Why even the best employees don't get promoted

When I was 25 years old, I started becoming a boss of my own with 2 brand managers reporting to me. I sent and replied to emails fast. I executed projects on time and within the allotted budget. I hit my sales target every year. I made money for the company. People praised me. I was your typical model employee.

Any competitive worker like me expected to be promoted EVERY year. And so when another 12 months passed, I was expecting my name to be announced in the CEO’s email about promotions. For the first time, my name wasn’t in it.

I clearly remember dashing to my boss’s cubicle. “You asked me to finish projects 1, 2, and 3. And I did with flying colors. Why isn’t my name there?” I was fuming with anger and confusion.

“Jonathan...” my boss calmed me down. “Remember that day when you brilliantly aced a presentation to the CEO and I congratulated you for it? I asked you out for dinner and to tag along anyone you liked in the office. You brought nobody.” She added. “I was expecting you to bring your 2 brand managers who painstakingly helped you prepare those slides. You didn’t. And you never even acknowledged them.” I started melting with shame. I realized what I was missing all throughout.

“And this is why I’m not promoting you. You are insecure to share the limelight with other people. You refuse to share the stage. You don’t wear a corporate hat. You think it’s all about YOU.” My boss snapped. “You are a brilliant executioner Jonathan, but you have a lot more to learn about leadership. You can’t manage people yet.” She added.

This is probably one of the biggest and most painful lessons I’ve learned in my corporate career about leadership. There is a big difference between being individually good at what you do versus being good in managing people to do what they ought to do. Those who get promoted to leadership and managerial roles possess the latter.When I was younger, I often wondered what kept me from being promoted faster than how I expected to be, and I was missing the value of leadership apparently. At work, I have so many work colleagues who fall into the same trap---excellent individual players, but fail when they start working with teams or leading teams. They're like the folks in the picture. They sail with other travelers using the same ship with the goal of arriving at the same destination, but they insist to set sail on their own. They refuse to share the steering wheel, or let someone steer it once in a while.

Leadership is pullership, not pushership. Leadership is about serving the people who work for you, and not the other way around. Leadership is putting the spotlight on your team, and not on yourself. For all you guys out there aspiring to get promoted this year, make sure you are confident to tick this box. It’s not just about clocking the most time at work, submitting the best report, or hitting the most amount of sales for the company. Rather, social intelligence and emotional maturity to lead are the essential elements in promoting people to positions of higher power, and to positions requiring people management. Because in the end, the real role of leaders is to make more leaders out of themselves.

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JONATHAN YABUT is the winner of the hit Asian reality TV show, The Apprentice Asia, and directly reported to Tony Fernandes as Chief of Staff of AirAsia.

He is based today in Kuala Lumpur as the Managing Director of his management consultancy firm, The JY Consultancy & Ventures, which offers digital marketing and talent optimization services to Asia's startups and corporations. Jonathan is Asia’s leading motivational speaker on topics involving leadership, talent development of Gen Y workers, and career management for Fortune 500 companies. In 2015, he debuted his best-selling motivational book in Asia, "From Grit to Great", and recently launched his second book, "Fast Forward", which is available in all bookstores in Asia. For speakership and media inquiries, contact [email protected] or visit his website www.jonathanyabut.com.