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Hi PathWisdom readers! Help us expand our impact by growing our readership. Please share this newsletter with family, friends, and co-workers, especially those who are feeling stuck in their careers - the main topic of this issue.
Are You Feeling Overlooked?
You're putting in the hours, delivering good work, and doing everything your boss asks. Your performance reviews are positive, your colleagues respect you, and you're the person people turn to when something important needs to get done - but you’re not getting promoted.
Meanwhile, someone who doesn't seem to work nearly as hard is moving ahead. This can be incredibly frustrating, and I speak from personal experience here. It can leave you wondering whether your contributions are being overlooked, whether you’re missing something important, or whether you need to find another job.
The Hard Truth
Here's the thing, though: doing your job well and advancing your career aren't necessarily the same thing. Despite what your employer may say about the organization being a meritocracy, it’s not.
This is difficult for many of us to accept. We grow up believing that hard work produces results. If you study hard, you'll get good grades. If you practice hard, you'll become a better athlete. If you work hard, you'll get promoted. Unfortunately, the workplace is more complicated than that.
Strong performance is important, but it's often just the price of admission. When organizations make promotion decisions, they're also considering whether someone is ready for greater responsibility, can influence others, and has the judgment to operate at the next level. And that’s assuming that nepotism, favoritism, and other ‘isms’ don’t factor into the process.
If you want to turn your hard work into advancement, three factors often make the difference:
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Visibility. You can be doing outstanding work, but if the people making advancement decisions don't know what you've accomplished, you're at a disadvantage. Don’t view this as shameless self-promotion. See it as making sure your contributions and their impact are understood.
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Relationships. Career advancement often also depends on whether other people trust you, want to work with you, and are willing to advocate for you. Having a boss who supports your development matters, but so does building relationships beyond your immediate team, especially with your boss’ boss, other leaders with whom you might want to work, and key people in HR.
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Demonstrated potential. Organizations generally promote people based on having confidence that they'll succeed in a bigger role, not simply as a reward for past performance. That means showing you can think beyond your current responsibilities, solve broader problems, and exercise sound judgment.
I've seen a lot of talented people focus entirely at being really good at their existing jobs without demonstrating that they're ready for something bigger. Sometimes their reliability even works against them: their manager doesn't want to lose the person who keeps everything running smoothly. Yes, that’s selfish, but it’s a reality.
The lesson? Don't confuse being valuable in your current role with being viewed as ready for your next one.
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