Seven ways to increase your odds of getting promoted:
1. Deliver more impact
2. Take on more scope
3. Demonstrate that you’ve addressed a gap
4. Find an influential champion
5. Pay attention to who gets promoted
6. Ask for it
7. Quit and go work somewhere else

Read on

Getting a promotion is like eating a huge burrito: it’s a lot of work, it’s unclear how it works on the inside, it feels great for a bit, but then you wonder why you did this to yourself.

Knowing all that, we all still want it.

The most important ingredient to getting promoted is simply doing great work, over and over. But the process does often need a nudge, particularly if you're stuck. I’ve found 7 strategies for significantly increasing your chances of getting a promotion:

1/ Deliver more impact

Companies desperately want to give more responsibility to people who deliver results. If you aren’t getting promoted, it usually means you aren’t seen as someone who can consistently deliver significant impact.

A few ways you can deliver more impact:
Contribute to hitting more ambitious goals that directly map to business growth
Lead and successfully launch an important project
Work on higher-visibility, more important, projects
Save the company a lot of money

If you consistently find a way to drive significant impact for the business, you’ll be prime promotion material.

2/ Take on more scope

At many companies, you get promoted only after you’ve demonstrated you can handle the next level. And there’s no better way to demonstrate that you can take on more responsibility than by taking on more responsibility. Like they say: do the job you want.

What’s something you can take on that increases your scope or responsibility? Some suggestions:
Take on work that your manager is currently doing
Take on a project for someone while they’re out
Lead ambitious projects
Get ahead on next year’s strategy

3/ Demonstrate that you’ve addressed a gap

No matter your role or level, there’s a skill or behavior that is keeping you from the next level. Whether it’s your ability to execute reliably, communicate well, or lay out an inspiring five-year vision, it’s always something

To get promoted, you’ll need to demonstrate that you’ve addressed that gap, in the eyes of both your manager and other influential leaders involved in the promotion process.

Here’s my advice:

1. In your very next 1:1, push your manager to articulate which 2-3 skills/behaviors/attributes are most keeping you from the next level.
2. Put together 3-10 concrete actions you (and your manager) can take over the next six months to improve at these

3. Align on this list with your manager and put them into an action plan spreadsheet (see below)
4. Schedule a monthly “career coaching” session where you and your manager review each action item and how they’re going
5. Keep doing this each month https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/12Z8euSULYHGSKgJMR47QuK2cEyHm0B-6hAmanqtVqQ0/edit#gid=0

4/ Find an influential champion

The most underappreciated, and often the most powerful, ingredient in getting promoted is to have someone with influence fight for you in the calibration process.

But don’t let this become an excuse for why you aren’t being promoted. The best way to get a champion is to do a great job (e.g. deliver impact, address gaps, and the other items on this list). If you’re doing a great job, people will want to champion you.

Give them ammo to fight for you:
Hit goals
Keep your manager updated on how you’ve addressed gaps
Start a “wins” folder or document to keep track of your wins and impact
Lay out your case for why you believe you should be promoted
Treat your manager as a partner

5/ Pay attention to who gets promoted

There’s a reason no two company career ladders are alike. Explicitly or implicitly, every company prioritizes different skills and behaviors. If you pay attention to who gets promoted, you can start to see what actually matters at your org.

For example, here’s how different PM skills are emphasized across a few dozen companies.

Have a conversation with your manager about what you should be paying attention to beyond the career ladder. I’d also encourage you to chat with colleagues who recently got promoted and ask them what they did. Even your manager may not be aware of what other leaders look for.

6/ Ask for it

When was the last time you told your manager you’d love to get promoted? It may seem obvious to you, but they may not know how important this is to you. Bring it up at your next 1:1 and see what happens. Better yet, create the action plan we discussed in item 3.

7/ Quit and go work somewhere else

Finally, sometimes the best path to a promotion is to jump ship. I don’t like this path because it’s often defeatist and can put you in a position you aren’t truly ready for. But it’s sometimes necessary.

In many cases, it’s a matter of finding a better manager, or getting out of a rut at your current company.

If you’re stuck at the same level for over two years, and nothing I’ve shared above seems to be helping, it’s probably time to explore a new gig.

Zooming out, of all the strategies I’ve shared above, the most important factor in getting promoted has always been simply doing good work. Consistently. If you do only that and nothing else, most of the time things will generally take care of themselves.

But if not, these strategies will help get you over the hump. For more, check out today's full post https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/how-to-get-promoted