How to Navigate Promotion Challenges

He got put on a PIP… for asking for a promotion. Not because he wasn’t qualified. Not because he was underperforming. But because of how he asked. Let’s talk about the career cliff that too many high performers fall off, especially those from underrepresented backgrounds: - You do the work. - You exceed expectations. - You finally ask for the promotion you’ve more than earned… And suddenly, you’re labeled “difficult,” “entitled,” or “not aligned with leadership tone.” Here’s what most people aren’t told: Promotions in corporate aren’t given based on fairness. They’re given based on positioning. So if you're getting ready to ask, here’s what actually matters: 1. Build a business case, not just a feelings case. You can’t go in saying, “I’ve worked hard.” You need to show: → What you own now (Scope) → How far it reaches (Scale) → What outcomes you've driven (Impact) → How it supports org-wide goals 2. Show you're already operating at the next level. Promotions aren’t promises, they’re recognition of what’s already happening. If your manager has to imagine you in that role, you’ve already lost the case. 3. Know the season your org is in. Are they in growth? Layoffs? Reorg mode? Promotions aren’t just about merit, they’re about timing and optics. The stronger your internal awareness, the more surgical your ask. 4. Don’t confuse assertiveness with ultimatums. Confidence is necessary. But once your ask sounds like a threat (“I deserve this or I’m leaving”), you're no longer leading, you’re cornering. That’s rarely received well, especially in conservative or political environments. Is it exhausting to have to play the game this way? Absolutely. But learning the game is not the same as selling out. It’s how you protect your power and your paycheck. If you’re stuck between “I’ve earned it” and “They still don’t see me,” it’s time to rethink how you’re positioning your value, not your worth, but your visibility. Let’s stop losing good people to bad promotion conversations. _________________________ And if we haven't met...Hi, I’m Erica Rivera, CPCC, CPRW I help people take everything they’ve done, & say it in a way that lands offers. Let’s stop downplaying your value. Let’s start closing the gap between your impact and your paycheck. You deserve a role that reflects your experience, and pays you like it

If you want to be promoted by December, here's what needs to happen by August 15th. And no, it's not about crushing your Q3 targets (those are table stakes). After 25+ years watching promotion decisions get made, I can tell you exactly how the timeline works—and why most people miss their window by months. The reality: Your promotion gets decided 4-6 months before it's announced. And for promotions to Managing Director the process can truly start up to 24 months in advance. Which means if you're just now "proving yourself," you're already too late for this cycle. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗺𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗻𝗼𝗯𝗼𝗱𝘆 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗲𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂: 𝗧-𝟭𝟴𝟬 𝗱𝗮𝘆𝘀: Level up. Start visibly operating at the next level. Don't wait for permission. Your boss needs to see you in the role before they can advocate for it. 𝗧-𝟭𝟱𝟬 𝗱𝗮𝘆𝘀: Build your coalition. Identify 3-5 stakeholders who'll be in the room when your name comes up. Get on their radar with strategic value, not just good work. 𝗧-𝟭𝟮𝟬 𝗱𝗮𝘆𝘀: Demonstrate future impact. Not your accomplishments—your future impact. "Here's what I'll deliver in the new role" beats "Here's what I did last year" every time. 𝗧-𝟵𝟬 𝗱𝗮𝘆𝘀: Make THE ask. Have THE conversation. "I'm ready for X role. Here's my plan for the transition. What do you need to see to make this happen?" Make your boss your co-conspirator, not your judge. 𝗧-𝟲𝟬 𝗱𝗮𝘆𝘀: Lock in sponsor support. Your direct boss proposes. Their boss approves. Their boss's boss signs off. Know who these people are and what they care about. 𝗧-𝟯𝟬 𝗱𝗮𝘆𝘀: Navigate the politics. This is when competing interests surface. Budget constraints. Peer jealousy. Organizational restructures. Stay visible, valuable, and above the fray. The painful truth? Most people start this process too late and are left frustrated when they find they've missed the boat and have to wait a whole 'nother cycle before trying again. 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗻 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗸: 1. Map out your promotion timeline working backwards from your target date 2. Identify exactly who needs to say "yes" (hint: it's rarely just your boss) 3. Schedule a strategic conversation about "future opportunities"—not a performance review Remember: Promotions aren't rewards for past performance. They're bets on future potential. And that bet gets placed long before you think it does. 🎯 Question for my network: When did you realize you'd missed your promotion window? What would you do differently knowing this timeline? ----------------------------- ♻️ Share with someone who needs to start their promotion campaign NOW, not in Q4 ➕ Follow Courtney Intersimone for more insights on executive advancement and leadership mastery

Woke up to this feature in Business Insider! These 2 rare questions will get you promoted: 👇 —— Everyone has heard the saying: "Dress for the job you want, not the job you have." But to me, that’s about more than your clothes— it's about taking on the: ↳ mindset,  ↳ responsibilities, ↳ and executive presence  of someone at the next seniority level  (before you officially have that title). I figured this out when I worked at LinkedIn. —— I set up a 1:1 with my manager for a “career conversation” and 𝐈 𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐰𝐨 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬:   1) “What are the expectations of my current role?” 2) “How would those expectations change if I was one level more senior?” —— Most companies have a guide (for performance reviews) of what’s expected at each seniority level. Things like: ↳ An Associate identifies problems. A Senior Associate identifies them AND proposes a solution.  ↳ An Associate builds presentations. A Senior Associate builds AND delivers them to our stakeholders. ↳ An Associate is purely an individual contributor. A Senior Associate ALSO mentors others on the team. Great. Now I have an exact roadmap to get promoted. Once I mastered the work of an Associate, I took on the work of a Senior Associate (even though I hadn’t gotten the title yet). 👉 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐠𝐨 𝐰𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠, 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐲. They assume they'll take on those responsibilities AFTER they get promoted. But that’s the biggest barrier to being seen as “ready.” —— Here’s How I Did It: Step 1️⃣: Define the gap between your current and desired role  (by asking those two questions) Step 2️⃣: Strategically close that gap  (by taking on stretch projects and building your executive presence) Step 3️⃣: Give your manager 100% visibility into your impact  (by sharing wins in your weekly 1:1s). Btw, that list of wins will literally become the business case for your promotion. Want more details on those 3 steps? I’m giving away the full method (and common pitfalls to avoid) in my newsletter today. It’s completely free. 👌 There’s no catch. I just want to help you get the promotion you deserve. Add your email to my personal list at TheQuietRich.co —— Important Caveat: Before you start taking on extra work, make sure you REALLY want that promotion. The fastest path to burnout is working extra hard on something you don’t actually care about. (Don't keep climbing the ladder simply because there are rungs in front of you. Look up and make sure that's where you want to go.) Don't miss today's email with my detailed 3-step method (and common pitfalls): TheQuietRich.co

(I get tons of messages every week from aspiring workers on LinkedIn seeking career advice. In response, I’ll start posting, on a weekly basis, lessons from my career to help others navigate their careers)  Often, deserving employees struggle to make the case for their promotions. Promotions have always been hard, but more so in the age of efficiency, GenAI and controversies around remote work. Too many employees believe that if they do great work, promotion(s) will follow. This naive belief is right up there with “The check is in the mail” and “Santa Claus will bring you presents for Chriistmas” Candidly, the good times - the dotcom boom, the Covid-era hiring boom - created precedents that were unsustainable. The current belt-tightening requires you to be realistic but also proactive. In most companies, your manager cannot just unilaterally promote you. Your promotion will need approval from others who are already at the level you aspire to. Out of a combination of keeping the bar high and smug self-righteousness, these stakeholders will want to make sure you meet/exceed the bar they had to. Plus, there is a finite budget that has to account for existing employees, new hires and promotions. So, no matter what the company tells you, there is always, always, always a quota on how many employees can get promoted in any given cycle. Making the case for promotion is, in some ways, harder than applying for a new job. Unlike when you apply for a new job, for a promotion you need to not only make the case that you deserve the job, but also that the job itself is needed. You may have built, for example, a tool that took non-trivial amounts of effort and upskilling, but a case for promotion will require answers to some key questions: 1) Does this new tool add value to the business?  2) Will your company be able to serve more customers and/or make more money per customer because of this tool?  3) Was your contribution critical for this work to land?  4) Do you now have a special skill that will be hard to hire for if you were to quit?  5) Will there be a sustained need for your skill-set at the next level?   Rather than making the case for your promotion based on your effort, you need to make it based on demonstrable, measurable and sustainable impact. Otherwise, your case for promotion will feel like a Kevin Costner movie: takes a lot of effort to make, but the audience will lose interest.

My old approach to getting a promotion: -> Wait until my annual review to bring it up. -> Put in a ton of hard work and be the last to leave. ->Stay humble and hope the work speaks for itself. -> Try to outshine everyone else. My current approach to getting a promotion: -> Start promotion conversations 6–12 months BEFORE the annual review. -> Focus my work on business goals and delegate strategically. -> Advocate for my achievements authentically and confidently. -> Build trust and turn colleagues into advocates. The difference? It took me half the time to get promoted while working less after shifting my approach. As a coach, I’ve seen these principles help others achieve incredible results, not just by getting promotions but by doing so in a way that is still authentic to who they are. What's a piece of advice that worked for you to get promoted? #productmarketing #promotions #growth #coaching

"I am really good at my job. Why am I not getting promoted?" I heard that from a friend just the other day. Let's call her Emily. Emily is a software engineer at a fast-growing startup. For two years, she worked tirelessly, delivering solid code, solving tough problems, and meeting tight deadlines. She believed hard work alone would lead to success: If I focus on doing great work, people will notice. Promotions will follow. But two years later, Emily was still in the same role. Meanwhile, newer teammates, whose work wasn’t as strong, were getting promoted above her. Frustrated, Emily wondered: I do great work, I’m well-liked, I go above and beyond, so why am I not getting the recognition I deserve? Emily is subscribing to a worldview that I think a lot of us share. It’s called the "Just World Hypothesis." This is the belief that people get what they deserve and deserve what they get. In a work context, it’s the idea that if you work hard, keep your head down, and consistently deliver results, success and promotions will naturally follow. But the truth is, that’s not how it works. !! Success lies at the intersection of technical expertise and organizational savvy !! Hard work is important and gets you far, but in the real world, success also depends on: Advocating for yourself Building relationships Demonstrating leadership potential Being in the right rooms with the right people at the right time It’s not ideal or "fair," but it’s a lesson worth learning sooner rather than later... So my advice to Emily was this: Initiate a candid conversation with your manager to express your eagerness to grow in your career and within the company. Ask for specific feedback on what steps you need to take to be considered for a promotion, including any skills, projects, or performance milestones you should focus on. Be open to constructive feedback and show a genuine commitment to meeting expectations. If you don't have a recurring meeting to discuss your growth, set it up! Identify who the key decision-makers are in the promotion process. While your manager plays an important role, they are often just the starting point, as promotion decisions typically require input or approval from upper management. Build positive relationships with these decision-makers by making a strong impression during company offsites, in-person office interactions, or Zoom meetings. Be proactive, professional, and collaborative in all your interactions. Keep a detailed record of your accomplishments, highlighting the impact of your work on the team and the company. Include metrics, milestones, and examples that demonstrate your readiness for the next level. Give your manager visibility into your work and celebrate your own successes. And if all of that fails, start looking elsewhere. Get that coin friends. 🤑