Convincing your boss you’re ready for a promotion

Episode Transcript

Hello, my name is Juliana Yau Yorgan and I’m a career coach who helps interpret succeed in the workplace by unleashing their introvert superpowers.

Today, I’m going to share a client success story of how my client set goals to convince her boss she was ready for a promotion, the plan we put together for her ,and how you can apply the same to convince your boss that you’re ready for your promotion.

I chose this topic because having your boss has support for internal promotions is so critical it can sometimes be challenging to secure, especially as an introvert.

Even if you’re looking for a promotion on to another team, chances are your boss will be asked for their opinion of your readiness for that promotion.

And as introverts most of us hate to brag, and self-promotion just feels gross, which is why I’m so excited to share this success story.

When she came to me, this individual was really frustrated because she was ready for more senior work, but her boss didn’t think she could be concise enough in her communication for the role she was targeting.

In addition to her boss’ feedback, hiring managers for the business analyst role she was targeting kept telling her that they needed to see project experience and it was a classic chicken and egg situation with trying to get that experience.

Through our coaching sessions, we set three clear goals for her.

First, find a way to show her boss that she could communicate concisely. This was instead of trying to just convince her with her influence or making a case.

Second, obviously, she had to pick up some project experience. And we wanted to do this in a meaningful way.

And then third, get exposure to people who could influence her boss and also show them that she was able to do the job. This was so she could have advocates speak on her behalf and influence as well.

The plan I created her for her was super simple: offer to take meeting minutes at project meetings.

This one task would allow her to meet all three of her goals. First, through her meeting minutes, she was able to show her boss that she can be concise, even when complex discussions are involved. Second, well, I think she’s gonna get that project experience. And then third, by offering to help project managers, she could be seen as someone dedicated to her career path.

And if she targeted the right projects, she could also get visibility with senior leadership who could influence her boss.

Because this plan didn’t require any real action from her boss, it was almost impossible for her boss not to support it. She was also committed to keeping up with her regularly assigned work and working unpaid overtime if required to do both.

Now, I am not usually a supporter of working for free, but we did carefully weighed this option against doing external external volunteer work or getting training outside of work hours this we thought was a much more effective strategy.

So by clearly identifying goals creating a simple and effective strategy and just following through with her plan, she was able to get that promotion.

Since then, she has been promoted to project manager and now manages one of the company’s most challenging project portfolios. So how can you apply the same to convince your boss that you’re ready for promotion?

First, set very specific goals that target any objections gaps or needs that your boss things are important, even if you disagree with them. This is key because what you want to do isn’t actually to change their mind about what’s important, but to change their mind about whether you have whatever skill or experience or whatever they think is important.

Second, think of the different ways you can accomplish these goals. Brainstorm the options and give priority to the options that can meet many or all of your goals. Remember that your energy as an introvert is limited, so spend it wisely.

And then third, fine-tune your plan by removing anything that your boss needs to do. This is important because you should have their support to go through with your plan and they are most likely to agree to it if they don’t need to do anything.

Okay, that’s it for now.

Next week join me for a conversation with Samir Lal about volunteering mentoring and coaching.

And if you want help coming up with an ironclad plan to convince your boss that you’re ready for promotion, book a free Discovery call with me to find out how a single coaching session can get you that promotion.

I’ll drop the link for you in the show notes.

See you next time.