7 Making yourself promotable

If you have decided that you want to move on up the career ladder, the next step is to make yourself promotable—another aspect of the reinvention process.

Being promotable combines your professional skills with your business sense and ability to build good relationships. This creates the impression of someone who will be valuable to your organisation at increasingly senior levels. Once you become recognised for your specialist expertise and have a track record of success, you’re no doubt likely to be seen as a candidate for the succession line.

As well as your track record, however, the ‘powers that be’ will also take into account other personal attributes that go well beyond your current role. To get ahead, you’ll need to demonstrate business acumen, political sensitivity, the ability to manage change, and loyalty to your employing organisation. These attributes go hand-in-hand with the need to communicate and network effectively and the ability to cement critical relationships with those who will sponsor and support you as you move along your career path.

Step one: Make sure you are considered

When competition is fierce, it is important to do everything you can to make sure that you are considered to be a suitable candidate for a new appointment. However, blowing your own trumpet too loudly isn’t always the most effective way of influencing events. Being clear about what you want and why you deserve to be promoted is, of course, very important, but a subtle approach can also reap rewards. You could, for example:

find a mentor or sponsor in the organisation with whom you can work

approach your line manager and discuss your development plan in the light of your conviction that you have more to offer the business

observe those who have been promoted and ask yourself if you’re projecting the same personal attributes

In some organisations, promotion is a thing of the past for all but a very few people—usually in the senior management tiers. These are:

flat organisations: there are fewer levels in the hierarchy

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Try to become more visible by ensuring that you take the opportunity to mix with decision-makers and by sharing stories of your success at appropriate times. Don’t make too much of your achievements or you may turn off the very people you need to court.

matrix organisations: the business is structured according to common activities rather than discrete business units. Project teams are made up of specialists from across a business.

In such organisations, promotability takes on a new meaning, as there is often no clear succession route. There may be prestigious and exciting areas to be associated with, however, or some career-enhancing assignments that you could target. Take a step back and examine the patterns and trends of progressive career paths in your organisation. Once you’ve identified the ‘hot spots’, you can work out which suit you best and plan your approach to reach them.

Step one: Build a winning personal ‘brand’

Making yourself promotable is not an easy task because it implies a very wide development agenda. Aspects of this include:

familiarising yourself with the broader business arena and general management issues.

developing social and political skills that enable you to build effective relationships.

finding a personal leadership style that you’re comfortable with and that can develop into a distinctive personal ‘brand’ in the long run.

It’s a sad fact that the personal skills and attributes that have carried you to the point in your career where you’re looking at a more senior appointment are the very skills and attributes that can sabotage your success at this level. These include having too high a dependence on your specialist expertise, an individualistic approach that differentiates you from your peers, and an inclination to challenge the organisational status quo. Shedding some of these traits, therefore, may be the key to becoming promotable.

Step two: Develop good interpersonal skills

As you progress through your career, a shift occurs in the balance between the expert contribution you make and your ability to build relationships. More senior roles demand a higher level of political sensitivity because at this level relationships go beyond the organisational setting and are more likely have an impact on the long-term viability of the business. Faced with this realisation, many potential leaders try to fake it with an over-confident communication style that conveys nothing but arrogance and authoritarianism.

Good interpersonal relationships are built by people who have no axe to grind and who aren’t trying to create an illusion of confidence and capability. There’s no substitute for genuine self-confidence; people can generally see through bluff and blag, so it’s important to put the time in to really know yourself well, understand your values, and create a clear picture of what you want.

Step three: Meet business objectives

In order to make yourself promotable, not only do you have to meet the objectives of your role, but you also have to contribute to the wider business. This means showing initiative and taking an interest in areas outside your role boundaries. You could do this by volunteering for an important project, chairing a committee, or facilitating a special interest group. If you’re seen to be supportive of, and passionate about, the business, you’re much more likely to be noticed as someone who could add value at a more senior level.

Although it may be unpalatable to some, you could consider (subtle) ways in which you can broadcast your willingness to play a more committed part in the fortunes of your business, such as suggesting or volunteering for a special project. This doesn’t mean that you have to be sycophantic, but if you act like someone who occupies the type of role you’re aiming for, it’ll be easy for others to see you in that role.

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While increasing your ‘visibility’ within the boundaries of your organisation is important, you don’t need to confine yourself to just that. Why not start your own blog, publish articles in your trade or professional magazine, or accept invitations (or volunteer) to speak at conferences? If you want to raise your visibility more locally to demonstrate your commitment to your community, you could get involved in local politics.

Step four: Build and lead teams

One of the essential skills of a senior executive is the ability to build and lead teams. Without this the co-operative networks—which are vital to an organisation if it is to achieve its objectives—are damaged. Much of a person’s success in this area depends on his or her ability to communicate clear objectives as well as understanding the skills, motivations, and personal values of those in their team. Relationships must be open, with a healthy ebb and flow of feedback to ensure that everyone is aligned with the purpose of the team. Milestones and markers need to be part of the plan so that progress can be monitored and successes celebrated.

Step five: Learn to manage transition and change

Business and organisational models change in response to developments in the market and economy. The ripple-effects of these changes are felt throughout the organisation and have an impact on everyone. Being able to field such changes and use your knowledge and insight to direct people’s creative energy towards making them a success are valuable attributes of a leader. Showing reluctance and other blocking behaviours won’t be seen as helpful, even if you feel that the change is unwise or counter-productive.

If you find yourself in a situation like this, you may want to make alternative suggestions and explain the thinking behind them. If your concerns are rejected, though, demonstrate your loyalty by remaining flexible and actively seeking ways of making the changes work. Show that you’re prepared to keep people motivated and learn from the new experience rather than being resentful or obstinate.

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Remaining flexible, actively seeking ways of making (sometimes difficult) things happen, keeping people motivated, and learning from the new experience are all important characteristics of those in the top team. Loyalty and solidarity are values that are prized in cultures that are subject to transition and change.

Step six: Build an effective network of champions or sponsors

We’ve all seen people who have been promoted on the basis of who they know, not what they know, yet this is no guarantee of future success. Indeed, investing in a nepotistic relationship is all very well when your champion is in favour, but, if their reputation is damaged for any reason, yours will also be tarnished because of your close association.

It’s important, therefore, to build a robust network of relationships with people who will support you purely because of your potential and personal integrity. In this way, you can be sure that you aren’t reliant on the perception people have of someone else (and over whom you have no control), but that you’re judged on your own talent and attributes.

Think about your network and identify role models, potential coaches, and mentors for different aspects of your development plan. As you approach them, be open with your request for assistance but beware of projecting self-interest above the interests of the organisation. Frame your request in development terms, stating that you feel you have more to offer the business and would appreciate their guidance.

Common mistakes

You irritate the people who could help you

Sometimes, people looking for a move up the career ladder damage their case by making so much noise around the people who they think can promote them that their efforts become irritating and counter-productive. There are unwritten ‘rules’ to being promotable, and you need to work these out by observing and adopting some of the tactics of successful people who’ve gone before you.

You’re not willing to change

Although a track record of being a maverick may get you noticed, this is usually not a trait that will get you promoted. You need to play down your notoriety and redirect your energies into activities that are seen to support the organisation’s best interests. If you’re hoping to enter a different cultural zone in the organisation, you have to make sure you’re familiar with the values that operate there and demonstrate that they’re part of your value set too.

You ignore your team

It’s tempting to focus on yourself as you look towards your career horizon and plan for your own success. You’ll be judged on your ability to develop the talent in your team, though, so it’s foolish to ignore them. You won’t succeed by squashing those with potential, so you must trust in your own abilities and let your team flourish too. Doing this will create a loyal group who will support you in the long run. Take care to maintain these relationships as you move through the organisation, as you never know who you’ll be working with (or for!) one day.

STEPS TO SUCCESS

Find alternative ways to make yourself noticed without being boastful.

Familiarise yourself with the skills and approach necessary to succeed in your workplace and work hard at developing these.

Build good personal relationships and be aware of others’ needs.

Expand your capabilities outside your specific role—take an interested and active part in the wider business of your company.

Refine your leadership skills and learn to be flexible and accommodating of change.

Work with those around you to support your cause—this means not only building up a contact network but being careful not to offend existing and potential colleagues.

Don’t ignore your team. Do all you can to help them develop effectively—this is another powerful way of establishing yourself in your workplace.