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Classics: How to Position Yourself for Promotion: Show Notes & Transcript

Post | Oct 24, 2023

Welcome back to Marketing Smarts! From brand-building and marketing veterans Anne Candido and April Martini (that’s us) comes a podcast committed to cutting through all the confusing marketing BS so you can actually understand how to take action and change your business today. We deep-dive into topics most would gloss-over, infusing real-world examples from our combined 35+ years of corporate and agency experience. We tell it how it is so whether you are just starting out or have been in business awhile, you have the Marketing Smarts to immediately impact your business.

In this episode, we’re talking how to position yourself for promotion. Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and your other favorite podcast spots – follow and leave a 5-star review if you’re exercising your Marketing Smarts!

  • Episode Summary & Player
  • Show Notes
  • Marketing Smarts Summary
  • Transcript

Marketing Smarts: Classics: How to Position Yourself for Promotion

You’re working really hard, making connections with the “right” people. You should be getting close to a promotion, right? Well, it’s not always that clean and simple. The road to promotion is one many of us have traveled in our careers. We discuss it often with our coaching clients and want to give it to you straight in this episode. Based on our evaluation of candidates for promotion, we shed light on how to shift your mindset to set yourself up for success more quickly than the approach you may be currently taking. This episode covers everything from getting promoted to shifting your mindset. Here’s a small sample of what you will hear in this episode:

  • How do you position yourself for promotion?
  • Why should you ask how do you position yourself for promotion?
  • How do you make your boss look good?
  • Why should you operate like you’re in the role you’re striving to get promoted to?
  • How do you get allies to act as advocates?
  • What do you do if your boss is taking all the credit?
  • Where do you turn if you have no energy for playing the game?
  • What do you do if your boss is holding you back from being promoted?

And as always, if you need help in building your Marketing Smarts, don’t hesitate to reach out to us at: ForthRight-People.com.

Check out the episode, show notes, and transcript below:

Show Notes

  • Classics: How to Position Yourself for Promotion
    • [0:00] Welcome to Marketing Smarts
    • [0:30] Anne Candido, April Martini
    • [0:37] How do you position yourself for promotion?
    • [1:04] Ask how do I position myself for promotion?
    • [3:28] KPIs (Key Performance Indicators)
    • [9:08] Make your boss look good
    • [11:44] Account Management
    • [16:42] Company Culture
    • [17:36] Operate like you’re in the role you’re striving to get promoted to
    • [25:41] Get allies to act as advocates
    • [26:58] P&G (Procter & Gamble)
    • [32:28] The Internship
    • [32:51] Recap: How do you position yourself for promotion?
    • [33:36] Do you want to stand out in your industry and get more sales? Show you’re different to attract and retain top talent? Build a brand that drives real business results? Grab your Brand Strategy Workbook at: https://forthright-people.com/brand-strategy
    • “In the Trenches”
    • [34:28] What do you do if your boss is taking all the credit?
    • [43:22] What do you do if your boss is holding you back from being promoted?
    • [44:16] HR (Human Resources)
    • [45:29] R&D (Research & Development)
    • [52:14] What should you do if you have no energy for playing the game?
    • [1:00:04] Why are you not getting a promotion?
    • Marketing Smarts Moments

What is Marketing Smarts?

From brand-building and marketing veterans Anne Candido and April Martini comes a podcast committed to cutting through all the confusing marketing BS so you can actually understand how to take action and change your business today. They deep-dive into topics most would gloss-over, infusing real-world examples from their combined 35+ years of corporate and agency experience. They tell it how it is so whether you are just starting out or have been in business awhile, you have the Marketing Smarts to immediately impact your business.

How do I exercise my Marketing Smarts?

Thanks for listening to Marketing Smarts. Get in touch here to become a savvier marketer. 

Transcript

Please note: this transcript is not 100% accurate.

Anne Candido 0:02
This is Marketing Smarts – a podcast committed to helping you become a savvier marketing leader, no matter your level. In each episode, we will dive into a relevant topic or challenge that marketing leaders are currently facing. We will also give you practical tools and applications that will help you put what you learn into practice today. And if you miss anything, don’t worry, we put worksheets on our website that summarize the key points now, let’s get to it. Welcome to Marketing Smarts. I’m Anne Candido.

April Martini 0:32
And I am April martini,

Anne Candido 0:33
and today’s another Marketing Smarts Classics: How do you position yourself for promotion? As we are closing out this year and heading into a new one, it’s common to start laying out your professional goals. Many of our coaching clients have promotion in their sights. So with that, we will replay this episode full of tips and actionable steps to take in case you are also thinking about your next job. Remember, rising in your career isn’t just about doing good work. It’s about playing the game. So get off the bench and get on the court with this episode. First point, ask what do you need to see from me to get your support for promotion? So many times when we go into conversations with our bosses about getting promoted, our initial instinct is to really go on the offensive. So we ask questions why like, why am I not being promoted? Or I deserve to be promoted because of you know, insert whatever credentials you put in there, or so and so’s got promoted, and I have done more than them? I think

I’ve used all those I know I have that April’s laughing so she knows she’s used it to. And actually, the funny thing is, and this is why we’re laughing, I’m like, you could be totally right. That’s not the that’s not the question here. The problem is here, since you’re playing offense, your boss naturally needs to play defense. Alright, so then the conversation becomes more of justification as your boss explains, and generally very generic and safe terms why you haven’t gotten promoted. Sometimes bosses have a hard time he’s compos will defer to situational occurrences as well as why these become very generic, like, there just isn’t a spot for you yet, or this person had a little bit more support, maybe they were just a little bit ahead of you, or it just isn’t your time. So these are not generally very effective ways of getting you motivated to be promoted, nor are they very effective, and try to figure out what it takes to get promoted. So what you need to consider then is flipping the combo so that you can go on to defense and your boss can play offense. Right? So instead of why am I not being promoted, ask like we headed this section. What do you need to see for me to get your support for more motion. And so what this does is several fold. First, it creates space to have a Ford in combo, because your boss doesn’t feel like they have to defend their actions like you don’t want them to have to do that. It also signals that you’re thinking about the broader team versus just yourself, which is a much more inclusive way to have the conversation. It also forces your boss to be clear on what still is missing for them. Right. So they have to actually think and articulate what it’s going to take or what they actually believe they need to see in order for you to be promoted. Now, what is great about this is when they start articulating this, you can start putting KPIs against it. So you can be much more clear about what success looks like. So for example, your boss may say, I would like to see you have more experience and managing people. One that you could get very frequently, especially as you’re moving into a more of a management role. And this can be than a combo that you have back with them, which looks something like well, okay, fine, I get that. So how much experience? What does that look like in order to be successful? In that experience? Can you give me some checkpoints to gauge my progress against what you’re hoping to see. And then what you can do then is start having a more formal way of having those conversations. And it’s very interesting how this dynamic can really then help you and your boss have a more collaborative discussion about what promotion looks like for you. Because when your boss is playing offense, she or he is naturally acting in support of your goal, the when she or he has to play defense, it’s actually more of a natural blockage or prevention to your goal, right. They’re trying to justify why you haven’t done it versus talking with you about why you should be there. So now you have the playbook, which should allow you to get there faster.

April Martini 4:37
Yeah, and you know, I chuckled at the beginning of this episode. And as an as you were talking, I was kind of reliving a lot of the moments in my career when I didn’t do this the right way. And I think the biggest takeaway on this point for me is that I think people get to the point of review, or whatever that point in time is when you’re going to be evaluated and A lot of times there’s been not a lot of conversation. And so what’s in your head is almost always going to be different than what is actually in your boss’s head. And so what I like about this is that, yes, it allows the boss to not feel like they’re on the defensive, but it also allows you to be proactive in the situation and managing your career, and, and not getting your hopes up for something that isn’t necessarily going to happen. Because I think a lot of times what happens is the boss presents whatever the thing is, and especially if you thought you were getting promoted, and you’re not. But there can be other things too, right? Like, my bonus wasn’t as high as I thought it was, or my increase isn’t as much as I thought it was going to be, you know, it all kind of rolls into these super emotionally charged expectation driven conversations, which, in my mind, almost always end up badly when that is the way the dynamic of what you’re going into. And so I will, you know, give a couple of anecdotes, because like I said, these are playing in my head as you were talking. And so the first one was really early in my career, and I was constantly being told you’re a rockstar, your rockstar, you’re doing great, there’s nothing we can improve. There’s no and so I wasn’t getting any of the feedback here like, alright, literally, let’s get down to brass tacks, what can I do to be promoted? And so when I got to the point of the conversation of the year end review, the boss was like, congratulations, we’re promoting you to I don’t know, senior, whatever it was account executive, I don’t know, or manager, whatever. The bad news is, you already make too much money. So we’re not able to give you an increase. So So yes, I had that conversation, which is not a promotion, right. And then the other one, I will say is part of the reason I think this point is so important about not putting your boss on the defensive. I’d only been with a company I was working with for, I don’t know, half a year or eight months or so. And so to the point of setting expectations properly, he gave me a bonus, even though technically, I wasn’t eligible for one until the year mark, but no one told me that. But my expectation had been what I was told at the beginning, which is there are no restrictions on increases. And so in my mind, my salary would go up, and I had a certain number in my mind. And the bonus wasn’t as much as that. And it was only a one time thing. So it wasn’t like allowing me to build beyond that. And when we went to have that conversation, again, emotionally charged. But because he felt like he was on his heels, he like quickly threw out a spelling error in a presentation I had created the night before a client meeting because it was a last minute rush thing. And so you can imagine what that did to the relationship and the repair that needed to happen on both sides. Because again, we weren’t on the same page. We weren’t working from that same sort of alright, you want to see this from me that I will do this. And I will report back to you and kind what I’ve been doing. And so I think that that dialogue has to go on, much in advance of those types of situations and be ongoing.

Anne Candido 8:05
Yeah, I think that’s really important. My favorite one that I used to always get was, well just keep doing what you’re doing. And eventually it’ll happen. And I might, so eventually, like in a month eventually in like 10 years, like what is eventually right. But I think that goes back to the point you’re making about expectations. And I think this conversation helps align on expectations. And it really gets to things some sometimes you don’t want to hear, but are the really, really of the situation. And so if you don’t hear them, you’re just basically operating in a black box. And that’s not going to help you feel any better about your current situation. Because a lot of times I do said when those things happen, they’re kind of a surprise. You take a lot of emotional baggage away with that, right? Yep. But they also help you forward and look beyond what’s currently going on to what the future could look like, which always helps, or at least for most folks feel like they’re actually moving forward. Yes. Right. Yes, exactly. All right. The second point of how to position yourself for promotion is make your boss look good. April, I love that you give me I totally gave this to you. Because I knew that you have a lot to say about this one.

April Martini 9:11
Remember, but bad bosses episode. All right, not gonna go there. But I do think that, whereas the previous point is a lot about preparedness and setting expectations, I think this one is something that puts you in the driver’s seat to take action in a way that a lot of folks don’t necessarily do. And so I think we all have a lot of emotions about the bosses we have good and bad, but I do not think the natural inclination is to go and proactively try to make your boss look good on a regular basis. And so I think the thing is like, well, they’re my boss, they should support me, right? But I think flipping it on its head really sets you up to be differentiated, but then also kind of perks the years of your boss because you’re patting them on the back and who doesn’t like that. And you’re also helping provide that kind of halo effect of, well, they must have a good relationship. And that person must be a good boss, if this is how their subordinates speak about them. Now, the things we will say about this is number one, I will say this is a very hard thing to do. If you are, if you are a type A, and you are a hard charger, and you are someone who wants to build and build and build upon your skills, it can be hard to take a moment to stop what you’re doing and say, this is the part that my boss is adding to what is going on, in my experience, especially if you think you’re smarter and better than your boss, especially if you think you’re smarter and better than your boss. Yeah, not to say we’ve ever been in that position you have to do anyway. And then also make sure that you’re doing it in a truly authentic way. So number one, say nice things, but make sure they’re true about your boss, to their superiors and colleagues. And you know, we believe when you put that positivity into the system, it tends to return the favor. On the other side, do not speak badly about your boss, to anyone, not just the superiors and the colleagues, this will get you in trouble very, very quickly. Keep those feelings to yourself. And remember all the things we’ve said before about how you talk to others in a work environment. So I’ll just say that they’re provide suggestions to your boss. So, you know, if you’re going through the numbers, you know, from last month, and you know, this was always something that I tried to tie myself to, once I realized account management was so closely tied to organic growth of accounts, right. So I would get into the numbers. And I would make sure to one keep track of where I was adding value. But then also, there’s ultimately bigger opportunities that are beyond you that your boss can then go after, look into and help grow alongside of you. There’s also things inevitably that can be cleaned up. So you know, if you’re making a process more efficient, if you’re looking at and you’re saying this doesn’t really reconcile going to your boss and saying, Hey, I think something’s off here, you want me to look into it, you know, that can build a really good rapport, it also takes it off of their plate, it also stops a problem that could inevitably come up. So working along with them to show that you are really striving to make yourself better yes, but make them better and make the situation better for the team, which is another one of them facilitate those team dynamics. Like I said before, it can be really easy to want to charge your career forward, push yourself forward, make sure that you are ready for that promotion, you’re primed for it. But part of this whole thing is showing that you can work within a team environment and help make the collective team better, not just what you individually do on the team. And this can also take some relief from or give your boss rather some relief from their day to day if they feel like there’s other folks that are having their eye on the culture of the team, the dynamics, how everyone’s working together, and working for the betterment of that, because they’re tasked with managing the collective whole of the team, and making sure that everyone feels relevant, and the cultures good and all those things. So having someone else to support that is really important. And the last thing I will say is, and this was always my big, big one thing to my team always was, do not ever let your boss be surprised. on any level for any reason. This is why I’ve talked in previous episodes about how to get in touch and making sure that those things are really laid out. You know, for me, it was if you call me on the phone, I’m gonna assume it’s an emergency and call you back as soon as possible. Otherwise, there’s these other things you can do. Right. And that was with the intention of I wanted my team to know that they could get in touch with me if they needed to. But that was for me, the idea that I didn’t ever want to leave a meeting and before they could get to me, someone else comes in tells me something else. Right, right. And so part of being part of a team, part of reporting to someone is as nervous as it might make you if a mistake happens or whatever, making sure that you’re the person that tells them and that they don’t hear it from someone else or heaven forbid the client gets them first.

Anne Candido 14:15
Yeah, and just to build on that one, too. What I used to do is if I knew my boss was going into a meeting with, say like it’s a leadership team meeting or something to that effect, I always gave my boss a few message points of things that I thought may be circulating and they may get asked because what that does is twofold. One is it keeps a kept her or him out of my business. Yep. For the most part, so that I wasn’t feeling like I was being micromanaged. But it made them look smart that when they went in there, somebody asked them about it. They weren’t like, Oh, I’m gonna get back to you on that, which most of them would, but there’s a lot of insecure bosses that if they can’t answer the question, when somebody asked them, it is feels like a total hit on their credibility, right. So give them a few message points. based on something that you think is might be circulated, or they might be asked, it doesn’t have to be a long like one page, or it’s like a couple bullets of like, Hey, this is going on. So they might ask you this, this is where we are on that, just so that they feel like when they go into that they can be prepared. And then for the two or 131 version of this, this point is, think about what your boss is doing to position themselves for promotion. Yep. Right. So this is one that I feel like, not very many people do. But when they actually take a second to think about what that looks like, they often find that what their boss is asking of them, is for them to look good, in order to get promoted. So where this kind of seems to have the rubber meets the road is generally in a culture play. Yep. Right? If you are a person that is like in a an environment, and you are having trouble working with others to say, and you’re getting feedback that you’re having trouble working with others, that reflects poorly on your bosses, being a good leader helps facilitate of their people. Yep. All leaders and managers need to check that box in order to get promoted, if you are the thorn in their side. In order for them to get promoted. In that case, that’s not gonna look good on you. Regardless if you’re right. I mean, I think that’s the point you’re gonna hear, regardless of your rate. So think about things like that. If you’re getting feedback from your boss, about those sorts of things, think about how was my boss trying to position themselves? What did they need to demonstrate in order to get promoted? And am I helping them? Yep. In order to look good, and for them to get promoted? Yeah,

April Martini 16:29
I mean, I think that the, this this one, back to the original point about removing your ego from the situation, if you’re going to work for someone else, you absolutely must learn to work within the culture. I mean, I just, you know, I think that there is just there is the natural self righteousness. I think sometimes it’d be like, Well, I’m right, though. Like, Doesn’t that count for something? And in this case, we would say, No, honestly, it’s that you’re not the squeaky wheel, that you’re able to collaborate, that you can let things go that you can show that you can be malleable, and that you’re willing to change and to sacrifice actually, instead of sticking to your guns, especially if it’s not a huge deal. And like you said, you’re always the thorn in the side.

Anne Candido 17:13
Right now. And we’re not we’re not saying that you should sit on your hands and not be a change agent. Oh, no. But we’re saying be be cautious about how you’re approaching it. Right. So there’s, there’s ways of doing it. That is, can be perceived one way, and there’s ways of doing it that can be perceived a different way, right. That’s what we’re saying? Yes. All right. So the third point about how to position yourself for promotion is operate like you’re in the role to promotions ahead, APR, I’ll give this one to you, too.

April Martini 17:38
Yeah. And I actually really love this one, because I think it articulates really well, a problem that is historic, definitely on the agency side, but also kind of across the board for any business, which is the standard statement of you’ll get promoted when you’re already doing the next job. Right. And I think that that’s all well and good until it provides all the things we’ve talked about today. I’ve like the blurriness and the like, well, but I am so what am I? What else can I do, and then inevitably, you get frustrated, you kind of stagnate, you know, it’s kind of that foregone conclusion, whereas here, it is striving to do much more than even that next role. And I love that idea. Because I think, number one, you’re setting your mind and your vision forward to what you want to achieve much longer term. But then as the owner of your own career, and this promotion and pushing it through, you can be documenting all of your things, not just in preparation of the next roll, but the one even beyond that, right. And I think it allows you to look bigger picture, it allows you to start to set, like I said, that longer path and that vision forward. It allows you to even show proof points that not only are you doing the next level job, but you are already doing things that are the job even after that. And the whole thing about all of this right is to build your airtight case in a way that is respectful, but also authoritative through the use of the examples of the skills and things that you have built. And so this point really allows you to do that and be very, very proactive. And I think that a couple of the things and Anna and I went back and forth actually on this have like areas specifically to look at to judge whether someone is ready for promotion. These are kind of the ones that we’re always ticking off, right. And again, think about it through the lens of you have to be able to do it for the next role. But even the one beyond that, like be working already and pushing toward that. So the first one is the ability to think strategically. So is this person up for promotion, just doing what they’re told to do? Or are they always looking for ways to improve the status quo? To Anne’s point about being a change agent? This is the positive side of that this is the ability to see it and be like, Oh, okay, we could totally make this better by doing this. Also, did they understand the business at a high level and are they able to participate in big picture commerce? Asians, there were so many instances when I was a boss, and people were like fighting for their promotion, where they would say I do all the things you tell me to do I do them well, I’ve never make any mistakes. I’m I’m performing exactly as I’m supposed to, why am I not getting promoted? And it always inevitably started with right here. But this strategic point about one pushing beyond that, you know, okay, great, you’re checking the box on what you’re supposed to be doing, you need to be moving forward. But then to, yes, but when we have these bigger picture conversations, you either don’t say anything, or it’s clear that you aren’t, don’t have the ability yet to participate there. So that’s the first one, the ability to influence. So this plays to the culture point, it also plays to the idea of telling others about your boss, but can you inspire people around you to go a certain direction, without beating them into it, feeling? coercing them, you know, really get them to follow behind you. I mean, we’ve had conversations before about how leadership can’t be when you turn around, and no one’s there anymore, asked to be where people are learning to go behind you. And in order to be a leader very early on, you do have to develop and then cultivate the ability to influence others. The third one is, do they take responsibility for themselves in their actions? When you are wrong? Do you own it? Are you mature enough to do that? And say, I did it? And here’s what I’m going to do to fix it. If they wronged somebody else, do they go and apologize and fix that? Are they consistently operating with integrity and then championing that within the culture of the organization? The next one is do they make an effort to lift others up to that earlier point about not just owning your piece of the pie, but the whole pie in total? Do they look at other successes, as much or as important as their own, this is a signal that someone is moving up that ladder again, and thinking bigger picture and being able to see how the collective whole is better than what they individually are contributing, or they focused yet flexible. This is one I often got dinged on.

When I would get really, you know, into a project, I just wanted to push it all the way through, what I had to learn is you have to stop and bring others along. But sometimes you have to stop and change course. So that’s what we’re talking about here. So do they embrace the mission and the vision of the company as a whole? But then can they use those tools to like I said, change the path, or as things come up, develop solutions immediately, and be able to start actioning against that versus just stopping whenever there’s some sort of problem? And so ultimately, are they self motivated versus always needing direction reassurance? And finally, are they proactive? I think that proactivity we talked, we’ve talked already about, we’ve talked about it in this point indirectly. But I think really directly. In being proactive, you should always be looking for new opportunities and jumping into work without being asked and be able to jump into that work and get it to a point without waiting for instruction. So back to this point of operating like your two roles ahead, you’re looking to be self sufficient enough to keep things moving, or to move into something else if something stalls, but then also self awareness to know when it’s time to call when and ask your boss to come in and be part of the discussion. But overall, this is really about pushing yourself keeping yourself fresh, keeping yourself moving, not getting discouraged understanding that organizations take time to change. And that within the organization, you’re responsible for carving out your own path. And then finally, I’ll say there’s obviously performance based criteria with every industry with specific functions. But outside of those when you feel like you’re in limbo, regarding promotion, this is one of the pieces that we feel like can really put you in a position to prove that not only can they not say, well, when the next one opens up, or you’re almost there, just keep doing what you’re doing, you can prove that you’re continuing to improve as you go in your role.

Anne Candido 24:20
Yeah, I just really, really well said and very comprehensive. And the point I want to make here is this, this applies whether you work at McDonald’s, or work in the C suite 1,000%. So I think a lot of people will hear those be like, Oh, well, I’m just not at that level to think strategically yet. I don’t have to do that. You should be thinking strategically at any level at any level. And this is if you want to continue to progress and progress at a fast rate. Yep. Or if you want to stay stagnant and you want to kind of toil in your current in your current role and in your current level. So embrace this knowing that no matter where you at, this can help to put in perspective how To get yourself promoted more quickly, and don’t fall into the traps with things that we’ve heard like, well, that’s just not my job, right? That’s just Well, do you ever want it to be your job? If you want it to ever be your job, and you better start thinking like it is your job, right? Or that step person that’s person supposed to do that over there? Well, yes, but do you eventually want to manage that person to do that, then you better show that you can manage effectively, and help to influence and get things done? Yeah. Even if it’s not your job. And it’s not, it’s not your person that you manage, right? So you need to really shift your mindset and embrace these principles, because these will help you to progress much more quickly. Absolutely. So the fourth point of how to position yourself for promotion, is get allies who will act as advocates. Now, remember what we said, when we’re talking about your boss, that it’s really good to put that good positive energy in there. So your boss can look good? Well, you need to do that for yourself, too. Right. And so that becomes about getting these allies to support these endorsers around you that are going to say good things about you, that’s going to help put that good word out into the environment in order to basically validate social proof that you are ready for a promotion. And this is kind of like marketing yourself, right? This is like word of mouth marketing yourself. So if that makes it easier for you to wrap your mind around that, then I suggest you do that. And if you need some advice about how to do word of mouth marketing, we have definitely some marketing sports episodes tied to that. So you can just take that and listen to it from that lens. And that should help as well. So when you’re building allies, or you’re you’re looking for allies, you need to think about allies in two different groups. The first group is those who get a vote. So these are probably direct people who are actually voting on your promotion, it could be your boss, it could be some sort of like a PNG we had a, I can remember a talent council that actually voted about whether or not you were ready for promotion, and that you had to have an advocate that was outside of your current function that actually would advocate for you. So these, these are the voters, these are the ones who say, yes, that person is ready for promotion, or that person is not ready for promotion. Then the second group was those who influenced those people. So these could be colleagues, internal and external team members, direct reports, anyone that has a POV that would build that social proof on whether you are ready for promotion? These are the people that the voters will look to, to see, hey, within that perspective, are they ready? Or not? So how do you tap into these? So this is the big question we always get. So we’re going to give you some some thoughts here. So first, for those who are the allies who get a vote, you’re really looking to get visibility, okay, so these are people that you’re probably gonna be able to call up and say, Hey, let’s go get coffee. These are not your networkers, these are people who are probably a little bit higher up, they’re very busy, they have their own stuff going on. So what you need to do is you need to get your work, whatever you define your work in front of them. Alright, so this is a really good way that your boss is supposed to be helping to facilitate your promotion progress, right? So you would ask your boss, who do I need to get on my side to support my promotion, this again, becomes a very proactive conversation where you can put your boss on the offense not to defense with regards to who needs to be on my side, who is my team here. Now, getting visibility can look very different. Depending on your role in industry, it could be presenting at certain meetings, it could be volunteering to work on a pet project, it could be being part of groups they are part of. So you have to think creatively about what it looks like in order to get that visibility.

Now for those who influence this can take many forms as well. But it always, always, always comes down to how you make these people feel. Alright, this is less about the work and more about the impact you have on the culture on the way that you live teams, those other important, less tangible but softer things that are still critically important that you need to cultivate in order to build those relationships, that people are like, yes, this person supports me. Yes, this person always has my best interests at heart. Yes, I can always count on this person to really help me see beyond my challenges. These are the things that you want these people to say, right? So work on forging those human based relationships with those people because this actually can be more important than actually the work you deliver. It was mine. My soft skills was what kept me back. It was not my performance. So you need to think about that and realize that it takes work, okay, it takes a lot of work to be able to cover your bases here or it takes a lot of time in order to cultivate this but it is something you need to invest in it is definitely worthwhile because it’s going to help you in spades as you try to rise up. Now, to avoid being overwhelmed. We suggest you pick a few people within each category in order to go after either Because opportunistically you know, they have the most influence or they have the biggest vote, or maybe because you are a little weak in those areas and you haven’t spent the time cultivating, Be strategic sometimes what if you pick and you choose wisely? Your influencer could be the influencer of influencers right or get so it can help to spread that word of mouth more quickly.

April Martini 30:23
Yeah. And this one can be tough on your ego as well, I will say.

And the counterpoint that I will offer to this one is be careful about not alienating anybody. Yeah. And what I mean by that is, because all of what Anne said is really important, you may not necessarily see the bigger picture, and understand the influencers of the influencers, or people that have power, that maybe you perceive not to be helpful or directly tied or doing a good job in the organization. But they’re the sleeper that actually is going to get you into some trouble. And obviously, I’m speaking from experience here. And this was a really, really hard thing for me, because early on in my career, I saw the world is pretty black and white. And I had to work on those shades of grey. And part of that was acknowledging and understanding that just because I held a certain perspective about a person, didn’t mean that everyone else did. And also didn’t mean that I could just discount them and assume that my career or my rise to the organization, my roles where I was placed in how I was thought of was going to be tied to some of those people. And so I always think about this when I go into any sort of relationship. Now to make sure that I constantly check myself when it comes to those reactions, because I do know that I have reactions, my face says it all. And once I decide on someone, it’s hard for me to change that opinion. So open mindedness and also just really paying attention to all the interactions you have an acting with as much grace as possible so that you make sure your bases are covered. That’s what I will say.

Anne Candido 32:20
I think that’s really good advice. And as you’re talking the the movie I think that’s epitome of this is the internship, oh, persona, no one will say yes. If you want a like Crash Course, and building allies, or how not to alienate people. Yes, that is a good one to watch. And it’s very entertaining. I’ve seen a movie like 40,000 times. I love it every single time. I did not know where you were going. But that’s a good one isn’t a good? Yeah, I thought so too. All right, so just to recap how to position yourself for promotion, ask your boss or stakeholders. What do you need to see for me to get your support for promotion? This question flips your boss’s role from defense to offense, creating more opportunity to forge your promotion goal more quickly. Second, make your boss look good. Overall, when your boss looks good, everyone, including you looks good. It’s hard to secure favorite view your boss or your team is perceived poorly. Third, operate like you are in the role to promotions ahead. This is especially true if within these moves, you’re switching from more of a doer to a manager, focus on how to help the team group business operate more efficiently and effectively. And number four, get allies who will act as advocates Your reputation is very important and getting the support you need for promotion and this comes from others putting good reviews into the system. Alright, our next time it is in the trenches we’re gonna give real world examples specific to industries and situations a lot of ones that mean April very familiar with but with rapid application for anyone to digest and put into action. Alright, so here we go. Number one, I’ve been working really hard making my boss look good, but my boss is taking all the credit. I know I’m getting handed I know. Yes. Yes. You are awesome. And to say about this dear. How do I get people to see it is actually me doing all the work behind the seeds.

April Martini 34:06
All right. So to the point that I just made with my with the previous section about realizing that you don’t know everything and that there’s other stuff that goes on. The first thing we’ll say is you got to give people credit that they see and know more than you think they do. Yeah. And so if this is if your boss is notorious for this behavior, I would just say I would bet that people know your boss is notorious for this behavior. Yes, just just have give the system and others in the rooms a little bit of credit. Do not try to take the credit away from your boss once they’ve already claimed the credit. Bad bad move really bad. We talked earlier about not saying bad things about your boss to anyone that you work with. This is saying something bad about your boss. Even if you’re right, and you’re the one that did the work, when they hear this or catch wind of this, the person who is supposed to be your number one advocate toward your promotion, and the person that can stand in the way of that promotion is your boss and just be ready for that. Whole all of that to unfold. That’s where I’ll go with that one. Yep. Instead, be careful and listen, and start inserting responses that give you credit. But don’t take away from whatever your boss said. So this was something once I learned this skill, this was like true gold in my ability to tell what I had done, seemingly in a way that I had was completely oblivious that my boss had taken any credit. So this is a really good tool. So here’s how it goes, right? Someone says, Oh, my gosh, I saw that the numbers on that account were improving. Your boss told us about what happened in that instance. And you can say, Oh, that’s so awesome. Because you know what, I was able to go into that account and realize that we could reduce these costs. And if we did that, then we would be able to increase the margins, and the account overall would look better. I am so glad that that turned out to work out.

No, and I would always chuckle to myself every time because it became a little bit like a game. But what you’re doing is you’re not taking away the limelight from your boss, your boss reported accurately on what was happening, you’re just showing what your role was in what ended up happening. Be careful that you are not bragging is the thing that I will say. So listen to the nuances of that if you have to go back and listen to it again, just realize that it’s not putting yourself in the limelight, it’s showing how you support it as part of that role. In addition, volunteering to do lunch and learns or information sessions or things that you want to showcase. This was another one that I found to be hugely helpful, because actually, your boss gets a lot of credit in these situations for promoting and proactively showcasing their staff, even if it’s your idea. And then on the other side of that, you get the credit and credibility of putting the limelight on you. And fill in the blank, how much you’ve grown, how much you know about this account how much the client likes you whatever those things are. By getting up and presenting and sharing with others, you’re showing what you can do. And then you’re also getting credit, because you’re sharing that with the broader organization. So they too can learn from what you did. Another thing you can do is showcase your own direct reports work. So put them in front of a lunch and learn or when you’re in a room say, oh, you know, so and so was able to build this presentation isn’t this great, I think we could use this as a best practice moving forward, I thought it was really clever and inventive, or whatever, so that others are seeing it and then whether or not your boss takes the cue from you, you’re gonna get the credit for doing that for someone else. And then the last one, which I think can be a little bit hard, and you have to position it in the right way, again, you’re hearing a lot of you know, nuances within this conversation is proactively start asking to be in meetings, where you’re not asking for a seat at the table with your boss, but you’re asking to do a cameo in said meeting or, you know, instead of giving your boss the talking points offered to come in and present and think about that lens of, you know, you get exposure to them all the time, I really feel like, you know, I could come in and you don’t have the burden of having to present it. And then they see that, you know, you’re bringing me along in the process or giving me exposure. And I really think that exposure would be helpful, because what I ultimately want is to get to your job. And I feel like this will just give me a peek behind the curtain that will allow me to get some of that exposure, for example. And so it’s not meant to be that you are going to go in and hear all the secrets and all the things that you’re not supposed to be privy to. But it is giving you an audience with a whole lot of stakeholders, and then making your boss look good in the process. And actually this one worked really well for me when I was trying to get a director role in an organization. And I kept getting the pushback that a little bit of, well, everyone hasn’t had exposure to you or so and so isn’t quite sure you’re ready for it because back to my point about alienating certain folks, you know, it kind of it baked all of that. And then what ended up happening is because then I was given a pet project leadership role by that team, because clearly I had the desire to be in there and I was being proactive about it. Then inevitably when that project was completed, and I had led it that got to the director role. So it really does work. It’s something that you have to work at and you have to position appropriately. But I think that yes, there There are certain bosses out there that take credit on purpose, there are other ones that don’t even realize they’re doing it. So you’re gonna have to be able to rise above that and manage it in a way that makes you look good. But does that make them look bad?

Anne Candido 40:11
I think that’s all really good point. And I’ll just tell a dirty little secret here. Which is that most bosses don’t like to present their people’s work 100% Because they’re afraid they’re gonna get asked questions. I can’t answer 100%. Right. So a lot of people are like, I can’t do that I couldn’t ask my boss to do that I couldn’t ask to go into to do that, or you yourself are like too scared to go do that. This is a really huge untapped opportunity for most people is just to say, Hey, I’d be happy to go and present that you can intro it I’ll present the work that way. I’m there. You know, questions get asked. And most of the time bosses are like, Oh, yes, because they have so many other things to think about, besides getting up to speed on your work enough to be able to present it, and then to be able to speak and answer questions back to what I was saying before about not surprising your boss. Yeah. They don’t like to, like volunteer themselves to be surprised either, right. So this is a really great opportunity in order to get that exposure, seek and take advantage of it when you can do not let that one pass you by? Because it will doesn’t necessarily come across all the time, right? Yep.

April Martini 41:18
I was notorious for saying I know, I’m more in the weeds than you. So instead of trying to get everything out of my brain into yours, why don’t you let me present the portion of it? And then like you said, you can intro it and wrap it up from the more highly strategic point of view. Yes, exactly. I

Anne Candido 41:33
think that’s exactly the message track you should use. And then I also want to reinforce the bragging piece, because we get this a lot to where it’s like I, I feel really uncomfortable talking about my work. And you know, because it does feel like bragging. And I think you brought up a really great point. And that it’s in the way that you position it. And if you position it in a way that it is forwarding the work in general, and helping somebody else do their job better. Yeah. Then it’s not bragging. Plus, it’s true, right? So that being the case, it’s true. And if you can, if you feel like it’s feeling uncomfortable, that you’re getting to that bragging point, add on to the end, oh, I can help you do this, too. Would you like me to talk to you like or like you want to have 30 minutes, I could share how I did this. And you can see how it how it’s done to you or you want me to talk to somebody, whoever your person is, and I can when you start sharing your knowledge. You’re helping, you’re hoping right? So why would you keep that to yourself? That’s actually a little selfish, I think, you know, so that’s a counterproductive, you know, put it out there in a way that looks like it’s helping. It’s forwarding, right. That’s the whole point.

Yep. All right. The second question, I feel like my boss is holding me back from getting promoted. I felt like that. I’ve told that story many times, I will tell it here. But the question is, what do I do. So if you’re still feeling this way, even after putting all this stuff into practice, you really need to be a bit more strategic and building allies. So these, again, are suggestions from more of the advanced ally building course, which, you know, we talked about before. So these ones are going to take a little bit more practice and a little bit more guts, honestly. But they are streaming effective. So first, and some finesse and some finesse, absolutely, you can’t brute force through this at all. Okay. So the first thing you do is you can ask for a trial, which is really a meeting with your boss and one boss up or another stakeholder which whether it’s HR or somebody who’s voting on your promotion, whoever is the right person. And the only objective here is to have someone in the conversation that can hold your boss accountable. Okay, this is not an opportunity to read on your boss, it’s not an opportunity to try to undermine your boss or circumvent your boss, that will end badly for you. Because remember, the golden rule, you need to make your boss look good, it doesn’t matter if they’re holding you back, you still need to make your boss look good. Okay? I’ve learned this the hard way, do not do it. But triads can be very effective. If it’s a collaborative session, and it’s done in a way that does not put anybody on a defense, okay. If available, you can ask to change roles or assignments will will put you under a new boss. Now, this may make your journey a little bit longer. But it may be more bearable. If you have been toiling for a long, long time. It’s like I talked about a lot with like, when he gets stuck in traffic, you know, even though it might be shorter just to wait out the traffic. Sometimes it just helps to manage your anxiety if you actually like go another route, even if it’s a bit longer, even if it takes you a bit longer, right. You dysphoria us for that? Yes, you’re moving, you’re moving forward. There’s something about moving that helps you feel like you’re at least making progress. This also ironically, kind of helps you build allies in different places which can help you in the long run. So I did this when I moved from r&d to communications, where I was trying to get that promotion in r&d. And I was toiling and I was totally and I was getting a lot of this rhetoric that we had talked about before. And I was like, I’m gonna eventually get there. I know I’m going to get there. I don’t know if it’s a month. I don’t know. It’s like years from now. But do I want to sit and I want to toil for longer, you know, and this is when I decided that I wanted to have a new challenge that I would be happier having a new challenge, feeling like I’m growing feel like I’m expanding my repertoire of knowledge and experience, being able to put my passions into something new, versus staying and waiting and getting promoted. And that’s what I decided to do. Now, it took me another five years to get promoted. And I still think I should have been able to do that sooner. Yes, but they’re still, those things in the system back to April was saying before about expectations were in very new role that I’ve never done before. They expect you to have some, like, consistency and experience and all that kind of stuff. I was like, Alright, fine, whatever. So that is a really important one to think about, which is, it is totally up to you is your mindset of like, do you want to stay and wait? Or do you want to try to move and order to take a slightly different path, even though it could be a little bit of a longer path?

April Martini 45:59
Yeah, and I think that with this one. There’s an aversion to this just naturally, right,

Anne Candido 46:07
because everyone has to take the straightest. I think what what they think is the straightest point, right.

April Martini 46:12
And I think everyone wants to hurry up and get to the next level, especially when you’re lower on the totem pole. Yeah. And so I think looking back, my perspective on that is actually, it’s counterintuitive, because what you should do is learn a whole bunch of different roles that you’re going to ultimately need. In order to get to that point faster. Like, I actually believe that there is a way to do a whole bunch of the, you know, learning, learning the company learning the different roles, and then having so much knowledge that you’re able to promote yourself faster. But anyway, that’s, that’s a side caveat. But the thing I will say here is that, for me, what I ended up doing was I came into one company, and I took the role that was there, because it was open, and I was really interested in working at the company. And I knew that internal marketing was probably never going to be my love. Right. So to my previous point about learning what you can and you know, moving on, I always thought I had an eye to account management, because that’s what I thought I wanted to do, right. But in the process of doing that internal marketing role, and getting exposed to the broader organization, it opened my eyes to strategy and what that actually was and, and that actually, what I wanted to be doing was a whole lot more of that. And so when it came time for me to ask to be moved to a different team, I’d be lying if I didn’t say the boss I had at the time. And even the one before that really left me in an in an exhausted state, because I just always felt like I was chasing my tail. And that my life really wasn’t on my own terms, quite frankly. And so I was tired. And I needed to get out of that. And so the person that I selected to be my boss was lovely, and still a very good friend and the complete opposite of that, and really had a desire to help me get out of that situation. But when I positioned the fact that I wanted to make the move, it was you know, I came in here, and this really wasn’t what I wanted to do. But I was willing to put my time in for I think, like two years and, you know, do the job and do it well. And now I’m asking the organization for permission to move into a different area where I actually think my skill set and passions lie, and where I can provide a lot of value to the organization. And oh, by the way, at that point, it was a very top heavy group from a strategy perspective. And so they needed more of a hands on doer. So I was asking for this boss, I was going to be supporting all the folks on this team, and was hungry enough that which people knew that I would chase down all this stuff, and learn from all of them. And so was I really asking, probably, fundamentally to leave that boss. Yeah, did I know enough and understand and the coaching from that person who I love, it was great, that I was gonna have to do it in a very savvy way in order to make sure that everyone still felt good about me. That was the other side of it. And so that, I mean, it really, I mean, I probably spent several months, carefully getting myself out from under the other person and over. But ultimately, it led to a place where I was able to move career wise more quickly, but into a role where I really was doing more of what I wanted to do.

Anne Candido 49:49
Yeah, I think that’s a really good point. And I think what you alluded to to was very interesting and that you don’t necessarily always have to move roles either. So this was on Another point that I was going to bring up too is that you can try and negotiate for a different boss, if you have a valid justification for doing that. So when I was an r&d, I was in a corporate organization that was supporting all of our business units, right. So I was working on a coffee project at the time. And I really wanted to be more immersed as part of that team, I liked their team better, I was felt more comfortable in their team, I wanted to be part of their activities. I felt like a little bit of an outsider being at a different location. And so I asked, Hey, can I have a desk in where this building was? Because was in different building? Can I sit with the team. And so they gave me that option, that option. And so I started showing up to work every day with my team in this new building. So my day to day Boston, coffee became more of my de facto boss, even though my boss started, you know, that was a dotted line. And my solid line was still to my other boss in my corporate group. But what that gave me was, was exposure one to new allies and new people. And also when review time came up, my day to day boss had more clout in in my to vouch for my credibility, my performance, my progress, than my other boss did. Right. So that was a way to kind of maneuver the situation kind of take myself out of wonder, I felt like maybe my boss was holding me back a little bit. And giving me again, the visibility or giving me the access the allies that allowed me to put together better social proof for promotion. Yep. All right, are third in the trenches question, I just have no energy for playing their game. Why should I have to add like Anne

April Martini 51:37
was mad at me when she read this episode. So she just pressed all my buttons.

Anne Candido 51:41
I know, I this is just what makes it so much fun. I just sit back here and watch it and I just add my two cents Great.

April Martini 51:48
Ah, you should use your powers for good, not evil. Okay. Anyway, well,

Anne Candido 51:51
maybe.

April Martini 51:54
So, the reason all joking aside that I’m assigned this one is because this was just so hard for me to stomach. And so what we will say here is not having the energy is not an option if you want to get promoted. So because you want to get promoted, you have to just swallow it. Business is a game, you did not write the rules. So if you want to win the game, you’re gonna have to play by the rules, as they exist in the company in situation you are in, Hey, man, this does not mean you have to lose your soul in the process, which is what I really thought was going to happen to me. But it does mean you have to make a concerted effort to understand those rules, and then make your choices according to them. Again, if you want the promotion, and and likes the reference of playing Monopoly, which is a really good one here, the rules are the same. But there are so many different ways to use those rules to win and so many different strategies, you can play the game by in order to create your path. So for example, you can choose to buy a lot of the smaller properties and then go for a volume play that has lower risk over time. Or you can buy the super expensive ones and get bigger payouts if someone lands on those spaces, but that’s tied to a higher risk. The only thing you can’t do if you’re playing the game, and wanting to win is nothing, not buying anything not playing right not being part of the game, as we said. So really take some time to yourself to reflect on what it is about the game that you don’t want to play, and really see if there is a way that you can do it on your own terms. Because like so many of the discussions and comments we’ve made and my personal feelings on this whole thing is, once I was able to well swallow this, but then find my own way to do it, I was totally okay with doing it because it didn’t feel inauthentic, which is what I was always worried about. The term politics is thrown around a lot. And I’m also not a fan of them. But really, this is just the rules of the game. So you’re gonna have to learn to maneuver within the players. If you want to pass go and collect $200 Back to our monopoly reference. So figure out what relationships you can build that will be mutually beneficial. If nothing comes from it, you still feel like you have someone on your side. I think that there are many people out there that will say I just simply don’t have the time for it because I’m too busy doing my job, which again, was how I kind of felt about it in the beginning. I’m above this, I don’t need to do this. I have plenty of other important things on my plate. And this is not one of them. But honestly, this is totally an excuse. It means you don’t feel like it’s important to prioritize. And if you want to stay where you are and you don’t want to move up the ladder and you’re okay with just doing the doing of your job. That’s totally fine and you are welcome to stay there but if your desire really is for the promotion, you’re gonna have to get on board with this. The way that I finally was able to Look at it is because I knew I eventually wanted to create my own reality and do my own thing. I positioned it in my head as biding my time. So because I was working at a company that was owned by someone else, and my desire was to climb the ladder and learn as much as I needed to, to be able to go out on my own, I was going to have to just grin and bear it for the experience that I then needed to go on and do my next next thing. And that was able to place it in an objective spot. It allowed me to put myself in the mindset, yes, that this wasn’t mine, this was somebody else’s. But what that allowed me to do was take the emotion out of it, and realize that the promotion was on the terms of the business and the people that owned that business and all the players at that table. And so I could either play the game and make it work for me, or I could continue to buck the system, in which case I was going nowhere.

Anne Candido 55:55
Yeah, I think that’s just the reality of the situation. And we hear it a lot from our coaching clients where they’re like, it should just be about the work I do good work. Isn’t that enough? And I think if you listen to this episode, or any of our other episodes, we’re telling you it is not enough, definitely not. I mean, there’s a gazillion, gazillion examples about how it’s not enough. So I’ll give you an example to from from my background when I was at p&g. So one thing that I got feedback on was that people saw me in a very certain way, obviously, I’m very direct. I’m very, like, I forward the work, I’m very clear on my what I want to go do and how I went to go do it still felt somewhat collaborative about at all but you know, people thought I kind of had a little bit of an edge to me, right. And they weren’t sure I was like, in it for everybody else. I was just in it for myself. So a suggestion was given that maybe I should join one of the teams that were kind of operating within fabricare In order to improve the culture. So this one was specifically the actual culture team. And the whole goal was so people could see a different side of me. That was not in the work or always like that hard ass nature about like getting the work done. But still, I could use my passions, my talents in order to for that. So I actually decided, alright, fine, I’ll go do it. I had all the excuses. I don’t have time for this. Why should I have to do this my worst. Another thing is another thing. I’m like, I I really love the culture. But I wasn’t sure if I wanted to take an active role and being part of the culture, that sort of thing. But I did it to your point, I needed to play the game, I knew that this was going to help people see a different side of me. So I did it. And actually, what I found as I got in it was that I liked it. Alright, which was kind of ironic to me, I didn’t expect to like it, I really liked it, I actually volunteered to, to co develop and execute our big culture meeting session thing. With the whole entire group, I found that was so much fun, right. And so people did actually see a different side of me, they saw the fun side of me, they saw like me operating in this different dynamic. And they got to get a little bit of insight of how I tick and it’ll slightly different way. So it was really helpful in helping people to see that side of me, and definitely succeeded in doing that. So my moral of the story here is to what April said, sometimes you have to kind of like grin and bear it. If somebody is telling you very specifically, you’re not getting to get this promotion, basically, because people can’t see the softer side of you, you know, whatever however they they quantify it, you have to find a path in order to be able to showcase that. If you don’t, you can sit there and feel justified that you shouldn’t have to but don’t expect to get promoted them.

April Martini 58:43
Yeah, I mean, I actually feel like people should look at that as a gift. If someone’s actually going to directly tell you why you’re not getting the promotion, then go and do what they’re saying.

Anne Candido 58:51
Yeah, it’s a playbook is the playbook. All right, are fourth in the trenches question. I feel like the criteria for my promotion keeps changing. One day, it’s one carrot, and then I get to that, and then it’s another carrot. I’m tired of carrots. What do I do?

All right. So first, we’ll say have you asked your boss the fundamental question which we talked about at the beginning and talked about throughout? What do you need to see for me to get your support for promotion? And if so, have you documented it and are using it to track progress? So like we said before, this document should be the basis of a progress discussion with your boss, and ideally, probably a once a month basis, don’t hit him up every day, every week. It’s not enough to show progress. But once a month seems like it’s the right timeframe, in order to go do that. When you actually have a document, you guys can actually refer to the document kind of like always stay briefs, in order to be able to stay on track and stay aligned and try to manage expectations. If you’re just having a verbal conversation that has a tendency to kind of get misconstrued from one conversation to the next. It doesn’t hold anybody accountable. It’s not formal enough, not formal enough is absolutely right. So let’s assume that you have done that right, and you’re being super diligent in that, then there’s likely a few things that could be still happening here. So there could be a soft skill, like I just talked about, in my own example, that may be hard for your boss to imitate. Or maybe it’s hard to articulate or it’s hard to convey. So this is time to reflect back on your personal brand. So if you feel like there’s something amiss, and you can’t really put your finger on it, it’s usually in the Appearance side of your personal brand, whether it’s verbal or physical. So look for themes in this area. So April, and I both talked about struggling to endorse a candidate from promotion, we can’t trust their behavior. Alright, so this is really, really important. And this is especially true when they get into a team environment where they might be showcasing or reflecting poorly upon the team or poorly upon the business or poorly upon the company. Right. So for example, we’ve talked about highly volatile people who get into meetings, and then they kind of go off the handle right, or teammates who go out to happy hours and they overindulgent alcohol, and they get really sloppy drunk, right? You can’t trust a person, you can’t promote them. But that is a really hard thing to put on extra plan. Nobody’s gonna say in an action plan, don’t get drunk at the happy hour, right? Nobody’s gonna put that in writing. So you’re gonna have to think really clearly about Is there something I could have done to actually interfere with my progress and getting promoted and be really honest about that. The second thing that might be happening here is that they’re just stalling. Alright, there may be other candidates that they believe to be stronger than other people are vying for or supporting. So have you really done your homework to assess your competition and how she or he has positioned themselves for promotion? And are they doing it better? Alright, so this is something I had to realize within my, my own promotion that I was, oh, there was always one person. That was, we were kind of the top candidates, and we’re always vying for the promotion. But she was doing the networking thing better, she was showing up better, even though my work was better, she was showing up better. So she was getting to not so you have to acknowledge that because that becomes data by which then you can change your actions. If you don’t recognize that data makes you feel kind of yucky and stuff, which it probably will, then you’re just going to sit and you’re gonna continue to toil. The third thing is they don’t have advocacy they need from the other voters also happen to me. So you have to probe it by asking again, is there someone else I need to get on my side to progress, my promotion quicker, right? That’s the conversation have. Some may say there aren’t any rules open, this actually could be a reality. But you could try and do what I did and make your own role. I’ve talked about that what I did within communications to make my own role that looked like the role that I would want in a level and with a capacity and authority that is at promotional space, and provided an aspirational place an order for people to kind of see what I could do within that capacity, as well as what could potentially be an additional role within the business. Now, as you guys know, the punch line on that one kind of like, came crashing down crashing and burning. But it did provide the basis for which I was then able to leave p&g and create my new business.

April Martini 1:03:08
Yeah, I think those are all good. And and the one that I will add here is, you can also ask what needs to happen at the company level, true point of this one, if there aren’t any open roles in order to add this role or this promotional level. So I talked before about organic growth through accounts. And one of the things that was coming back was, well, we had this bucket of money for the promotions, and that’s been used. And so until there’s incremental income, we’re not going to be able to do another round of promotions. And that was just how that particular agency worked. It was like they did them in batches, almost right, you’re the net, you’re on the list for the next one, but we just don’t have that yet. And so it became my mission and goal in the accounts were knowing I couldn’t affect the whole organization where I was, but in the accounts where I was to make sure that I was number one, tracking any organic growth that I was contributing to, but then also to really extend myself to try to build the accounts, I was on more quickly to show that I was serious about the promotion, but also to set myself a little bit apart even in that next batch so that I could secure my space and prove kind of one to one. What I did that put me at the top of that list.

Anne Candido 1:04:31
So yeah, that’s super smart. And what I love about that is that you didn’t sit there go, well, there’s nothing I can do. Yeah. Right, which is what a lot of people will say, Well, I’m not in control of that. And I control that. That’s outside of my control outside of my you know, whatever it is. That is like a very limiting mindset. I love what you said there because you found another way to make it happen now, not you know, it doesn’t always happen the way we want it to happen, but it wasn’t immediate for sure I had to go do a whole bunch of work to get that but At least there’s something you could do. There’s always something you can do. So I think that is what we want you guys to take away from this is that there’s always something you can do. Don’t play the victim. Yes. All right. So our third and final segment is a marketing smarts moment, which may or may not have anything to do with the episode but something that we’ve been seeing recently that we wanted to bring to light for you guys. Alright, so it’s my marketing smarts moment. And I was in Fort Lauderdale last week for a couple days. And we went to this restaurant called the Boatyard.

April Martini 1:05:30
You’re really killing me here. I said, before we started this episode, I was so sad to leave Florida. And now you’re gonna bring

Anne Candido 1:05:35
it back up. Oh, you know anything about this, this whole episode as I’ve been like, pushing your buttons the whole entire time. So why, you know, pay back. So now be I know I expect it. I’ll be ready for it. Back to the Boatyard. But it was a very lovely restaurant. And what I really appreciated when I got the menu, which it’s a very simple menu. Again, as you can imagine, a seafood based menu was at the very bottom and it said, hook to table we provide the freshest seafood from our East Coast fishermen. Then it listed the fishermen elicit their boat, and then they listed where they are located. I loved this, I thought this was super clever. And I’ve seen it in some ways in some other places, but I’ve never seen it articulated so well where they’re taking very important real estate on the menu in order to call this out. And what this signaled to me. It was a level of freshness, it signaled a level of quality, it signaled a level of something special or exclusive. And then what that became is a word of mouth, basically talking point that I could use to recommend a restaurant to others. I mean, in Fort Lauderdale, there is a lot of really fantastic restaurants. Yeah, the food is was excellent specifically. So up specifically, I didn’t have a bad meal. But if somebody asked me where to go in Fort Lauderdale, that would be my first recommendation. Because it was a differentiating factor in my mind that set it apart from everybody else where I could say, Oh, you want to go to the boatyard. Not only was the food fantastic, but they source their seafood from these, this local fishermen and you feel good that you’re doing something to support the community. Even if everybody else did that, fine, but it still felt like it was intentional, right? And I’ll tell you, I thought the food tasted better because of like just knowing that like know that the Placebo effect it’s like your mind tells your brain or your mind tells your brain your mind tells your tastebuds and all your senses that this is an experience that you’re going to you’re going to appreciate because of what they’ve gone out of their way to go do. So I thought this was a really phenomenal way of being able to differentiate, especially in a we talked about restaurants a lot and an industry that tends to be very flat when it comes to those sorts of things are very hard to elevate. This was a very simple thing that I thought was really good.

April Martini 1:08:06
Well, and I think it’s interesting because tonally, it is so just nonchalant. Like it right? It’s not they’re not shouting from the rooftops in the way that they’re articulating this right. Like, I’ve always been the tone of voice geek. I just love like the intro of hook to table. Yeah, I mean, I’m like, it’s just it gets you right away. You know what it means. But it’s not saying Look at me, look at me. It’s capitalizing on the fisherman but showcasing that person and giving them a face and a name and whatever, so that they get the credit as the restaurant for being humble and supporting and all the other things you said. Yeah,

Anne Candido 1:08:48
I thought that was great. And it made me decide to order the fish. Yeah, like that they actually brought to the restaurant. Yeah, so I was like, Oh, I gotta try it then. So it Yeah, everything that you said. So just to recap how to position yourself for promotion. First ask what do you need to see for me to get your support for promotion? This question flips your boss’s role from defense to Office creating more opportunity to forward your promotion goal more quickly. Make your boss look good. Overall, when your boss looks good, everyone, including you looks good. It’s hard to secure favor if you your boss or your team is perceived poorly. Third, operate like you’re in the rule to promotions ahead. This is especially true if within these moves, you’re switching from more of a doer to a manager. So focus on how to get the team group business to operate more efficiently and effectively. And finally, get allies who will act as advocates Your reputation is very important in getting the support you need for promotion and this comes from others putting good reviews into the system. What that will say go and exercise your Marketing Smarts!

April Martini 1:09:47
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