Climb the corporate ladder without ever asking for a promotion
the surprising power of preparation and practice
I consistently did three behaviors at work that made me a “safe and desirable” promotion.
1. Data Gathering
I regularly interviewed people in other teams, other organizations, vendors, and even clients.
These conversations were all research to better understand how people worked in or with the company. Execs notice when we are doing research and networking across orgs — they prefer that we aren’t siloed.
2. Being Helpful
The research gave me insights into other organization’s (or client) struggles and ways my teams could find ways to improve their situation.
No-one ever complained that I was stepping on their toes, instead they thanked us for helping them.
3. The “Yes Man”
I regularly said “yes” to requests from execs and other departments to do research, find answers, or find better ways to explain problems we were having. I gained a reputation for being helpful, for finding solutions, and for communication skills.
This made me a reliable and consistent ally for the executive team’s goals and when they wanted more, it made me an easy promotion.
Start early
I started doing these behaviors as an individual contributor before I had a team to lead. Doing these three behaviors made it easier to lead teams. They made it easier because I was already prepared and practicing three key leadership skills before I had the responsibility of people on my team.
Behaviors in action
Early in my software career, I had been volunteering to provide engineering help to the customer support team. One day the VP of Engineering called me into his office, he had some questions about how I was helping the support team.
He then surprised me by asking if I wanted to lead the team. Specifically he was impressed at the research I’d been doing, how I’d been helping people, and the “yes” work I’d been doing even though this wasn’t my core responsibility.
Careers are not school
Very few companies have a step-by-step process for career advancement like we had moving through school. We don’t advance at work because we spent a year at a particular level. Promotions require that you be curious, find ways to help people, and improve your people skills.
Getting promoted shouldn’t be a mystery or particularly challenging. It does require that you prepare and practice.
Bill is the training lead at 40 Percent Better (aka 40PB). 40PB is a consistent repeatable process for amazing leadership that anyone can learn and practice. Bill knows it works because he’s been using this process to deliver “impossible” projects across industries.