Ask How and not Why Not
By: Michael DeVenney
The main reason people are passed over for promotion is that the people making the decision didn’t know they wanted it.
We live in an age where we talk all the time and send emails, texts, and tweets constantly. Yet, we rarely communicate. A lot of words are passed but the connection is not there. Ironic.
Getting ahead is based on first knowing what you want. Being clear on what your career will look like is critical to being successful. The second step to realizing that successful career is actually letting the people who can help you get there know what you want. Bosses are not mind-readers – they need to know what you want so they know where you want to fit.
Promotion decisions are often made by default. The sad truth is that two of the three reasons that people are selected for promotion are not really about criteria for success in the new role – likeability and seniority. Just because you have been there for longer and people like you, does not mean you are the right choice. The top reason for promotion is also often not based on success criteria – performance. Current performance does not always equal future performance.
Bottom-line: promotion is generally not based on the right choice.
The reason for default decisions is generally lack of time. Bosses and leaders are just too busy and take shortcuts in making people decisions – even though they are the most critical decisions for the organization. The people making the decision also do not always have clear and shared criteria for making the selection choice and do not have training in assessing candidate’s potential.
If you want to get ahead, you need to ask the people making the decision how you can fit the selection criteria and not complain about why not you.
The real opportunity in telling your boss where you want your career to go is that you save him or her tremendous time and support their performance criteria of succession planning. A recent study showed that although succession planning at all levels of the organization is one of the top five drivers of success for business today, less than 16% of organizations have any type of integrated plan. Succession is generally a performance criteria for executives and managers but little is done about it.
Help your boss help you.
The step you should take to advance your career strategically is to have a conversation with your boss to outline your career objectives so your boss knows where you want to go. How do you make this happen?
- Set up a time to talk with your boss – not to tell him or her what you want but to gain their insight and perspective on how you can develop and move your career forward. Telling never works – asking gets you the answers you need. Outline the next one or two steps you want to make in your career and be specific – avoid going too far out in your career as it can come off overly ambitious.
- Ask your boss for the qualities or characteristics needed for successfully making the transition to the next one or two levels in your career. Start with asking what would be the results or outcomes of someone being successful at those specific levels. Ask your boss to describe the best people in that role and then the worst people in the role. Getting people to tell stories about best and worst case scenarios is the core of how we communicate at our best – you will see five or so key themes repeated and the best and worst is generally a mirror image of each other. From the stories, you will be able to highlight the key themes or criteria for success in your desired role – the criteria for selection.
- With the criteria defined, now ask the tough question – how do you rank? When asked directly, the feedback we provide is often not the real truth the other person needs. It is just human nature. For this conversation, ask the question in the form of “where do I need to develop in these qualities?” or “how would you suggest I grow in these qualities?” You are assuming you need to grow and that takes the burden off your boss and puts him or her in a coaching situation.
- You know the criteria for selection and where you need to develop, the next step is to ask your boss if he or she would meet again with you if you put together an actionable development plan and provide feedback on how you are progressing. The answer will almost always be “yes”. You have started a dialogue that puts you on the radar for promotion and by involving your boss in your development and growth you have also invested him or her in your success.
You have three goals to support your career growth in talking with your boss … (1) awareness – now they know where you want to go, (2) dialogue – you are in an ongoing conversation with the right people to support your career growth, and (3) development focus – you know the promotion criteria and what you need to do to be selected.
For your boss, you have just made their job so much easier (and this is really your job). You have taken care of their performance issue for succession planning. You had raised your hand as someone who wants to progress their career, you have helped them set the criteria for making the right decision rather than a default position, and you have prepared yourself for the promotion so your boss has bench strength.
At the same time, you have involved, invested, and engaged your boss in your success. By taking the approach of gaining perspective on how to grow and be ready rather than wanting to know why you haven’t been promoted shifts a confrontational discussion to a collaborative dialogue. Involving your boss in a regular conversation each quarter on your progress puts you front and center for awareness. It is win-win.
We have to remember that people are not mind-readers. We cannot assume that our audience knows what we want or what they should know – it is our responsibility to communicate to our audience what we need them to know.
Rather than asking why not me for the promotion, be proactive and ask how to get the promotion. Involving your boss in your career growth is critical to getting ahead.
Being primed for promotion requires the people who make the decision actually know you want the promotion. Have the conversation and grow your career.
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