Many of us would love to be promoted. Advancement can mean more influence, more money, and more control over your day-to-day tasks — just to name a few perks.
But how do you get promoted? Is it out of your hands entirely?
Not really. Yes, the decision to be promoted is one your organization ultimately has to make. But by proactively pursuing a promotion, you can drastically increase your chances.
So, what’s the best way to pursue a promotion? It comes down to two things: Acting in a way that’ll warrant a promotion and asking your boss for that promotion.
This article covers both.
The qualities you need to exhibit in order to be promoted
Promotions aren’t just handed out because you want them. You need to earn your promotion by first acting like an employee who should be promoted.
What does that mean, exactly? Well, here are the qualities you need to display to be seriously considered for a promotion:
1. You need to be good at your job
This sounds obvious, but if you aren’t performing well in your current role, you probably won’t be promoted any time soon.
So, put your focus here first. Remember, though, that being good at your job isn’t always enough — it just proves that you are good at your current job. To be promoted, you need to prove that you’d be good at a bigger job.
2. You prove you can develop yourself
This is the difference between a high-performing employee who will stay in their role forever and a high-potential employee who will quickly move up the ladder.
Yes, a high-performing employee will do their job well. But their performance reviews often look the same year after year. They’ll maintain the same portfolio of strengths and weaknesses, and it may never even occur to management that they might be ready for more.
Meanwhile, the high-potential employee proves to their employer that they are not just going to excel in their current role, but also push themselves to continually improve, upskill, and prepare themselves for their next role. This means they take on new and different responsibilities. It means they aren't afraid of lateral moves if they have a chance to master new skills. It means they actively solicit feedback from others to understand where their weaknesses lie. And, it means they learn on their own time.
If you do these things, it’ll show that you have a growth mindset, not a fixed one. And that’s how you become seen as a high-potential employee, instead of just a high-performing one.
3. You are easy to work with and have strong relationships across the organization
Being promoted isn’t a decision your boss makes in a vacuum. At most organizations, promotions require the green light of other people within your organization as well.
And there’s no faster way to hurt your chances of getting promoted than making enemies. Instead, you want to do the exact opposite: You want people to be on your side and rooting for you to get promoted.
How?
First and foremost, be a good partner. Treat people with respect, even if they don’t always treat you with respect. Be aware how you show up.
Remember — it might feel good to get frustrated at someone or blow someone off in the moment, but in the long run that can hurt your chances to move up within an organization.
4. You see the bigger picture
Being promoted means getting a bigger role within the organization. And the best way to show that you are worthy of that bigger role is by seeing beyond your day-to-day and thinking strategically about how your efforts can most help the organization.
This means truly understanding the business you are in and how your role fits within it. That’ll empower you to make more strategic suggestions to your manager. It also means understanding the culture your organization is looking to build and acting in a way that exemplifies it.
5. You are a “yes” person
This doesn’t mean you should agree with everything your boss says. In fact, disagreeing thoughtfully with your manager can help your career.
Instead, this means saying “yes” when there are opportunities to expand your role. Whenever possible, say yes if it means an expanded scope.
Obviously, you’ll need to prioritize smartly here. But if you can start taking on new responsibilities and projects outside your core role, it can help prove to your boss that you can handle a bigger job — while also giving you an opportunity to build relationships with more people across the company.
6. You listen
There’s this misconception that you need to dominate every conversation to prove to everyone that you’re a leader and deserve a bigger role.
In reality, the exact opposite is often true.
One of the best ways to improve yourself, form great relationships with others, and become more strategic is to actively listen. If this isn’t a strength of yours, make it one. This course can help.
7. You are purposeful with what you say and how you say it
As Elizabeth McLeod says, “Language is everything. Your words tell people who you are. Your language is imperative in your ability to get promoted.”
What should you say? In her LinkedIn Learning course, Learning to be Promotable, McLeod highlights the kind of language you should use if you want to get promoted. Spoiler: Being concise can be a tremendous help.
How to ask your boss for a promotion
The single biggest mistake people make when they’re looking to get promoted is to think that all they need to do is keep their head down and work hard.
That’s giving away your power. Instead, be proactive. If you believe you are worthy of a promotion or would like to earn one down the road, ask your boss for it. Start a conversation.
Here are a few best practices:
1. Ask your boss what it’ll take to get a promoted
Unless you are truly willing to follow through, it’s not a good idea to give your boss an ultimatum like, “Give me a promotion or I’ll quit.”
Instead, you should tell your boss what you want early in your relationship with them and work with them to make it happen. This will give you a realistic timetable and a guide to getting that promotion, while also giving your boss the tools to be your biggest cheerleader.
2. You have a business case ready for why you should be promoted
If you follow step one, officially asking for a promotion shouldn’t come as a surprise to your boss. But regardless of the strength of your relationship with your manager or what you’ve talked with them about in the past, you may still need to make the business case for why you should be promoted.
In her LinkedIn Learning course, Having an Honest Career Conversation With Your Boss, Lida Citroen explains how to put together that business case. Be sure to check it out.
3. Don’t make these mistakes when asking for a promotion
There are several mistakes people make when asking for a promotion. Some of the most common are:
- Don’t think a good personal relationship with your boss is all you need. Sure, it helps to have a good personal relationship with your boss. But that alone doesn’t lead to a promotion. Your boss needs to justify to their boss that you are worthy of promotion, too. Saying “I like this person” isn’t going to cut it.
- Don’t get angry with your boss if they don’t promote you. It could ruin your relationship with them and paint you as unprofessional. Try to be understanding and calm, while also probing to learn more.
- Don’t ask at the wrong time. One of the worst times to ask your boss for a promotion is after a round of layoffs or during particularly tough economic times. So be sure to know and be sensitive to the state of the business and the greater macroeconomy.
How LinkedIn Learning can help you get promoted
One of the best ways to prove to your organization you are worthy of a promotion is by committing to learn new skills. This kind of commitment shows that even if you don’t have the skills needed to do a bigger job yet, you’re on a path to doing so.
Here are some courses that can help you on your journey:
1. Learning to Be Promotable
Instructors: Elizabeth McLeod and Lisa Earle McLeod
Course Description: To land a promotion, you need to do more than just excel at your current job. You need to have the right skills, say the right things to the right people, and demonstrate your ability to lead. In this course, authors and leadership experts Lisa Earle McLeod and Elizabeth McLeod discuss the behaviors and language you need to put yourself on the promotion track.
2. Having an Honest Career Conversation With Your Boss
Instructor: Lida Citroën
Course Description: To get what you want, you need to ask. Dialog is what opens doors. If you're at the place in your career where you need to have a truthful conversation about what comes next, this is the course for you. Personal branding expert Lida Citroën helps you prepare to have an honest career conversation with your boss. She helps you navigate common career conversation topics such as asking for a promotion, requesting additional training, or confessing a potential career-ending mistake. Learn how to request, prepare for, and lead the conversation, while also keeping the meeting focused and professional — even if your request is denied.
3. Developing Executive Presence
Instructor: John Ullmen
Course Description: Learn to project self-confidence, clarity, and credibility even under conditions of stress, pressure, and uncertainty. In this course, John Ullmen, a professor from the UCLA Anderson School of Management, shares key research insights and step-by-step methods he uses to coach leaders around the world to develop executive presence. He outlines the four key factors that drive executive presence and the specific actions that make them work for you. He also explains the difference between "internal" and "external" presence, and how to enhance both to increase your self-assurance and self-possession. He addresses how to do all of this without being fake or feeling inauthentic, and how to be "fully present, persistently."
4. Strategic Thinking
Instructor: Dorie Clark
Course Description: Strategic thinking is the ability to think on a big and small scale, long and short term, and into the past and the present. While strategic thinking is a valuable skill for everyone in an organization, it becomes increasingly essential as you ascend the ladder. In fact, you may have a difficult time being promoted or succeeding as a leader without it. Yet, no one formally teaches strategic thinking — so it's critical to take the initiative and learn how to do it yourself. This course teaches managers and leaders how to use strategic thinking to guide the direction of their teams and come up with solutions to key business problems. Career and personal branding expert Dorie Clark shows you how to carve out time to think about strategy, gather data, learn from the past, create a vision for the future, and implement strategic thinking within your team.
5. Defining and Achieving Your Goals
Instructor: Dave Crenshaw
Course Description: Plenty of people have had the experience of setting goals and then failing to achieve them — think of all the New Year's resolutions that are never realized. But with the right strategies, even your loftiest professional goals are attainable. In this course, career and personal branding expert Dorie Clark helps you identify what's most important to you and provides specific strategies for achieving your goals, such as getting an accountability partner, making your intentions public, and more. She also helps you maintain your goals by sharing tips and techniques for turning your goals into habits.
Final thoughts: Promotions come to those who show they are worthy and ask for it
Promotions are like anything else in this world: Wanting it isn’t enough; you have to go get it.
The best way to go get that promotion is to first act like someone who deserves a promotion. And again, that doesn’t mean just excelling in your current role. It also means demonstrating qualities that show you are capable of a bigger role with more responsibilities.
You also need to actually ask your boss for the promotion. Yes, it can be awkward. But it can also be empowering. It means you are taking control of your career, instead of waiting for others to recognize your great work.
Let this article serve as your guide on how to best get that promotion. Good luck!
