Five truths standing between you and your next promotion

As an executive coach  I’ve worked with many top performers who are keen to learn more about themselves and develop their careers. Sometimes this self-awareness is sparked by a professional setback. The long-anticipated promotion goes to someone else. I’ve seen senior executives who’ve spent years building their technical expertise get completely blindsided like this.

I invited two HR business leaders to talk through this frustrating phenomenon. Síobhra Disdale, HR Director of Lidl Ireland and Northern Ireland and Ciara Bolger, Director of Talent and Organisation Development at EY. They have seen this scenario playout first-hand. They understand what helps some people rise to the top and the missing skills that hinder the rest from making it to the next step.

Together we tease out the reasons why some falter on their way to the top and why technical expertise and hard work is no longer enough to guarantee that promotion.

1. You must understand the difference between performance vs potential

There is a simple truth, performance is not an indicator of potential. Síobhra reveals that performance is what gets you noticed and promoted in the early stages of your career. But, if you want your career to evolve, then your potential, and other’s perception of that potential becomes your most valuable asset. In order to showcase your potential, learn to mirror the behaviours of those who are already at the next level, notice that it is not killer spreadsheets or fancy decks (performance) that earn them a good reputation as a leader. It is their ability to influence people and demonstrate their soft skills that defines them. The reality is as you move up the ladder you have fewer tasks that allow you to perform the way you used to, so you must demonstrate value in other ways.

Your role evolves from doing things, to getting things done

This is the jump that some people fail to make. People are still focussed on ticking the boxes but those who catch the stakeholder’s eye are the ones who lead rather than deliver.

2. Are you an I-shaped specialist rather than a T-shaped professional?

Starting off in our careers people are rewarded by becoming a specialist in their chosen field, this is what earns them progression early on. They drill down into the technicalities of their role and this I-shape reflects a deep knowledge and understanding of their subject. A T-shape professional is someone who has a deep understanding of a particular area, and has developed other skills outside their domain expertise or function, such as cross-group collaboration, informal influence, and emotional intelligence.

Ciara points out that both types have a value in an organisation but it can be harder to broaden into a T-shape professional if you don’t develop those skills early. Ciara highlights delegation as a key skill that people can start with in order to broaden their skillset. Mastering the art of delegation helps leaders develop both their management skills and their team's strengths. She also notes that this can be a really difficult skill to develop for those who fall into a loop of saying "it'll be quicker if I do it myself".  It's an attitude that helps nobody and is one of the key reasons most new managers fail.

Thinking about which letter best represents how you are currently operating will allow you to reflect on what you need to develop in order to be seen as someone with serious growth potential.

3. Investing in the right skills early can help future-proof your potential promotion

It will come as no surprise that communication, leadership and strategic thinking top the skills wish list when organisations are promoting. Although given the constant disruption leaders are now dealing with, is there more we can do to future-proof our potential?

Ciara feels that there are other skills when nurtured can really propel success:

• Curiosity 

• Resilience

• Emotional Intelligence

Ciara and her team believe in these skills so strongly that they start developing EY employees at graduate level. They want to foster a culture of continuous learning and building these non-technical skills that will bolster their CVs for years to come.

4. Appearance matters, so get working on your image

While it may seem unfair, when it comes to the workplace and setting yourself up for success, perception can be reality.

"You get paid on performance, but you get promoted on what other people think of your potential" Harvey Coleman

Harvey Coleman has a neat career progression model for highlighting the importance of your professional image in the workplace.

Coleman’s PIE chart (performance, image, exposure) blatantly shows that performance, while vital in the early stages of your career, is dwarfed compared to your image (how other people perceive you) and your exposure, i.e. your ability to showcase your skills to the right people.

5. Master the art of giving and receiving feedback

When I pressed the experts for a definitive method that people can use to prepare themselves for promotion, both praised the critical skill of feedback. 

Getting 360 feedback on how you’re perceived is essential for your professional development. Ciara says we cannot underestimate how early we need to develop this habit of asking for this feedback.

The non-technical skills are more difficult to develop and take longer to fine tune

She continues with the counter-intuitive fact that high performers do not get as much feedback as those who have more room to improve and grow. So it’s essential they get into the habit of seeking out this information and using it to their advantage. 

In order to develop this habit Síobhra suggests starting small and asking for one thing that you can do to improve, a small tweak that will help you scale your performance. Little by little this will help you get used to asking for feedback and in turn help you build resilience as you learn that feedback isn’t personal, it’s a privilege. 

Feedback isn’t personal, it’s a privilege.

Bonus fact: human connection brings wins; big and small

One of the top trends we predicted at the start of the year was successful teams will become more intentional about how they build connection. No matter the topic of conversation, when I talk to HR leaders and the leaders behind some of the most strategic talent development programmes in the industry, connection is the core part of their focus. 

Whether it’s creating moments that matter, or taking small steps that actively develop your emotional intelligence, HR leaders are searching for those who allow their curiosity to fuel conversations and inspire connections in the workplace. These are the people who will be on their radar when the next promotion opens up.

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