How Much Upward Mobility Does Your Org Have?

Adding the American Dream to your company culture

Upward Mobility is something that is typically associated with countries. We talk about how much room there is for people to change classes from generation to generation or even within a generation as a way to measure the outlook that citizens have on their way of life. Sometimes it is referred to as Social or Economic Mobility.

Naturally, we all want to live someplace and operate in arenas that offer the most potential for us to achieve.

Let’s, for a moment, not think of upward mobility in terms of country and apply that concept to corporate culture. Everyone wants to work in a company where they can grow. Where there is potential — if they work hard and make a good impression — for them to build a career out of their work.

One way to think about an organization is in the following three categories:

1. Leaders
2. Managers
3. Employees

In order for upward mobility to happen, all three of those players need to be dynamic. If leaders are stagnant, then managers can’t grow. If managers are stagnant, then employees can’t grow. And if employees are stagnant, then the work suffers and the employees leave.

…the best thing you can do for own success is to help those beneath you to succeed.

The general notion of the corporate ladder is that one should look up the ladder. Climb higher. Achieve more. But that is only part of the story. Growth is a team sport. If you are focused exclusively on climbing the ladder, you are not focused on helping anyone else climb the ladder. Said another way, the best thing you can do for own success is to help those beneath you to succeed. That is the job of each and every member of a team as they rise in the company. Reach back down, grab the hand of your colleague and pull him or her up.

Make no mistake, this isn’t purely an altruistic proposal. Sure, by helping those below you to climb, you are doing them a service. And that’s important for them. But it’s also important for you. When you outgrow your job and move up, you create a vacuum beneath you. If no one is prepared to fill that vacuum, one of two things is going to happen. Either you are going to get sucked back into that vacuum and find yourself in the untenable position of doing your old job and your new job OR no one will be doing your old job. And that will surely impact you in your new job. As much as your successor needs to be prepared, you also need your successor to be prepared.

Once you start thinking in terms of upward mobility, you begin to see that anyone’s stagnation is everyone’s stagnation. The problem is especially evident when a leader or manager is standing still because, not only is that person not growing, but he or she is also acting as a bottleneck for growth from beneath.

It is a common misconception that the only form of growth within an organization is promotion. And that mindset is a non-starter for a lot of organizational leaders. The thinking goes, How can I possibly be promoting everyone on a regular basis? I’ll run out of jobs? But promotion is not the be all and end all for growth. There are many more incremental moments of growth that set the stage for movement and a feeling of upward mobility. You want your managers asking their people the following five questions on a regular basis:

The Five Questions

1. How good are you at your job right now? Where are your strengths? Weaknesses?
2. How have you grown lately?
3. Where are you looking to go?
4. What do you need to get better at to get where you want to go?
5. How can I support you in closing the gap?

Employees (and managers) who feel that they are consistently working on answering these questions will feel a sense of upward mobility even in the absence of a promotion.

As a leader, it is your job to make sure that everyone feels that there is room to grow, a path to follow and support along the way. That’s how you create a feeling of upward mobility. It’s difficult for us to move to a different country if we feel stagnant. It’s not nearly as difficult for us to move to a different company. Be the company that people want to move to, not the one that people are fleeing.

Here’s your challenge: Analyze your companies upward mobility. As you ask around, do you get the sense that people feel like they have room to grow? Are leaders pulling people up? Are managers asking their people the five questions? Ask yourself the five questions. Can you answer them? Are they questions that you are asking of your employees? If not, ask them. See what comes of it. See if

I’d love to hear about what you learn. We at CultivateMe are fascinated with the way people work now, the way people wish they could work in the future and how we can build the bridge to the new world where learning and work are two parts of the same whole. Send me an email at doug@cultivateme.xyz.

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