The Hidden Promotion Blocker: Why Great Work Isn't Enough
“I’m watching others advance and I just don’t get why I’m not.”
The frustration in Brittany's voice was palpable as she shared her story during our recent coaching session.
As a junior engineer who had spent several years with her team, she felt increasingly disconnected from her career trajectory.
Despite her dedication and what she believed to be meaningful contributions, advancement seemed perpetually out of reach.
“It’s been years since I’ve been promoted, even though I know I’m working on big things that will help my team be more successful. I’m watching others advance and I just don’t get why I’m not.”
Does this resonate? If you're nodding your head, you're not alone. I've chatted with countless young professionals like Brittany who do great work but remain stalled at level.
Let's be honest, there are many factors that can impact career progression that we simply cannot control - like budgetary restrictions, lack of upper-level headcount, or top-heavy organizations.
But there's one critical factor that's often overlooked and completely within our control: our ability to assess our own vulnerabilities.
When Good Intentions Miss the Mark
When I first started working with Brittany, I was genuinely impressed by her initiative.
She enthusiastically described her latest project: collaborating with a cross-functional sales team to develop the marketing strategy for a new product.
She was creating customer demos, speaking at different forums, and becoming known as a valuable resource to the go-to-market team.
At first, I was just as confused as Brittany about why her work wasn't being recognized. It sounded like she was doing great things to move the company forward. But as we dug deeper, a different picture emerged.
Me: "So how long did it take you to develop the product?"
I nodded - she had a point. But I needed to understand more.
Me: "So how does this work tie into your core job duties?"
The conversation was starting to reveal some crucial insights as I dug deeper:
"So what does success look like in your current role?"
I asked, feeling like I was getting closer to the root cause of Brittany's issue.
Brittany paused for a moment then said:
"I'm not exactly sure. My manager keeps track of metrics like our time to close tickets, number of peer reviews, code quality, and things like that for reporting up to our technical leads."
When I asked Brittany why she believed she should be a level higher than what she was currently, her response was fair.
She explained that she's working on the marketing project with subject matter experts who are one to two levels higher and she has taken a lead position on that effort, in addition to being in her current role at level for several years.
But the light bulb came on when I asked my next question:
"Disregarding the marketing project, since it's not an effort being driven by your specific team and sounds a bit like a side passion project (which there's nothing wrong with), how does your work stack up against the best junior engineers on your team? Are you closing more tickets faster, putting out higher quality code, doing more peer reviews, and nailing all of the things your manager seems to care about?"
She wasn't sure how she measured up, and that was the problem.
Brittany was stuck in her preferences.
Overusing Your Strengths Can Be A Weakness
My coaching philosophy is heavily anchored on individuals working to their strengths and finding opportunities to leverage them whenever possible.
But there's such a thing as overusing your strengths.
We naturally gravitate towards solving the types of problems we believe we're well-equipped to solve. It influences the kind of work we choose to do and the quality by which we do it.
When we're able to do what we naturally like, the work quality is higher. And when we're faced with doing things we'd prefer not to do, things that don't necessarily interest or challenge us, the work quality is lower and seemingly benign tasks are often ignored.
Brittany was caught in this cycle.
Her passion for technical marketing had created a blind spot. While she excelled in her chosen projects, she wasn't meeting the high bar set for technical competency and operational excellence on her team.
Her leadership didn't necessarily value her marketing contributions because they weren't part of her core role.
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On top of that, it seemed like she didn't care about what her managers cared about.
Three Questions to Assess Your Vulnerabilities
If you're struggling at-level like Brittany and want to assess your vulnerabilities to see if you might need to make a change regarding the work you focus on, here are three crucial questions to consider:
1. Am I Neglecting Core Responsibilities?
No one could argue with Brittany's work on the marketing project, but she was falling short on completing tasks that were important for her team. She wasn't prioritizing things that her manager was monitoring closely.
As a manager who has been in situations where you want to advocate for people who are deserving of advancement, it's very difficult to do that when individuals aren't completing their core competencies at the highest level, even when you know they are capable of doing so.
Imagine someone suggesting that the leadership team forgoes promoting someone who is doing everything within their job description, and then some, for someone who has demonstrated performance in the past but is essentially performing average right now in terms of their core work - that's not going to fly.
If you’ve unintentionally fallen into this cycle, instead of neglecting the things that don't interest you, find ways to pair your strengths and interests with your core requirements.
Look for optimizations, efficiencies, and improvements you can make and implement that are directly tied to your core responsibilities or your manager's priorities for the team.
2. Am I Solving the Wrong Problems?
One of the biggest blind spots of highly motivated and ambitious people is that we often get tunnel vision when it comes to solving problems.
We want things to be done well and completely, and if we're not careful, that can lead to solving the wrong problems.
There will never be a shortage of things to do or fix, but not every problem is worth our time - context matters.
To avoid solving the wrong problems, validate the things you want to work on with your leadership, before you get too deeply involved.
If you have a great idea or see a problem worth solving:
If you don't get positive feedback from this conversation, it's best to find a problem to solve that's more aligned with the direction and priorities of your team.
3. Is My Performance Plateauing?
The tough thing about being at-level for a seemingly long period of time is that the competition landscape shifts with time.
What exceeded expectations a few years ago may just be meeting expectations today, so it's important to survey the landscape rather than over-relying on perceived strengths that may be limiting your potential growth.
Take an honest assessment of the current competitive environment:
Are members of your team meeting certain milestones and gaining new competencies that you aren't, such as certifications and professional training for new technologies?
It's important to prioritize developing new, relevant skills so that you don't hit a ceiling in growth as new employees come in and out of the organization with diverse skill sets and capabilities.
Seek feedback from your manager on how your performance stacks up against expectations for the next level so that you can identify and close any performance gaps.
Prioritize Doing the Right Things
If you're facing a similar challenge to Brittany, it may be time to make a strategic mindset shift to focus on doing the right things, rather than just doing things right.
Remember, misaligned efforts can lead to wasted energy and frustration.
Here's an action plan you can follow to course-correct:
Remember, career growth isn't just about working hard or having potential, it's about strategic alignment and demonstrated impact in the areas that matter most to your organization.
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