I often hear frustration over what people feel is a stalled career. “I’ve done everything I’ve been asked to do,” they say. Or, “I’ve been stuck in the same position for seven years. I feel like I should have been promoted by now.”
Some people suggest that because of their seniority and obedience in their current role, they deserve to have been promoted. And the fact that they haven’t yet advanced in their career is evidence of unfairness by their employer. This is especially easy to feel if someone who has been there for a shorter time gets promoted before they do. But even when nobody is getting promoted, the situation can feel unjust to someone who has been working faithfully in their current role.
It’s easy for them to feel as if they deserve to be promoted.
But promotions are not awards to be handed out to those who deserve them. Rather, they are specific positions, open because the company needs a specific kind of work done.
Am I saying that promotions are just given out? Not at all. You do have to earn the right to move into a higher position. But that’s not the same thing as deserving it.
The way you earn that next role is not simply by meeting the expectations of your current role, even over a long time. Earning advancement is about demonstrating the kinds of skills, competencies, and results that someone occupying the new role must have. And those will likely be different from what you’re expected to do in your current role.
And still, for that growth opportunity to come, your employer still has to have a business need to open that advanced position.
It can be hard to recognize the kinds of skills the next role requires, and even harder to find opportunities to demonstrate them. If you’d like a thinking partner to help stir your creativity, let’s talk. Visit stevedwire.com/talk for a complimentary conversation.
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