WORK HARDERIS TERRIBLECAREER ADVICE.
The rules of getting ahead are rarely written down. Promotions, influence, negotiation, sponsorship and executive presence are skills. You can learn them.
Being great at
your current job
does not guarantee
your next one.
People who advance consistently understand how to choose visible work, create evidence, build advocates, negotiate and communicate their contribution.
STOP DOING MORE.START DOING WORKTHAT CHANGES YOUR SCOPE.
Strong promotable work has three properties. Most work has none of them.
- Business impactSomeone senior cares about the number.
- Cross-functional visibilityPeople outside your team see it happen.
- A measurable outcomeYou can state the result in one sentence.
The promotable work scorecard
Score your current work and identify the project most likely to demonstrate next-level scope.
Get the scorecardYOUR MENTORIS NOT IN THE ROOMWHEN YOU GET PROMOTED.
Mentors give advice.
Sponsors spend political capital on you.
You need people who can credibly say your name when opportunities are being discussed and you are not there.
The sponsor map
Map the three people who can materially change your trajectory and what evidence each needs before they will advocate for you.
Build my sponsor mapDON'T WAIT FORPROMOTION SEASONTO DISCUSS YOURPROMOTION.
- Month 0"What would have to be true for promoting me to be an obvious yes?"
- MonthlyReview 3 to 5 observable criteria.
- WeeklyKeep an evidence log: outcome, metric, scope, stakeholder.
- Quarterly"If the decision were today, what would stop me from getting promoted?"
- AlwaysKnow who actually influences the decision.
YOUR ARGUMENTIS NOT YOURLEVERAGE.
Your BATNA is what happens if the deal dies. That is your leverage.
- Salary
- Job offers
- Founder negotiations
- Vendor negotiations
- Major purchases
SAME WORK.DIFFERENT LANGUAGE.DIFFERENT ROOM.
- Instead of"We shipped the project."
- Use"I led the cross-functional team that shipped the project, resulting in X."
We shipped the project.
I led the team that shipped the project.
I led the team that shipped it. Result: +18% activation.
Your career
should not
run on hope.
Careers are systems. Hard work alone is not a strategy.