3 Things You Can Do Today to Position Yourself for the Next Promotion

Once you’ve been hired at a company that’s a good fit for you, you’ll need to actively position yourself as a leader to get promoted rather than passively hope your excellent skills, talents and work ethic alone will get you noticed. Did you know your path to promotion has already started in the interview phase while searching for a job? From the beginning you consistently need to present yourself as a valuable resource.

Wherever you are in the process – looking for the next position or fully employed and feeling secure – strive to become a sought-after resource in order to line up your next promotion. Here are a few ways to strategize.

Understand the Vision

Let’s say your job is quite well-defined. Make an active effort to research and understand your company’s big vision and what your boss’s plan is to get there.

How can you be part of this picture?

Have a conversation with your boss and be proactive about setting that meeting up. Make sure you come away from that conversation feeling crystal clear about what the company’s and the team’s overarching goals are and what their expectations are for you. Make sure to discuss anything you don’t feel comfortable with so the two of you can figure out how to make adjustments.

Speak Up

Your bosses want to know that you’re adding value to their team so they can achieve their department’s mission. They can always find a hard worker but what they want is someone who can lead the team to achieve goals. Think, “What can I do to make that goal happen?” Be in a serving mindset, and actively find ways you can support the team and your boss.

Be the solution.

Have regular meetings with your boss formally or informally according to your situation – I recommend weekly meetings or daily quick check-ins. The more frequently you do it, the shorter the meeting will be. Put it in your calendar and meet in person if possible. If your boss says they don’t have time for meetings, proactively update him or her instead. Always communicate what you’re doing. I even suggest to my clients to over communicate.

Be a Team Player, Not a Brilliant Loner

If you initiate plans on your own, execute them and present them to your boss without having communicated ahead of time what you’re doing, you run the risk your boss of your boss saying, “This wasn’t what I was expecting.” He or she could feel frustrated and think you’ve been wasting time.

Sometimes the big boss needs things done a certain way – you can’t always just do what you want. That’s why communication is so important. It doesn’t have to be so formal, though in the beginning it might need to be if you haven’t yet established a relationship.

Ultimately this is about building better relationships within your workplace.

When the boss trusts and knows you’ll do what he or she expects (or more), even if you make a mistake they’ll be more understanding. If your work is brilliant but you never communicate what you’re doing, one tiny mistake will stand out.

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Ready to get clear on which specific steps you can take at work to position yourself for the next promotion? Download my free Leadership Discovery Tool from www.nozomimorgan.com to start your journey.

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Nozomi Morgan ( @nozomimorgan ) is an international leadership development coach and helps individuals to excel in their career and life and corporations to transform existing high potential talent into top talent in the organization. Get instant access to Leadership Discovery Tool and become clear on the way you want to lead your career and life.