So how do you go about getting promoted? There’s a difference between being promoted internally within your organization and wanting to move to a different company and being promoted externally. We will initially be discussing the first option, or internal promotion as most people are more focused on that. It’s difficult to jump from one company to a different one. When people ask me about being promoted my best recommendation is: wait until they promote you!

"Wait until they promote you!"

Most companies want to promote internally because when you hire someone from outside of your organization you don’t know anything about them. The result is that you have somebody who doesn’t know the organization. The really successful people that I know try to promote within the organization. When I say wait until you get promoted I don’t this as a passive type of waiting. It’s not complicated to get promoted if you are smart about it. First of all you have to know who is responsible for your promotion. Who is responsible for promotion in your company? The obvious answer that most people say is the organization. But it’s not “the organization” that promotes its people. The word organization is a vague word we use to avoid taking responsibility. Usually a person decided who gets promoted, but it’s not always your boss! I haven’t seen an organization in my 20 years in management where the boss is the only decision maker when it comes to promotion.

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The second thing is to make sure that the people responsible for your promotion know who you are (in a positive way!) Understand what these people are looking for when they want to promote someone. This means learn what capabilities, ideas, thoughts, and knowledge they value.

"Do the job of your boss!"

The next step is relatively simple. Do the job of your boss! This is what I usually recommend: if you want to get promoted, you need to talk to your boss first. Your boss will either be supportive and give you feedback in what you need to do, or they may fall out of their chair laughing. Your boss needs to be your supporter. You cannot be promoted, even in big companies, around your boss. The best way to get the support of your boss is to ask them what you can help them in. Do not upstage them, instead assist them. That help, that assistance, goes a long way, especially when it’s time to decide who they will promote.

"How long do you wait?"

How long do you wait? The appropriate amount of time varies for different people. A reasonable amount of time including training and demonstration of capabilities is about a year.