Get Promoted Faster: By Making Yourself The Obvious Choice

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The quickest path to promotion is to make yourself the obvious choice.

You don’t need me to tell you that to be promoted you’ll have to work hard and do a great job—you already know that. That’s a necessary condition for any meaningful career path. And I’ve already discussed here why taking shortcuts does not work.

Today, I want to share a few more subtle and less intuitive strategies to accelerate your path to promotion. They all hinge on this idea:

if you have laid the foundations and taken the appropriate steps, your promotion will almost be inevitable. That’s because you’ve made it the obvious choice.

Let’s talk about how to make it happen.

1. Don’t Be The “Key Person”

I put this one first because it might sound counterintuitive.

Being indispensable in a project is a bit like having a double-edged sword. On one hand, your contribution makes you irreplaceable, which may provide a sense of job security since making you redundant is difficult. But, on the other hand, being so indispensable can actually keep you stuck in your current role. Because you’re so critical to the project, it can be tough to move to a new position or get promoted without causing disruption.

Your boss may be so concerned about loosing you that they might end up (explicitly or subconsciously) resisting any new position or promotion opportunity.

If your goal is to get promoted to a different role, you’d better prepare the ground for your replacement. Whatever your responsibilities are, always have in mind a person or a set of people who can do the job at a level comparable to yours. So, when you have the promotion conversation with your boss, you can reassure them that you moving to a different role or team will cause no disruption to the team or project.

2. Make Your Intentions Explicit

Ensure your superiors know your intentions and desires.

Assuming others know what you want is never a good idea. Yes, your boss might assume you want to grow and be promoted, but the 'how' isn't always clear. Some people want to follow a managerial path, while others might want to specialize and focus on technical skills. Don’t assume your superiors know what your priorities are—tell them!

If your boss doesn’t bring up the topic, make sure you do during your 1:1s or performance reviews. Explain your intentions, what you think comes next for you, what your priorities are, and how you see yourself in 6 to 12 months.

3. Be Your Next Role Now

There’s no better way to convince someone you can do something than by actually doing it.

Don’t wait to be promoted to start practicing the skills required in the new role you want to attain. Ask to be involved in tasks and projects that require the skills you want to improve.

This has many advantages:

1. It makes you better prepared for when you actually move to the new role—think of it as some sort of training.
2. You’ll have the chance to experience what it feels like to be in the role—and you might find out you don’t actually enjoy it that much after all.
3. It’ll prove that you have the required skills to do well in the new role—and make the decision about your promotion much easier for everyone involved.

4. Network With People in The Role

Connecting with people who are currently in the role or position you’re looking for has lots of direct and indirect advantages:

• You can take inspiration from their journey.
• You can ask what skills made them stand out.
• You can seek support for the challenges you’re facing.
• You can exchange opinions and best practices.
• They can directly suggest you for an open position or introduce you to someone who could.

Conclusions

The quickest way to your next career jump is making the decision for your promotion so easy and straightforward that your boss and company feel like it’s an inevitable choice.

Hope the few simple tips I shared today will help achieve that.

That’s all for now. If you found this post useful, please let me know by leaving a comment or sharing it with a friend.

If there’s a topic you’d like me to cover in a future issue, feel free to send me a message. I read them all. I’m always looking for feedback, suggestions, and new ideas.

Thanks for reading. See you next week. ????

Cheers,

Fusco

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