Who among us does not want to get promoted? Majority of individuals want to work hard, climb the corporate ladder and get to a position of seniority and power. There are very few who enjoy what they are doing and want to stay at the same level. Some of us who are lucky get promoted faster and some of us may struggle for years to get promoted to the next level. Here are a few things to focus on if you want to be successful in getting promotions at your job.
- Win the Trust of your Boss or Leader – Your leader is the most important person in your career. Win his or her trust and they will give you good projects, good assignment and speak well of your brand. Even if you do not like your boss, do not respect them, still try to have a good relationship with them until you move out. Since your leader or manager is responsible for day to day management of the team, including you, try to have a good relationship with them and leverage them to be your brand sponsor and advocate.
- Drive Consistent Results – There is not a single leader or manager who does not want a strong performer on their team. Having team members who drive results make a manager’s life easier  and makes them look good in front of other senior leaders. If you focus on delivering results, getting things done on time and not springing up negative surprises, you will always be wanted by senior leaders and you will be in a better negotiating leverage in terms of your career. Make sure you are consistently driving results.
- Manage and Respect Relationships – Working in any organization is all about teamwork. It does not mean you have to be the “nice person” all the time, but you also need to treat and mange your peer relationships, direct report relationships and upward relationships well. No boss or leader wants direct reports who are rough at the edges and can become a pain point irrespective of how good they are in producing results. If you are a star technical person or a star sales person, you may still be able to do fine. If you are not in one of those areas, you may not be able to last long, leave aside your promotion. Plus as you move up the career ladder, you may be able to attract and build a strong team is you have good relationships with your peers and direct reports.
- Market & Communicate Your Personal Brand – You may have all the qualities of a solid employee and teammate but may still not have a recognized personal brand among your peers or team leaders. As you deliver results, make sure you talk about them and share with others. Unless you do, no one will ever come to know how good you are at what you do. So be a marketer for “yourself” and take the charge on communicating your personal brand, value proposition to others through your work and by sharing the results of that work.
- Take Calculated Risks – Become an “Order Maker” – be the one who is willing to take risks and innovate. Although many individuals talk about risk taking, taking up challenges, many of us shy away from them as “risk taking” is seen as becoming career limiting. In today’s world more and more companies and leaders are looking for individuals who can innovate, take calculated risks and be the “order makers”, not just the “order takers”.
Good luck in your career!