1. 5 (actually a lot more) Ways to Get Promoted at Work
Jeff Haden
Longwood University LinkedIn Influencers Week
How to Get Promoted: Longwood LinkedIn Influencers Week

2. How to Get Promoted: Longwood LinkedIn Influencers Week
What You Won’t Do
Be unethical or unprofessional
Play politics
Pursue an agenda very different from your organization’s
Try to win by making other people lose
“Hack” your way to success
How to Get Promoted: Longwood LinkedIn Influencers Week

3. How to Get Promoted: Longwood LinkedIn Influencers Week
What You Will Do
Help other people succeed
Help your organization succeed
Enjoy success through accomplishment and merit
Build a lasting network of meaningful connections
Go home, every day, proud of yourself and what you’ve done
Adapt to your org’s goals and culture… and still be yourself
How to Get Promoted: Longwood LinkedIn Influencers Week

4. How to Get Promoted: Longwood LinkedIn Influencers Week
Start With “Why?”
Here’s why you should want to get promoted:
Because you want more responsibility, not authority
Because you want to help people, not direct people
Because you want the job, not the title
When those your reasons... you succeed no matter how long it takes to get promoted.
How to Get Promoted: Longwood LinkedIn Influencers Week

5. How to Get Promoted: Longwood LinkedIn Influencers Week
The Basics
You have to work harder now… not after you’re promoted
You have to work smarter now… not after you have greater freedom and latitude
You have to be willing to set yourself apart
You have to be willing to ignore criticism or peer pressure
And most of all…
You must stay focused on your goal.
How to Get Promoted: Longwood LinkedIn Influencers Week

6. 1. Target Your Org’s Competitive Advantage
What is your organization’s underlying value proposition? That should be your focus: people who get promoted are people who help drive meaningful results.
Maybe it’s quality
Maybe it’s productivity
Maybe it’s sales, or operations, or customer outreach… whatever it is, find ways to get involved, because that will get you noticed by the right people.
Of course that means you will have to do extra work... but you’ll also learn, and add tools to your skillset, and help drive results for your org.
RRD sales example
How to Get Promoted: Longwood LinkedIn Influencers Week
RRD

7. 2. Be Known for a Specific Skill
You can try to be the best at your job, but “best” is often subjective. Also pick an attribute that makes you “that” guy or gal:
Be the leader known for turning around struggling employees.
Be the supervisor who personally makes a few deliveries a week to check in with customers.
Be the manager who develops more people than anyone else.
Be known as the employee who responds quicker, acts faster, or always follows up..
Pick something you like – and that also adds value – and become the go-to person. You’ll stand out and build a reputation across your org.
How to Get Promoted: Longwood LinkedIn Influencers Week
intranet

8. 3. Help Your Boss Reach His or Her Goals
“Managing up” implies shaping the information you provide, massaging data, being less than candid at times… so don’t. To stand out, help your boss achieve her targets.
Remember, everyone has a boss – even the CEO.
Your boss’s targets may be very different than you assume.
How will you find out? Ask. And then ask how you can help… or better yet, come back later and offer specific, tangible ways you can help.
“Managing up” can come across as sneaky and even manipulative. Don’t be known for those qualities – be known as the person who helps others succeed.
How to Get Promoted: Longwood LinkedIn Influencers Week

9. How to Get Promoted: Longwood LinkedIn Influencers Week
4. Be First With a Purpose
Lots of people try to be the first one to arrive (or last to leave.) But what do they do with that time?
Instead of taking care of “stuff,” do something visibly beneficial to the org.
Take care of unresolved problems from the day before.
Make it easier for other employees to hit the ground running.
Chip away at an ongoing project others ignore.
Don't just be the one who turns on or off the lights – be the one who gets in early (or stays late in order to get things done.)
Work ethic will gain you visibility... but work ethic with purpose and tangible outcomes will make you stand out.
How to Get Promoted: Longwood LinkedIn Influencers Week

10. 5. Create Your Own Side Project
Don’t wait to be assigned a cool project. Create one of your own.
Pick something you like
But that also adds value to the organization
And will naturally gain you visibility
But most of all… do it on your own time.
Excelling on an assigned project is expected. Excelling on your own side project helps you stand out – even if that project fails.
People instantly recognize when you truly care about the organization and truly care about learning. That always shines through – and will always take you far.
Jim Whitehurst
How to Get Promoted: Longwood LinkedIn Influencers Week
delta

11. 6. Focus on Offering Solutions
It’s easy to point out problems. Anyone can do that. (Everyone does that.)
Say you think a project has gone off the rails; instead of just pointing out its flaws so you can show everyone how smart you are, jump in and help fix it.
Everyone talks about problems. The people who actually help fix them are the people who stand out -- for all the right reasons.
Of course that means you will sometimes need to…
How to Get Promoted: Longwood LinkedIn Influencers Week

12. How to Get Promoted: Longwood LinkedIn Influencers Week
7. Volunteer (wisely)
I know: whenever you raise your hand, you automatically have to do more.
Don’t see that as a negative. See it as an opportunity: to learn, to gain skills, to build new relationships, to impress… to do something more than you would otherwise been able to do.
(Plus the more you volunteer, the easier it is to sidestep tasks that don’t add value and won’t advance your career.)
Remember, success is based on action… so the more you volunteer, the more you get to act. Create your own opportunities. You’ll be seen as “can-do” – and get noticed.
How to Get Promoted: Longwood LinkedIn Influencers Week

13. 8. Be a “Meeting Superstar”
I also know: you hate meetings. So do most people. (So do I.)
Use that to your advantage.
Be the most prepared person to walk in the room.
Be the most attentive person in the room.
Be the person who only speaks to add genuine value.
Be a person know for offering solutions, helping make decisions, creating plans… be the person who makes meetings worthwhile.
See every meeting as an opportunity to shine – because it is.
How to Get Promoted: Longwood LinkedIn Influencers Week

14. How to Get Promoted: Longwood LinkedIn Influencers Week
9. Ask for the Job
You rarely get what you don’t ask for. So ask.
But don’t say, ”I want (that job.)”
Say, “I would love to do (that job.) I think I’m ready, but what you think matters a lot more. If you were me, what skills, experience, knowledge, etc. would you seek in order to become the perfect choice?”
But don’t just listen. Ask questions. Ask how, why, when… but don’t be demanding. See the advice you get as steps you will take – and any developmental assistance you get as icing on the cake.
Always see it as your responsibiliy to be the best candidate – because it is.
How to Get Promoted: Longwood LinkedIn Influencers Week

15. 10. Work Harder than Everyone Else
Nothing – nothing – is a substitute for hard work.
Look around: how many people are working as hard as they can? Very few.
There are many things you can’t control… but you can always control what you do – and how hard you work.
The best way to stand out is to outwork everyone else: more focused, more efficient, more results-oriented.
It's also the easiest way to stand out, because you'll be the only one trying.
How to Get Promoted: Longwood LinkedIn Influencers Week

16. How to Get Promoted: Longwood LinkedIn Influencers Week
Still Not Convinced?
I’ve worked for big companies and small companies… and I’ve never seen the person who truly deserved the promotion not get the promotion. I’ve seen lots of close calls go either way... but true excellence is always rewarded, especially over the long term.
You will not get promoted if you just do your job. You will not get promoted if you just meet expectations or just put in your time.
Your goal is to do everything you can to make sure you’re the only possible choice -- so think hard about what you’ve done to date, and think harder about what changes you’ll make starting now.
And don’t forget how much you’ll learn and grow, and how fulfilling that will be… and how everything you do will also set you up for the following promotion.
And one more thing…
How to Get Promoted: Longwood LinkedIn Influencers Week

17. You May Not… But You Can Still Do These Things, Starting Now
Have the same level of education, or
connections, or
mentors, or
experience…
But You Can Still Do These Things, Starting Now
Be early
Stay late
Display a great attitude
Display positive body language
Be energetic and enthusiastic
Say “yes!”
Be trainable and coachable
Ask for help
Offer to help
Volunteer
Be prepared
Do one extra thing
And Most of All: You Can Always Work Harder Than Everyone Else
How to Get Promoted: Longwood LinkedIn Influencers Week