Can These 3 Simple Questions Predict Your Next Job Promotion?
Life is as simple as these three questions: What do I want? Why do I want it? And, how will I achieve it?
~ SHANNON L. ALDER
There are HiPos (High Potential Employees)…and then there are “PoPos”!
If you recently got promoted or are coasting along the road of Career Bliss, then you’re probably a HiPo.
CONGRATULATIONS!
You are amongst the privileged 10% of the workforce that gets coveted training, special assignments, senior mentors, and, let’s not forget, HIGHER PAY and RECOGNITION.
If all of this sounds like some Hollywood Fantasy flick, then my friend, you’re probably a PoPo. Someone who is “Passed Over and Pi**ed Off”!
Since 2001 I’ve been working as an HR Consultant and Executive Career Coach, I’ve had my share of PoPo clients who are frustrated, confused, sick, and tired of career advice that tells them to simply WORK HARDER.
I’m here to tell you that this is the WORST Career Advice in the history of ALL Career Advice.
But don’t worry.
There are 3 Questions that I use with my Coaching Clients that help them to prepare, position, and pitch their promotion within 12 months.
Answer these three questions for yourself to predict if you’ll be promoted within the next 12 months. Depending on how you answer the questions, you’ll know exactly what you’re doing right, and what you need to get your career growth strategy in place and in action. With a career strategy, you’re going to feel confident and clear on how to take your career to the next level.
The BIG IDEA behind these 3 Questions is that you need to start owning your career and taking responsibility for the direction it’s going in.
STOP waiting for…
FATE
CHANCE
LUCK
to come rescue you.
Stop waiting for the sky the part and for your career fairy godmother to descend from the heavens to FIX things for you. If you wait, then you’ll be waiting for a very, very long time because that just isn’t going to happen.
If you truly want career success, then you’ll need to live and breathe this mantra (cue the twinkly-sparkly background music):
IF IT IS MEANT TO BE, IT IS UP TO ME.
I can’t remember where and when I picked up this bit of advice, but it has served me well on my own career journey…
I wasn’t always the CEO of a 7-figure company,
I wasn’t always a sought-after advice columnist, HR Consultant or even an Author.
Heck!
I — wasn’t — even — employed!
I was a stay-at-home mom of three, wife of one, in a foreign country where I did not know anyone but my immediate in-laws…I didn’t speak the language very well, I didn’t drive, and I didn’t have a single cent to call my own!
NOW things are very different and I give credit to the message behind this little saying: IF IT IS MEANT TO BE, IT IS UP TO ME. This bit of advice made me realize I was responsible for my situation and if I didn’t like it, then I had to change it…no one else was going to do it for me.
It also made me realize that I could no longer wait for FATE, CHANCE, or LUCK to come rescue me from my situation. I had to be my own ‘Knight-in-shining-armor’ and take action to rescue myself.
And so I did.
Along the way, I taught others how to do the same. In fact, the 3 Questions I’m going to walk you through are the exact same questions I use with my executive coaching clients to help them get clear and focused on the steps they need to take to break out of their career impasse. These clients pay close to $3000 to start accelerating towards the type of job that gives them RECOGNITION, GREAT PAY, and a tremendous sense of job satisfaction and FULFILLMENT.
I’m excited to not only share these 3 Questions with you but to also WALK YOU THROUGH each question so that you understand exactly what you need to do to better your own career situation. I’m sure you’re going to find them eye-opening!
Are you ready for the 3 Questions that predict whether or not you will be promoted in the next 12 months?
So, here’s the first question…
Now, the BIG IDEA behind this first question is that you need to CHOOSE your perfect job title –something you really WANT TO DO– and not just settle for whatever you can find.
Most people when they’re thinking about their next job, start by going to online job boards, LinkedIn, the newspaper…trying to find ANY job title that they can squeeze their education and experience into!
BIG MISTAKE!
Your career will start to accelerate when you make a purposeful, conscious decision on what YOU want your next job title to be. And even better than looking outside your current organization for this job title, start by looking INSIDE. There are hidden jobs inside your organization that your peers, your HR people, and your Boss don’t even know about.
So, get crystal clear and know what you want, and then go find it, either inside or outside your organization.
Ask yourself…. what do people to associate with your name?
This may be hard for you to digest, but when people hear YOUR name, they immediately associate it with something, and that something could be really GOOD or it could be really BAD.
If you’re not growing in your career, then your personal brand is most likely a BAD one. You want to have your NAME associated with something of value in the organization, but this association doesn’t happen automatically. You need to take control of and actively CREATE and manage your PERSONAL BRAND!
If you don’t manage your personal brand, then OTHERS will manage it for you. And that is just too risky.
So, the BIG IDEA behind this question is to find and create your PERSONAL BRAND.
The BIG IDEA behind this third question is to get a formal, documented acknowledgment of your career development plan. This is the plan you put together based on the JOB TITLE you identified in Question 1, and the BRAND you decided to become known for in Question 2.
There are 2 critical elements in this plan:
(1) Your Boss’s buy-in, acknowledgment, and support of the plan.
Why do you need this?
Because if you try to go at it alone, you will fail.
You need the support and commitment of your boss not to make the plan for you, but to SUPPORT your plan. This is where I see a lot of people getting stuck in their career. They think their Boss, or the HR department, or some career fairy godmother is solely responsible for their career.
If you are one these people, then PLEASE WAKE UP!
NO ONE is responsible for YOUR career. The one who is most impacted by YOUR career is ALSO the one who is responsible for it. And that ONE PERSON is, you guessed it, YOU!
The second critical element of this plan is that:
(2) It must be documented, put in writing.
Verbal discussions and chats with your Boss will soon be forgotten, and before you know it, another year will have passed and you will wind up right where you started…STUCK, FRUSTRATED, and a PoPo employee!
A documented plan can be pulled out every month and RE-shared with your Boss to remind him of his commitment to support you in this career development plan.
A documented plan and the documentation of your progress against the plan are also the ideal supporting material you need to drive a fantastic annual appraisal.
These are the 3 Questions that can predict whether or not you will be promoted in the next 12 months.
SO… How did you do?
Did you answer YES to all 3 questions?
Were your answers all NO?
The more YES’s you have, 2 or 3… the greater the chances that you’ll move from a below the bar, under-valued, unrecognized, passed-over employee…to a high-potential RISING STAR, and a top contender for a promotion very soon, most likely within the next 12 months.
However, the more NO’s, then you need to start working and turning every NO into a YES right away!
The BIG IDEA behind these 3 questions is NOT to do more hard work…you may already be a hard worker…but one who doesn’t have a STRATEGY for how to advance in your career. As a result, you get yourself STUCK in one role for a long time, feeling undervalued while allowing others to pass you by.
In other words…
You need to work SMARTER…you need a better CAREER STRATEGY before it is too late. These 3 Questions help you get started in formulating that strategy.
Answer these 3 questions, craft your promotion acceleration strategy, and finally…
Get Noticed, Get Promoted, & Get the Money You Deserve, Without Working Harder or Playing Politics.
We all want to do a job that is fulfilling and pays well. Unfortunately, hard work alone doesn’t get us there, but the answers to these 3 Questions will steer you in the right direction.
Originally published at www.rahilanarejo.com.
