What's in a Career Promotion?
Deconstructing the path of an individual's advancement
Recently, my friend shared opinions on the promotion process between people. I found our discussion fascinating, drawing out its thinking. The result is an individual's path for seeking a promotion packet, which I'll call the promotion lifecycle.
The lifecycle defines points along the individual's journey within a business context. They are skill sets, reputation, sponsorship, opportunity, and advancement. These qualities are timeless but not intended as silver bullets. Their effectiveness depends on an individual's adaptability to their perceived business culture, quality of relationship with the manager, and calculating personal needs.
While I cannot highlight every dimension, my goal is to draw a holistic trail for an individual's advancement, identifying qualities in a group of people performing work. Along the way, I'll uncover interesting bits of behaviors between people, providing hints to accelerate their relationships.
The Promotion Lifecycle
Obtaining a promotion follows a sequence of events. First, skill sets and reputation develop sponsors providing sponsorship. Next, having sponsors unveils opportunities, concluding in a promotion. If an organization denies promotions, a motivated individual exits toward advancement. Let me break them down to provide context.
Skill Sets and Reputation Promote Sponsors
At the start of one's career or collaboration on a new project, one applies skill sets to solve business problems. As time advances, people perceive the quality of their peer's application of knowledge, which forms opinions of this individual's work, creating a reputation. Reputations become recognized in the workgroup and leadership chains, making them sponsors.
Skill Sets
An individual applies skill sets to complete work. Skill sets are the necessary application of knowledge in the environment when performing work. Whatever the domain, the group acknowledges levels of skill sets. The natural course of skills development provides eminence, optimally tackling the job. Eminence demands an efficiency of delivery, exemplifying its orchestration to its peers.
Skill Set Accelerants- Staying up to date with latest techniques
- Credentials such as badges and certificates
- Finding and participating in side projects
- Taking on unestimated work, orchestrating path finding
- An attitude of persistence, not giving up on a solution
- Having curiosity of how something works
Reputation
Reputation defines who completes the work and how. Reputation follows skill sets. Reputation aligns with how the person completes work, its recipient, and in what "bedside" matters. Reputation requires the right balance of achieving the result and doing it well with others.
One can have unique skill sets but lack interpersonal achievements due to poor likability, or one has an excellent reputation but lack the required skills, requiring refinement in their craft.
Reputation Accelerants- Seeking what is essential in the work group
- Possess a high form of valency, combining with others to perform
- Taking on risk and raising a hand when leadership needs a volunteer, but the leadership group is not selective
- Securing designations that are recognized by the group
- Inclusive mindset for tackling business problems
- Bringing others in at the right times, improving soft skills
Skill Sets, Reputation, and Sponsorships Promote Opportunity
Once there is enough skill set and reputation in a direction optimal for the environment, sponsors find opportunities, directing the needs of new problems that require solving. Those with potential eminence take on these challenges.
Sponsorship
Sponsors are who see or hear of the work and by whom. Sponsors socialize with who in the group is delivering the work. People raise awareness of what is happening in the environment and often talk to one another in an initiative context. Both skill set and reputation feed into these conversations. Being visible to leadership is often a key to promotion. Sponsorship aligns with extrinsic motivators such as money and intrinsic motivators such as providing impact.
Sponsorship Accelerants- Foster a good relationship with the manager
- Continue manager 1:1s
- Start skip level 1:1s
- Take on new initiatives without deferring current work
- Mature their presentation skill set and group communication
- Increase visible achievements in execution
- Develop brag sheet management
- Being able to operate autonomously
Opportunity
Opportunity is where the new work resides. Sponsors discover delegation opportunities. Finding an opportunity is an excellent step toward promotion. Operating in the context for some time is required before recognizing the individual.
While enough skill sets, reputation, and sponsorship are essential, timing and luck factor into an opportunity. One can optimize for the talent review process, but not all teams have ascending options. If they do, it may require waiting in a long line of succession or finding a way through the competition.
Opportunity Accelerants- Finding new problems and solving them
- Pitching to leadership new ideas
- Asking the manager to delegate work
- Using metaphors and having a command on domain language
- Having motivation to advance one's career
Skill Sets, Reputation, and Opportunity Forms Promotion
An individual's journey will lead to promotion if opportunities exist in the environment and leadership recognizes the person doing the work.
Opportunity and Sponsorships Promote Advancement
Suppose the individual cannot find opportunities. Challenges within the environment may prevent promotion. For example, if retention budgets do not match market rates. In that case, there is the ability to exit, leading to advancement. The individual joins a new group working on different business problems.
Exiting and Advancement
Adding the final piece to the framework, if an individual has evidence where new opportunities do not exist in their environment, one leaves the workgroup for an opportunity. The schism is a ripcord to correct mistakes made with reputation, sensing their career in the organization is limited, or if skill sets no longer align. Leaving brings the individual a new promotion, money, or title. Hence, the advancement of their career.
Exiting and Advancement Accelerants- Following other trusted individuals through prior sponsorships
- Being informed on market rates for work performed
- Keeping contacts and networking up to date
- Being open to new opportunities
- Continuous interviewing
- Doing what's best for the individual
A Note About Portability
Following one's promotion or advancement, a lifecycle repeats in timeframes. In a promotion, one gets to keep parts of their reputation. They obtain specific domain skill sets in a similar environment but trade-off potential accelerating opportunities and new skill sets. In advancement, the person returns part of their reputation and sponsorship to the organization, discovering new skill sets and opportunities instead.
There is a myriad of reasons a schism occurs. Why someone leaves their workgroup includes seeking market rate for the work performed, limited individual or product growth, poor manager relationship, mismatch of recognition expectations, and contract expiration. Those that decide to leave may follow those who are trusted.
Following either an exit or promotion, one begins seeking first goals, discovering the environment, and building a new reputation.
Conclusion
Pursuing a promotion requires skill sets, reputation, sponsorship, and the opportunity to grow. The proverbial ripcord is the emerging exit to advancement if the environment is no longer optimal. Following an individual throughout the process is called the promotion lifecycle.
While this system is challenging to draw out, I attempted to visualize what is happening between people through an individualist's eyes. What follows is the final draft in an approximate three-year timescale.
