How to guarantee promotion success

 

We are all busy. And in Q4 it gets more intense; Finishing projects, racing to hit targets, planning for next year, getting appraisals, giving appraisals.

 

And the one big thing that comes up for a significant number of people at this time is a possible promotion at, or around, the year end.

 

 

But how will things turn out? More than 50% of promotions don't turn out quite the way the company or the person promoted had hoped.

 

I know. I get a regular number of calls towards the end of Q2 asking "Can you help?"

 

It happens in Q2 because there seems to be a general rule that nobody looks too closely at what is happening for the first three months. It's your "honeymoon" period.

 

They leave you alone for three months; worry about you for three months; then call me.

 

For success to be guaranteed you need to have an agreed plan of how to get up to the expected "speed" in the first 90 days. And for it to be recognised that you have.

 

So as a gift from me to you, here are the key steps to guarantee success in your next promotion.

 

Step 1. Make sure you have absolute clarity on what is expected; how they need the job to be done. People think a lot about what they want from you, deep thinking at the speed of thought, then tell you in just a few words. You are unlikely to get the level of clarity that they have in their heads without digging a bit more. Listen, play back, watch the reaction. Dig more if you feel the need to.

 

Step 2. There will always be a need for you to learn or change something in order to do the new job the way it needs to be done. Make the time to learn what you need to, and plan how to put it into practice. If nothing changes you are just going to be doing the same job, with a different title.

 

Step 3. No matter how well you prepare and study the "arial photos" of the new territory, after you land and the parachute folds behind you, there will be a few things that are going to surprise you. The better you prepare, the less the surprises, but there'll always be something. Don't get caught out, focus on your plan of how to implement your changes and be up to speed within 90 days. Engage your new boss in the plan, and pull regular feedback and coaching from them. Finally, do your new stakeholder mapping exercise.

 

If you need any help with this just reach out to me here for a chat

 

With TheCoachingApp now available to all my clients you can just use it to work by yourself, or with me.

 

It also means I am now able to offer coaching packages to motivated individuals, even if your company is not sponsoring. Just arrange a call.

 

To your success