest from other people out in the world, all of a sudden, the dynamic starts to shift, and they recognize what they might be missing.
Now, this is a tricky proposition because it's a lot–doing a job search and going for a promotion at the same time. It's having 2 jobs which are really overwhelming for many people and will actually, in the long run, take a lot of time and energy and make what could be a chill process much harder.
This is where having a step-by-step process to handle both come in handy. And that's what we do. Step it all out for you with clear, easy-to-digest modules that take you through the discovery process of what you want, to how to market and position yourself for it whether you're going for a promotion or a job search or both.
Conclusion
In summary, the 3 big things that have helped my clients, the ones I see getting the best result right now are:
STOP Expecting people to see you how you see yourself
Recognize that this is a campaign to have people see you differently; that takes time and effort.
A great way to do that is to come to managers and leaders with solutions instead of problems.
STOP Telling people you're a leader instead of showing it
This is related to the first one in that it requires you to change your relationship with management from a follower to a peer, a subject matter expert. Which means you need to know and own your value proposition.
STOP Expecting it to happen overnight
Instead, make sure you're meeting regularly with your manager, skip-level manager, or any other decision-maker.
Advocating for yourself regularly, not just at review time.
Finally, go out and look for an external role if for no other reason than to boost your confidence, but go into that with a strategy and a method, a process, or risk overwhelming yourself
These are some of the main transitions we are recommending and what we see working now when it comes to promotions.
We have had so much success bringing folks through the process. Moving ambitious women into that Director, VP, SVP, and even partner roles and beyond. Getting a compensation increase from a 15-95%. And most importantly, giving you clarity and confidence in this carer journey.
And we do this in a unique way. We not only walk you through the job search or promotion process but also work with you to instill and perfect some key leadership skills: Vision setting, Storytelling, the Influencing skills – that mindset shift to being more strategic in your communications.
It's all valuable information employers want in people and then also don't seem to be able to provide training on.
To reiterate, getting the role is step one. And we are here to figure out what that long-term career destination is, look at it in a super clear 360-degree view and then get that value proposition. Figure out the best way to position that to the audience you want to reach, translate that to LinkedIn, to connection emails, to 1-on-1s, to interviews, etc.
And taking you through that interview and review process all the way to negotiation and through your first 90 days and more.
Huge congratulations to all our clients who are out there moving into these promotions. We are so proud to be part of your transformation as a leader – in your title, in your compensation, and in your mind and actions.
If you're interested in working with us, click here to go to the application link.
If accepted you will be invited to a private training about how to replace what you’re currently doing to find a new job with strategies on how to get clarity on your long term career vision and design a role and plan that gets you there. But you need to apply at the link above to be invited.
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