What are some ways to make yourself stand out for a promotion?

Being a HR strategic partner, I have observed too many factors who lead to position the people for promotion. Here are some factors which are most effective as DOs/DONTs: DOs: 1. Have positive and go getter attitude 2. Show genuine interest in driving your role and projects 3. Collaborate with internal and external stakeholders actively 4. Proactively participate in business innovation and process development. 5. Collaborate 6. Communicate 7. Be respectful to everyone 8. Be accountable, take responsibility of mistakes if any. DONTs: 1. Be a mediocre 2. Give your advise everywhere 3. Try to be wise in the room 4. Mix personal issues at workplace 5. Criticise anyone or blame anyone for mistakes 6. Stop learning. & Maintain it.

First and foremost all professionals should grill in their minds . Ambition is great but never carry in your sleeves. Your peers will not like that. Anything outward /outlandish gives negative connotations. Here are some of my suggestions out of my 28 yrs of exp of working in teams and managing them also after I grew up the corporate ladder. 1)Time mgmt/punctuality is critical 2)Always take tasks that are beyond your scope of work. 3) Be a problem solver /solution provider. 4) Genuinely help your colleagues by teaching them some skills that you are good at. 5) Have great relationships beyond your domain 6) Be a pressure sponge to your boss's need to relieve the pressure of work from his /her shoulders. 7) Most critical be humble

This thought is quite engaging. If an organisation doesn't have a mechanism of setting SMART goals you'd probably be shooting yourself in foot by sharing or setting out with something they don't understand or imbibe in their culture. So only work on this plan if you are in an organisation that measures your performance by these standards. My experience is that you should go beyond your call of duty and do things or create actionable plans, albeit visible to your supervisor and his command that helps improve performance of the team, over achieve set goals of the team and ensure smooth and ease of execution towards the set goal. This in my shows leadership qualities needed for promotion.

Giving feedback is the easiest for a leader but taking feedback is tougher. Most leaders especially the younger lot don’t realise that their credibility and standing goes several notches high when they actively ask for feedback. When the leader asks for feedback the team over a period of time starts to realise that the leader is also part and parcel of the action and they get committed more to the solutions.

Wow, This is so critical not only in your career milestones but in your teams growth and development. If you apply for a position and another is chosen, a proper protocol would be for someone to sit down with you and explain why you did not get selected. If this does not happen then its upon you to seek out this feedback. Shame on those that dont submit that feedback and areas that could improve your chances for career advancement for future roles but shame on you if you do not pursue it. Knock on that door and ask "sorry, have you got a minute?" Be professional and sincere in your inquiry as to what you need to work on. Do not ramble about how "thats not fair, I deserved that job"

I believe everyone has heard this at some point in their life, however it's harder to do than it sounds. It's important to have a goal in networking. For example, make sure that you ask what you'd like to have an answer for, or speak to the people you'd like to get to know. To get your goal accomplished, I always have these two considerations in mind. One is to do your homework as best you can and prepare to adjust your approach to the personality of the person (or group) you're networking with. The second is to find a way to show or provide some value to the person you're networking with, which can come in a variety of forms. It doesn't have to be immediate value either, but can be potential value as well.