Hi Friend
Welcome to your weekly dose of personal and career fuel
Here is something I have seen play out hundreds of times in my coaching practice.
A high-performing director. Three years at the same level. Consistent positive reviews. Never missed a target. Absolutely certain that when the VP role opens up, their name will be on the short list.
The role opens. Someone else gets it.
They are blindsided. Their manager is uncomfortable. The conversation that follows is vague and unsatisfying. Words like "timing" and "broader pool" get used. Nobody says the real thing.
Here is the real thing.
Nobody was advocating for them in the room where the decision was made. Not because they were not good enough. Because nobody in that room had a strong enough impression of them to put their reputation on the line.
You cannot promote someone whose name you only associate with solid, reliable execution.
Solid and reliable is the entry requirement. It is not the promotion.
I am going to be blunt. Most professionals who feel they deserve a promotion are waiting for someone else to notice and initiate the conversation. They are performing and hoping. And the people making promotion decisions are not in the business of going looking for candidates. They are in the business of saying yes to someone who has already made the case obvious.
The case has to be made by you. Deliberately. Before the role exists.
