278 – How To Get Promoted

John Over the last two decades, I’ve been on an insatiable quest to learn everything I can about leadership. What makes the best leaders so good? After running companies small and large over the last 20 years, today I speak on stages all across the world to audiences who are interested in that same question. My name is John Laurito. I’m your host, and I invite you to join me on this journey as we explore this very topic and what makes the best leader so good. Welcome to tomorrow’s leader. 

John All right. Welcome to today’s episode of Tomorrow’s Leader, where we dove deep into all things leader-related, related to leading yourself and leading others. I’m John Laurito your host. So I was thinking back not long ago, I remember having a position that I was hiring for and spent a long period of time trying to find the right candidate for finally bringing in the right candidate from somewhere else. And after I had announced this person, starting with the organization who ended up being a great fit, it was the right decision. I had somebody internally come up to me and say, Hey, why don’t you offer the job to me? And this was not a person that was in, you know, in the process of interviewing. 

John They had never even thrown their hat into this. And candidly, I would not have chosen this person at all. But what it made me realize is there are so many times when people don’t necessarily come to mind in a leader, when a leader is actually looking to hire people or bring in people or fill different roles, there may be people internally that could be a fantastic fit that the leader just doesn’t even have on his or her radar screen because they don’t know what the desire is of that person. 

John They don’t know that this person really has an interest in moving to a different part of the country or a different part of the company or a different division, whatever the case may be. They don’t they don’t know that they do not mind readers. So my point is that, you know, I’ve done a lot of episodes on various things you can do and what you need to do to develop your leadership skills and ultimately put yourself in a position of getting a promotion. But here’s one thing that’s very key. Part of getting a promotion is letting your leader know that you want to get promoted, that you want to grow in the organization. And specifically, if you have something specific in mind, let them know what you want to do. 

John Let them know what your goals are. Because I promise you, what will happen is you’ll now be thought of in a different way. If I had somebody come to me and when I have come to me and say, Hey, here’s what I want to do, I’m having an impact in the organization. I want to have a larger impact on the organization. I want to do it and here’s how I want to do it. That was always a positive, regardless of whether I felt that they were ready or they were, you know, even close or not. I was still left with a positive, more positive impression of that person. And it made me think about ways that I can invest in that person to help them develop every employer, every leader wants people underneath them in their organization that is trying to grow. But that has to be something that’s got to be a two-way street, right? It’s got to be that that person in the organization and I’m talking to you, you have to let your leader know. 

John Here are the different ways I want to grow. Here are different responsibilities I love to take on. Here are the things that I really can do that I’m not doing right now to impact the organization in a bigger way. Let them know, you know, I’m always doing that. I’ve always done that. I’ve always had a habit of doing that. There are other things, you know, that I’m you know, if I’m with an organization and I do this now, I mean, if I’m consulting or doing something just because this my is the area that I’m supposed to be working in, it doesn’t mean I don’t do this or this or this or expand into different areas. If I feel like I can add value. 

John Why? Why not? And that’s what people that are growth-minded, that’s how they think. They want to be impacted as much as they can in the biggest way they possibly can. That’s the bottom line, what they want to do. So if you’re in that spot and maybe you’re in an organization right now, you’ve been in the same role for a period of time, a long period of time. You don’t feel like you’re tapping into 100% of your potential. Let your leader know that I literally set up a one-on-one call tomorrow, sent an email, and said, I’d like to sit down and talk about my career path and how I can have a bigger impact in the organization. That’s going to be a welcome meeting. My guess is if you have the right leader, it will be a welcome meeting, and then just share. Hey, here’s my long-term vision, my long-term goal. What do you see? What are the things? And this is a great question to ask. 

John What do you think I need to work on or develop in order to be even more valuable to the organization? Let me say that again. What do you think I need to work on or develop in order to be of more value to the organization and then just shut up and listen, take notes and do what they say, okay? So don’t just ask that to do nothing with it. Do what you say, because they’re giving you the answer key to how you get promoted, right? They’re telling you exactly what you need to do. So one is, you know, your job is you own your growth and development. So nobody’s going to develop you for you. Excuse me? You own it. But tell them, tell your employer. Here’s what I want to do. 

John Here’s the path that I’d like to go on. But what do you see for me? And in order for me to be the biggest impact I can, what do I need to work on or develop? Okay. That again, that’s the answer. Key to you getting promoted. It is so key. The secondly second thing is sometimes organizations don’t see where the opportunities are or the threats. They don’t see where there is a need for a position or new role. And that might be something that you can help them with. If there is something you see, the organization can do better or faster or more effectively and more impactful, and you can contribute to that in a larger role or different role or different capacity. Then tell them, you know, Hey, I’m doing this right now, but if you enlarged my role and I was able to do this and this and this, I could make this much of a bigger impact. 

John That’s sometimes how new roles are born. I’ve done that before. I’ve created new roles in an organization because somebody came to me with a great idea. I’m like, You know what? That’s absolutely right. Okay, so that’s that’s my $0.02 today. Quick episode. But just to put that thought in your mind, this is the way the top promotion happens in two different ways. One, it’s what the leader ultimately is. The hiring leader is making that decision. But you can influence tremendously your career and your path within that organization. Sometimes there’s a bigger, brighter career path for you than you even realize. But you have to talk about it. You got to bring it up. You’ve got to ask about it. You’ve got to be vocal about what you want. And suddenly sometimes that path is carved for you because you have that initiative and you have that assertiveness. Okay. That’s what this is. That’s what that comes down to. 

All right. So I hope this is helpful. Again, as always, like, share, subscribe, all that kind of good stuff. Go down below, and give a five-star review. I look forward to seeing you next time. Thanks, everybody. Thanks for joining us on today’s episode of Tomorrow’s Leader. For suggestions or inquiries about having me at your next event or personal coaching, reach me at John@johnlaurito.com. Thanks, lead on!