What stopped your chance to be promoted?

Sometimes one gets the feeling that he/she did all the right things. However, did not get promoted, sometimes even passed over. It breaks the heart, disheartened we may even explore other organisation. But have we ever stopped and evaluated ourselves to understand what just happened?

A friend recently was passed over for promotion and was very upset, she had worked in the role for about 3 years and rated "Green" or "Met expectations" in all the appraisals so far. She thought she had it all figured out and right. But when the time came, she was not recommended for promotion. She had a conversation with her manager, however, was disappointed.

So, what stops you from your promotion?

Many organisation have their competencies defined. The what and how of achieving the competencies is also stated directly or subtly. Yet, I saw quiet many being upset when they do not get promoted or not recommended for promotion.

Instead of understanding the employees point of view, I spoke to managers and asked them why they'd pass someone over? The answers were simple yet surprising.

1. Too loud and overbearing - So what, They come across to others as they are too much of themself. Two year ago one gentleman was recommended for assessment to become a junior manager. He came in completely confident, a little over confident (I could say). Every question we asked, he answered with great enthusiasm. He was loud, everyone outside the interview room could hear what he was speaking about. Every time we asked him to speak about any of his concerns, failures and areas of development, he clearly said (peering into our eyes) that he had no development areas and was an expert in his area. He told us that he'd never faced a failure. Knowing what he does, we asked him questions around the failures - he very coldly blamed it on a Leader and said he was incapable of managing what had happened. He blatantly spoke ill about his peers, counterparts even his own manager. Now his behavior shows that he is clearly not ready to pick the baton of a Manager. He had to learn a lot around Humility, Accountability and Empathy.
2. Very Ambitious - you may ask is being Ambitious a mistake? The answer is "NO" being Ambitious is good, however, excessively Ambitious could drive the people around you away. I worked with a Manager, who was excessively ambitious. She did all the right things to promote her career however, in the process all of us quit. Now you may ask why? It became very stressful to work with her. She was a smart person, however her empathy quotient was drastically low. Over ambitious people lose out on the emotions of their team members, they want everyone around them to be doppelgangers of themselves. Many of the team members have their own style of effectiveness, an career conscious person will keep that in mind. 
3. Not taking People with you- Everyone has an innate need to be seen, heard and recognized. As kids we are taught social etiquette of Please, Sorry and Thank you. However, as we grow up and get into the corporate world, some of us forget the magic words. We do not appreciate people for the support they have given us, we take credit for work done by others or just ignore them. If the first sentence of this point is true to me, how could it be untrue for the others. People who concentrate on themselves are visible and so is their motive. If one is looking to be promoted and move up the corporate ladder he/she needs to take their people along with them. It's a journey to success and can't be done alone.
4. Washing dirty Linen in Public - Managers are Humans, and they have their flaws. When you speak about them behind their backs about how unfit they are, they get to know. This reminds me of Taylor Swifts song " You talk to your friends, talk to my friends, talk to me"; exactly! When you talk bad about your manager (in private - remember "Walls have ears"), the grapevine brings it to him/ her faster than you can imagine. You Manager has lost the trust in you, and there you see your promotion flying (delayed) out. I had a colleague who spoke bad about everybody, including her manager. She'd assume information (her understanding of the message passed) and go about speaking about it to all. One day her Skip manager sat her down and inquired about one information, and she said that's her understanding. When she was counselled that she could have clarified, she argued that she was right. First she was passed over for promotion, which she did not take it lightly. Her bickering became more and loud, slowly the system moved her out of the organisation. No one likes it when you speak about others. They are trouble makers. This person had great skills but her attitude did not impress.
5. Know it all's - This is a unique case where, even though I'd like to have a wiki or google as my team member, I'd like them to be subtle and not everywhere. Actually, the know it all's are just the beginning of the problem, it becomes difficult when they challenge every meeting, decision or idea made. In one of the assessment centers interview round, the assessee was speaking about what he's done so far and why he needed to be promoted. One of the assessors, asked him a question on compliance (ICH guidelines). The idea of asking this complicated question was to observe if the assessee will be able to think out of the box. The Assessee got offended and started to quote the guidelines and started to argue on the credibility of the assessor. The assessee was well read, however, he could not articulate his answer and tell us how he followed the guidelines in his process. Knowing everything is not what'll get you promoted, however, how would that be implemented or approached in one's setting is important.
6. Not Making your manager look good - When I started my career, I did not think this was important. However, I worked for some great managers who did this. Now I'm not speaking of "Yes, BOSS" attitude, this is very different. This is a lot to do with your capability to make your manager achieve his KRA, not a nod of approval to everything he/she says. My previous Manager made sure she made her Boss look good. A part of her manager's KRA was to make sure all our colleagues knew the new Core purpose, Values and Leadership Framework. We'd got a download of it from the UK Academy. She got us to brainstorm and come out with the most unique way of learning exposure - "Flash Mob". Within the first 1 month of the UK Launch, we in India had covered 100% of the population and 75% could remember it during a learning audit. No other country, even UK could leave that impact. We were the first to implement all the changes when compared to the other 14 countries. She also showcased the team as her Manager achieved his People KRA. This gave her an opportunity to grow in the organisation. 
7. Not ready for the next Role - This is a no brain'er. However, when it's me on the hot seat of promotion, and I've been told I'm not ready to take the next role, I'm offended and will become defensive, aggressive, comparative or argumentative. Most often I've seen that colleagues are very good with executing their KRA's. They perform their duties with a horse's blind. Everything outside of their KRA is not their headache. This attitude is good at the early stages of your career, where your objective is to become an expert in your area. However, if you want to climb the corporate ladder of success it is important to learn the "Why's" of your role and how it impact the organisation; look at the next role you are aspiring to move to and start working on the skills needed. 

As you move from an individual contributor to a people manager, it's not only the quantity you are assessed for but the quality of output; How focused are you on the execution and/ or the strategy? How much of Accountability do you take and how responsible are you to the outcome?

So What's Next?

1. Ask how you can improve in the future - Just ask your boss why you didn’t make the cut. See if he or she can help you put a set of well framed actionable objectives to help you reach that milestone the next time around.
2. Relationship is important - Burning bridges is easy, but its very important to keep all your doors open to new possibilities. You are angry and discouraged, and may want to vent the feeling out. You may be tempted to even lash it on your manager, the assessors or even your colleagues who've been promoted; Please remain cautious as I'd reiterate that relationship are important. Speak to people you trust and see what is your available option. Wait for the feedback from the assessors. Don't squander goodwill by speaking ill about your boss or HR.
3. Speak to a mentor - once you’ve had a chance to calm down, find out why it happened. If possible, talk to the assessors/decision maker. Just listen and don’t get defensive. Take this time to explore yourself and what it takes in this organisation to get to your success. If the answers are not justifiable (usually the case) seek out a trusted and knowledgeable person who can coach you. Most often remember what we think we deserve is different from what others think we deserve. There's always perception at play.

Bring it all together -

Remembering that we don't work in Silos and everything we do or don't do, impact the social living in a corporate world is important. The footprint we leave needs to be beneficial to both oneself and the teams we work with. Living the organisation's values and culture will ensure a feeling of belonging. Understanding the competency framework / Leadership framework and how to implement it within the teams and individual will help in the career progression with ease.