How To Get Promoted — Part 2

I’m not going to lie, I didn’t figure it all out right away. And even now I definitely don’t know everything and still make lots of mistakes.

(by the way, if you haven’t already read here is Part 1)

Some people are either natural at or have known for a long time all the things I have discovered. If you’re one of those people, I would love to have a coffee/chat with you and swap stories and ideas.

But for people like me, it just wasn’t that intuitive. I spent a lot of time learning the hard way and after several years of building up some knowledge (and failing quite a bit mind you), I feel like I’ve finally landed on a set of solid concepts that can be consistently applied to help hard workers like you — people who deserve to be noticed — stand out from the crowd.

I’m going to lay out the concepts from what I feel are the most obvious things you should be aware of to increasingly less obvious concepts.

Let’s get to it.

Decision Makers

In every company there are people called Decision Makers and it’s exactly what it sounds like. These are people that are capable of making very important decisions and getting them executed somehow. They have the ability to affect the trajectory of your career for better or for worse.

Most companies have several levels of Decision Makers and the higher level you go the more powerful a Decision Maker is.

For most people, the one they are in contact with is their direct boss. But other Decision Makers they might be around could be people like the owners of the company or managers of other departments.

Advisors

Most (good) Decision Makers don’t actually make decisions all on their own.

Big decisions such as ones that affect the company’s livelihood can make or break a Decision Maker. Because of this, it’s important for them double/triple check their ideas through other people they trust as Advisors.

These Advisors can be made up from a combination of people from both their personal and professional lives. Decision Makers also often serve as Advisors for other Decision Makers.

Being Well-Liked

Most people’s thoughts on this topic will probably along the lines of “Well yeah! It’s obvious that people should like you!”

But what I want to point out that may not be so obvious is that most people severely underestimate how important this concept actually is in regards to getting promoted.

I have experienced in person and heard second-hand stories about people getting promoted not because of overall qualification, but purely because they were well-liked by their boss. I have had an acquaintance tell me something along the lines of “I probably wasn’t the best person for this but my manager really liked me so I got promoted.”

It’s that important.

And if you’re a hard worker, especially one that likes to keep to yourself, you might be thinking “Well that doesn’t seem fair at all :(“

But think about it this way: who do you normally like spending your time with? People you like or people you don’t like?

If two people asked for a responsibility like taking your vehicle for a car wash, who are you more likely to trust? A close friend or a distant relative?

If you think it’s unfair, think about all the times you have practiced this “unfairness” yourself. It might be a bitter pill to swallow for some but in reality, it’s just how life works. People bias their decisions in regards to who/what they like and don’t like.

It’s not always the only factor, but the truth is you are more likely to get promoted if you are well-liked (or at least respected) by one or more Decision Makers— and even better is if you are also well-liked by their Advisors.

I was naive and didn’t realize this until later on, but the guy that got the promotion over me knew this, consciously or not. On top of that, he was actually pretty good it. I even liked him.

This concept is so important that entire books have been written on this topic alone.

And so to close out part two, I want to end with a recommendation of a classic that I have personally read: How to Win Friends and Influence People.

>>> Next up in Part 3 is Leveling Up, Visibility, and Value