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When we make a promise to ourselves we are creating a statement about what we want to achieve - our dreams and goals.
When we see tempting career advancements and want to do something about them, the promises we make won’t guarantee we’ll get them.
In fact, less than a third of the promises we make work out.
The following statistics show how unsuccessful making promises are:
We only keep a disappointing 28% of our promises
Of those, 12% will be changed because they’re just too hard
We can’t seem to maintain our promises for a year with a huge 60% of them being dropped.
So, what is stopping us from fulfilling our promises?
Our habits are stopping us from making our promises become a reality. More importantly, they are the leading factors affecting career development in mid-level managers.
We don’t have to be slaves to our habits. We can make positive changes which will have a significant impact on our lives.
By following the three steps outlined below and meeting our habits head on we can triple our chances of meeting tempting career advancements.
Think about how you could get that promotion you desire. You could create an ambitious idea to impress your boss. You might plan to bring in results; bigger and better than before. And you do this with heightened optimism, renewed zeal and boundless energy. All this because you truly hope that you will get that promotion. However, you never quite get there. Factors affecting career development in mid-level managers are situated deep down and are stopping you from fulfilling your great plans.
Our habits let us down.
It is always more difficult to keep the promises that we make to ourselves. We often don’t realize that it is our habits which are holding us back. We actually hide behind them when things start to get tough.
We do it all the time, and sometimes without knowing.
Imagine you want to lose weight for an important event like a wedding or graduation. You fill your cupboards with healthy food and throw out all the junk food. And for a few days or maybe weeks, you are strict and keep your promise to only eat healthy.
However, things go awry when someone brings a cake into work. You quickly fall back into the habit of eating unhealthy food. Did you know your habits actually control 40% of what you do each and every day? Almost half of what you do is controlled by habits which are holding you back from achieving your goals.
So, what’s the best way to stop those habits interfering with the promises you make?
Determination.
Determination is the one thing that will make sure you are honest with yourself. You will need to practice and nurture your determination to overcome your habits.
Here are 3 steps you can take that are guaranteed to increase the likelihood of you keeping your promises threefold.
Step 1 – Visualize success and reach for it
Sit down during a quiet moment in your day and visualize what your life will be like when you get your new promotion. The best times are first thing in the morning and last thing at night. You could even practice visualizing your goals while riding public transport or over lunch.
Imagine - what will your new office look like? What will you wear? How will others speak to you? The more you see these images the more your brain will believe they are possible. You will be creating your own reality before it actually happens. This develops and strengthens your determination to succeed. It may seem too easy to be true, but visualization is an important part of determination. Have you ever spoken to someone who you considered to be determined and asked them how they see their goals?
Step 2: Failure is not an Option
This famous quote - Failure is not an Option - comes from the NASA Flight Director, Gene Kranz. If you become fixed on your goals you will succeed. If you want a promotion and decide that nothing less will do then failure is simply not an option. The last thing you should consider is accepting second best or falling back on a Plan B.
Many people may visualize what they want, but they always undermine it with Plan B’s. You may hear them say things like:
If I don’t get promoted I’ll go back to school and study
If they don’t promote me, I’ll find a better job
I’ll leave this company if I don’t get the promotion I want.
Having a Plan B may seem logical and practical, but it can undermine and weaken your determination. You should never consider it because you shouldn’t take your eyes off the prize – that promotion you want and deserve. You need to make sure nothing else matters.
Step 3: Nothing worthwhile in life is free
You are not going to achieve your goals without any sacrifices. When you want something really badly you are going to have to give up something else to get it. Nothing in life is free and there are no free lunches either.
If you need to take time to create a compelling presentation, you’ll need to cut your lunch time down. You may also have to stay back instead of heading home for the weekend. You may even have to get up and get to the gym so you are mentally and physical prepared for the new promotion.
Strengthening and developing your determination means making the sorts of choices that will ensure your goals become a reality.
Start today and increase your chances of promotion by 300%
And always remember:
Great managers are made. Not born.
You’ve delivered results. You’ve gotten great feedback. You’ve excelled at management courses. And everyone in the company respects you. Talk about how to measure success at work! But, alas, you’ve just been passed up for a promotion. How could this be? And what can you do about it?
Priority #1: Find out exactly why you were rejected.
It’s pretty simple. Without knowing exactly why you were rejected, you’re likely to continue making the same mistakes...and heading for another rejection the next time around. By the way, my assumption is that you’ve been doing your best all along in all forms of how to measure success at work - and that you genuinely don’t know why you didn’t get this last one. But here’s the kicker: whatever it is that you’ve been been doing will probably lead you down Rejection Lane once again. I know what you’re thinking: “I can’t be that out of tune with myself.” But you are. It wasn’t just tough luck or bad karma this time. There’s definitely something else lurking around that’s keeping you from being promoted. And it’s your job to find out what it is.
Like most managers, you might think you know why you were rejected. But you don’t.
Again, I know what you’re thinking. You don’t need me to tell you why you were rejected. Your boss has already taken care of that. Let me guess. It went like this: your boss encouraged you with phrases such as, “keep making an effort” or “just try a bit harder…”, right? Or maybe you got some lukewarm feedback, such as “management feels you might be too…” I’m not criticizing your boss here. Don’t forget that things aren’t easy for them either. Delivering bad news is hard for any boss and the last thing they’re going to do is pile on more bad news in the form of hardcore criticism. So to try to balance out the somber atmosphere a bit, bosses often offer encouragement and perhaps some general feedback...but not much at all to actually help you.
So, as you leave your boss’s office, here’s the bottom line: you’ve been rejected and you don’t really know exactly why. And this is detrimental to your next promotion opportunity. Why? Because you have zero information that will actually help you achieve it.
Let’s summarize what you should know so far, so that you can get that next promotion.
1. You’re definitely doing something that’s preventing you from being promoted.
2. You keep doing this because you’re actually unaware that it’s your very own promotion killer.
Find the promotion killer. Here’s how to do it:
1. Schedule a meeting with your boss at least a week after the rejection meeting (more on this below).
2. Between now and the meeting, fill in this quick questionnaire. You’ll receive a short report revealing the reasons behind your rejection. (Go ahead, do it now.)
3. Armed with the report, prepare yourself for the meeting with your boss so that this time, you’ll get the information you need to get that next promotion. (I’ll explain how to do this later).
If you haven’t answered the questionnaire by now and received the report, do so immediately, as the report will help you prepare for the meeting. The report is key, as it will provide you with a reflection of yourself as others haven’t or won’t tell you. Think of it as the proverbial “fly on the wall” in a room where others begin talking about you as you close the door on your way out. Accessing this fly on the wall information will provide the most valuable insight regarding why you’ve been rejected. You’ll use this information later to help your manager open up and reveal the promotion killer.
I’ll illustrate this with an example:
Let’s say that you’re a real team player. You’re great at bringing team members on board and fostering commitment to any project you’re in charge of. Upper management is well aware of your talent and you’ve received both formal and informal recognition for it over the years.
But here’s the flip side to this talent. Because bringing everyone on board is so important to you, you’re willing to take a bit longer than usual to finalize decisions. Of course, you know what you’re doing, but others around you might be interpreting this holding pattern as a sign of unnecessary hesitancy or a lack of self confidence. Unbeknownst to you, you begin “earning” the reputation of someone who can’t handle complicated decisions - the ones that would be required if you were to be promoted.
With this kind of fly on the wall insight, you could, for example, pose the following question to your boss: Does my insistence on bringing everyone on board before making critical decisions make me seem like I’m hesitant or lacking in self confidence?
With this kind of question, you’ll be putting the cards on the table - letting your boss know that you’re both on the same wavelength. With this understanding, you’ll finally be able to have an open, honest conversation that will include the specific information you need to improve your chances for promotion next time - i.e. discovering the promotion killer.
I imagine that by now you see just how critical the report is to your career. It’s not only a fly-on-the-wall honest reflection of why you’ve been rejected. It’s the missing link you need to achieve your next promotion.
So if you’ve been rejected this time around, seize this pivotal opportunity and find out why.
Are you looking for career advancement solutions that actually work?
Are you tired of not getting the promotion you deserve?
Here are 7 career advancement solutions to get that promotion that will see you rise in your career.
Before going through these steps, however, it is important that you plan what you are going to do carefully. It is not enough to just think about what you want and hope you can work out how to make it a reality. For maximum effect download this handy planning sheet and complete it with as many details as you.
Step 1
Decide what your dream job is going to be. Include as many details as possible including the title of the job, name or type of organization, your salary, where the job will be located and more.
Step 2
Spend some time each day visualizing yourself in your dream job. Imagine what it will look like. How will you feel? What affect will it have on your home life? Now, write all these things down in great detail.
Step 3
Read out loud what you’ve written in Step 2 twice each day. It is best to do this at the beginning and end of the day so that each detail remains in your mind. Visualizing yourself in your dream job will ensure it becomes a reality.
Step 4
Look at your diary and choose a date for achieving your dream job. This will keep you focused and you won’t be distracted.
Step 5
If you want your dream job you are going to have to make some sacrifices. What are you willing to give up? And what are you not? Getting that dream job is going to take planning and time so you may have to give up dinner with friends or going out on weekends.
Step 6
Work out what other things you need to do to help you reach your dream job. Attach a date to each task so that you remain committed to achieving each one in turn.
Step 7
Choose a date in the future and set that as the day you begin your dream job.
Part of achieving your dream job means working through each step. This will break down what you have to do to succeed logically and practically.
Only you are master of your destiny so make sure your destiny is what you want it to be and you don’t get left behind.
It is important to remember that it is better to spend a lot of time on achieving your dreams. Studies have shown that we use the same amount of energy working towards something we want as we do being disappointed that we didn’t get it in the first place.
To look at this interesting fact further see my post The ONLY secret weapon you’ll need to get promoted. The choice is up to you.
And always remember:
Great managers are made. Not born.
Originally published on Career Experts
Any successful manager knows the hallmark of effective career management: sound planning and initiative. Managers who are serious about climbing the corporate ladder set goals and then charge ahead. (If you’d like a handy format for doing this, here’s one I’ve developed.) But the danger for many managers is not realizing this isn’t enough. One of the most important factors affecting career development is identifying the ripest time for requesting a promotion.
Why is timing so important? When you ask for a promotion, you’re not doing it just for fun. You’re doing it because it’s important that you get that next position. So it’s crucial that you increase your chances as much as you can.
You might be wondering if there really is such a thing as the “right” time to ask for a promotion. Indeed, there is and it is one of the most important factors affecting career development. The right time is after you’ve prepared well for your candidacy. Let me illustrate through an analogy you’re already familiar with.
One bright day, you wake up with a brilliant idea you’d like your department to adopt at the next meeting. You basically have two options:
1. Spring it on everyone at the meeting and hope for the best. After all, you’ve got a good reputation and anything you bring up will probably be considered worthwhile.
2. Prior to the meeting, speak with key stakeholders to get their feedback. In this way, you can fine tune your idea to increase chances of its acceptance at the meeting.
I hope it’s pretty obvious you wouldn’t choose the first option. And you shouldn’t when it comes to asking for a promotion, either.
So why do so many managers actually end up going for the first option when it comes to their career? Ironically, it’s often easier for them to promote ideas they think will benefit the company than it is to promote their own careers. It might be because they feel uncomfortable tooting their own horn or because it might be viewed as pretentious or arrogant. So these managers (falsely) wait for their coworkers’ recommendations...and wait.
Instead, I want to suggest that you approach asking for a promotion more like the second option. Before applying, gather a few key backers and let them know about your plans for promotion and why you think this is a good time. Get their feedback and if needed, fine tune some of the things you do so that you’ll receive their stamp of approval. When you’re ready to finally submit your candidacy, you’ll already have garnered much of the support needed - and your chances of success will have increased greatly.
Of course, there will be decision makers that will be harder to approach, but if you view your promotion as just as mission critical as a game changing idea for your company, it’ll make talking to them easier. And if you need more motivation, consider what’ll be harder to swallow: an uncomfortable conversation or a rejection.
So use the great management skills you already have and begin managing your own career. You have a lot of work to do before you actually ask to climb that next rung up the corporate ladder.
And always remember:
Great managers are made. Not born.
Originally posted on the Noomii Career Blog.
You’ve just missed out on a promotion, yet you’ve still decided to stay on. This would be a wise thing to do if there was still a chance of getting promoted if you remained on this particular corporate development career path, but deep down inside, you know that the odds are close to zilch. So what’s making you stay?
There are many answers to this question, but from my experience, there are two main factors that might keep someone from really understanding their true corporate development career path: habits and fear.
I’ll explain each of these:
It starts and ends with the old saying: “better the devil you know than the devil you don’t.” Even though we’ve just had the letdown of the century, our current workplace is still an old familiar face. As with such familiar faces, we know our company’s good points and its bad ones, too. On top of this, the familiarity gives us a feeling of security and stability. So in the end, rather than entertain moving to a better place, we end up actually convincing ourselves that it’s better to stick with what we already know. If this sounds familiar to you, be aware that it doesn’t come from voice of reason - it comes from the voice of habit. This doesn’t mean that the voice of habit is wrong, but be aware that often the job of habits is to return us to our comfort zone, rather than to encourage us to seek greener pastures when needed.
We all fear change to some degree. Granted, we know the importance of change and even know that success often requires it, yet fear will always be an integral part of change. So when you’re rejected for a promotion (and there’s no redemption in sight), it’s pretty clear you should be viewing this as an excellent opportunity to explore new possibilities. But my experience has shown that the number of managers who “welcome” such change is actually much larger than those who actually implement it. The reason? It’s the lack of uncertainty that change brings. Our fear of uncertainty paralyzes us, preventing us from being able to pursue other career avenues when necessary. If we want to make rational decisions, acknowledging our fear of uncertainty and keeping it abay are key.
Here are some situations where habits and fear could wreak havoc with your career:
Situation 1
You’ve just been rejected for a promotion, but in the same breath, you were told to show patience and expect another promotion opportunity just around the bend. You know logically that this is more than a long shot, but you still hold on to these encouraging words with all of your might. (The fact that you’ve been promised absolutely nothing is irrelevant.) But what’s really happening is that your habits and fear are doing a stellar job at interpreting this consolation as a promise. In turn, you easily conclude not to leave the organization - and to stay stuck in the same rut.
Situation 2
You’ve decided that now’s just not the right time to leave. (BTW, the last time probably wasn’t either, but that’s just a minor point.) The real question is if there is ever a right time to leave. The truth is: there really isn’t. What’s at play here are your habits and fear of leaving. So as soon as you hear yourself saying “it’s not the right time,” know right away that time is most likely not the issue and explore what the real reason might be.
As the title of my post says, habits and fear could wreak havoc with your career. Your goal is to identify when habits and fear might be in your driver’s seat - leading you to a dead end.
And always remember:
Great managers are made. Not born.
Have you been in the same mid-level management job for five years and are you keen to further your corporate development career path?
Are you finding that your friends and colleagues are being promoted over you and are leaving your behind?
It is not uncommon for mid-level managers to become stuck in their career.
If this is you, or you don’t want it to be you, you need to understand what is happening and why you are stuck in your career.
You also need to understand what you can do right now for your own corporate development career path to succeed.
1. The time for excuses is over – Start acting like a senior manager today.
As your skills grew and you notched up some achievements, your company recognized your talents and celebrated your successes. You were promoted to the position you are in now due to this.
However, those in senior positions above you also knew and recognized your flaws. These were tolerated because they knew you would be able to work on them and, hopefully, overcome them.
It’s time now to rid yourself of those problems and rise up and be what it takes to become a senior manager.
In today’s competitive world, candidates for senior positions are scrutinized thoroughly. Those in your company above you do not have the time to compensate for your flaws. There is no room for compromise.
So, to further your corporate development career path, rid yourself of these flaws and ensure you have the qualities, the skills and the drive to be a senior manager.
2. The rules have changed – Are you keeping up with them?
You are where you are today because you have great skills in your chosen profession.
Your corporate development career path blossomed to this point, but now without you knowing the rules have changed.
What defined a professional all those years ago, doesn’t necessarily mean the same thing today.
You need to be more than just good at your job. You need to be skilled in more areas of office and human resource management.
These new managerial skills need to be added to your portfolio and you need to demonstrate them clearly to seniors in your company.
Prove to them that you deserve to be promoted to a senior position and that you have what it takes.
3. Be proactive and shape your corporate career along the path you want
While you are dedicated and striving to do your job to the best of your ability, you need to keep in mind that success is not going to be granted to those who wait.
You’ve been promoted in the past, but there is no guarantee it is going to happen again – well, not unless you make sure it does.
There are a myriad of ways you can shape your corporate development career path.
You can actively seek new clients and show true leadership to junior employees.
You can trim costs down and create a healthier budget. You could also find new ways to share information within your company.
If you want new opportunities, it is up to you – and, you alone.
It’s easy to slip into a comfortable place, but this is not the place from which promotions are granted.
If you are proactive you will be able to develop your corporate development career path along the path you desire.
4. What makes you stand out from your competitors?
There are a lot of other people waiting for those top positions.
If you’ve sat and wondered why others were promoted over you, then you haven’t understood what they have done differently from you in the past.
They made sure they stood out from others and took advantage of opportunities when they arose.
They worked harder and were more competitive.
You need to find out what your unique talents and skills are. Then you need to put these to work so that you stand out.
This is what will get you noticed, and then promoted.
Developing a corporate development career path is not about doing a good job. It’s about doing an excellent job and utilizing your talents and skills so that you stand out from the others.
5. The higher you go, the less opportunities are available – work harder!
It makes sense, doesn’t it? The higher you go in the company, the less senior positions are available.
This shouldn’t deter you from striving to gain one of those positions.
But it does mean you are going to have to work harder than ever before.
If you are serious about your corporate development career path it’s time to step up and prove to the seniors in your company you’ve got what it takes to function well in a higher position.
Spend some time reflecting on what you need to do to be considered for the next promotion.
Develop and practice the skills required so you are not left behind again, but instead step up into the position that you desire and deserve.
It’s up to you to shape and develop your corporate development career path, and you should start today.
Now, you know what you want and, now you know how to achieve it.
The opportunities are there; all you have to do is make sure you become the senior manager your company is looking for today.
And always remember:
Great managers are made. Not born.
You’ve just gotten rejected for a promotion, though everyone was sure it was yours. You’re shocked, disappointed, and embarrassed. With such confusion, there are probably dozens of questions running through your mind right now, including:
How did this happen?
What do I do now? Stay? Leave?
How can I make the best decision?
These are key issues to ponder - and will affect the rest of your career, all part of how to measure success at work. I’ve addressed all of these in previous posts.
But there’s one major question that every manager must grapple with: how should I face my team? This is a legitimate issue. If you’re like most managers, you’re anticipating awkwardness, embarrassment, or even disrespect from team members.
But hold on before you face the music. First, it’s important to analyze what’s just happened. From my experience, there are two scenarios. I’ll start with the worst one.
Scenario 1: You’ve been screwed over.
The person who got the promotion has just about the same qualifications, experience, performance, etc. as you do. In other words, when looking at the factors of how to measure success at work, you lost out on a pretty close race. Yes, some of your team members are going to see you as a big loser, but let me help you put this into perspective. I’ll start with the old axiom, “it’s all in your head.” Team members that had respected you before your rejection will most likely continue to do so. And those who hadn’t will probably carry on in their way as well. But here’s the secret: even if you had gotten the promotion, the team members who didn’t like you would’ve continued in the same way. So at the end of the day, there’s really no difference. What is important, however, is how you frame the rejection vis-a-vis the team. Are you going to approach your team as a loser or a winner? Why is this so important? Because this is what will determine how they relate to you. So it’s really up to you.
My advice? Give yourself a little space before you meet with your team so that you’ll feel and act like a winner. Once you’re back on track, you can take the time to decide whether to stay at or leave your organization.
Scenario 2: The Talent Paradox
The person who got the promotion seems to have come from left field. And you can’t figure out how they’ve somehow ‘out-talented’ you in the race. You’re not only embarrassed but also insulted that the other candidate was even seen as in the same league as you. But here’s the paradox: the more talented you are, the more careful your organization will be about offering you just any old advancement opportunities available. As such, instead of just pushing you up the corporate ladder, the powers that be are actually ensuring that you remain on the career path that will ultimately result in the biggest bang for the buck. So this isn’t a time to wallow in your sorrows. Instead, realize the situation for what it is. You’re being groomed for the next big thing.
My advice: meet with your team and let them know how well your organization is working to ensure that the right opportunities are given to the right people. Say it like a winner and encourage everyone to get back to work. Inside, you’ll know that the corner office is on the horizon.
Final words
Facing your team after being rejected for a promotion takes a great deal of courage. In both scenarios, it’s not easy, but if you give yourself some time to analyze what’s going on, hopefully you’ll be able to carry on with business as usual.
.
And always remember:
Great managers are made. Not born.
So, you are the greatest salesman in your team. You break records and sell like boss. For the last four years, you have been in charge of the sales team, acting as a leader and receiving numerous raises and small promotions. It looks like you are ticking every box on the way to reaching the career goals of a manager, right? No.
It is said that “No great manager or leader ever fell from heaven, its learned not inherited.” This statement is very true, as achieving the career goals of a manager involves more than just hard work and great skills. Often, being the best at your current job means that you are overqualified with one skill, or that you are too valuable to be taken out of your current position.
So how do you prevent this from happening?
Identify where the most profit comes from, as well as how to reduce running costs. If you are able to show senior management that you know and understand that there is a bottom line, it will count in your favour. Helping to identify high profit projects can also be a boost. In other words, show the company that you know how to make money and save money.
Step out of your comfort zone and find out how the logistics, operations and culture works. By doing this, senior management will notice that you are not singularly focused on one position, but that you are interested in the overall running of the company – as a senior manager should be.
Make sure that you understand the senior position you are targeting. This means having a thorough understanding of the skills needed to succeed in the role. Even if this is in your private time, or online courses that you pay for yourself. In the long run, this will speak for itself and add value to your skills as a senior manager.
Lastly, become a real leader. This means not hoarding your talents, and working only for yourself. Share your knowledge and train others in your department to your standards. This will signal that you have management potential, and that you know how important human capital can be to a company. It will also earn the respect of your peers.
So there you have the necessary steps to making a mark in management. Now apply them and watch as your seniors start asking for your input and inviting you to meetings.
And always remember:
Great managers are made. Not born.
You’ve known it’s time to move on to greener pastures, but when you think of the interviews you’ll have to endure, there’s one dreaded question that keeps you shackled to your seat:
Why weren’t you promoted at your current job?
Over the last 35 years, I’ve seen how missing out on productive job promotion interview answers to this question has ruined the careers of many a middle manager. On one hand, it can paralyze otherwise ambitious managers from moving on. On the other hand, managers who come unprepared for this question are destined for the rejection pile. Here’s why:
1. They come out as liars.
Believe it or not, many managers compromise on the truth. In the back of their minds, they’re thinking, “If I tell them that I didn’t get the last promotion at my current job, why would they consider hiring me?” But the problem with not telling the truth is that it shows all over - through the words we use, our intonation, and our body language. And the interviewer is certainly no dummy. They’ll pick up on it right away and will toss you right out of the door.
2. They don’t show self-control.
Some managers, rather than concentrating on productive job promotion interview answers, use this interview as an opportunity to lash out at their company for not promoting them. As such, they spend time putting down their current company. If managers come into the interview charged with anger, even if they consciously try not to bad mouth their company, it’ll still come out. Such managers come off as pretentious and haughty, which of course results in instant rejection.
So instead of missing out on yet another promotion, make sure you internalize these two key points about your own situation:
1. You were rejected for a promotion you thought you deserved. Yes, someone else got your job - but it could’ve been for many different reasons. For example, maybe the other candidate had been at the company for much time and had been waiting longer for this opportunity. Or perhaps the company had other considerations you’ll never even know about or even understand. What’s important to take away is that as soon as you were seen as a suitable candidate, in the end, the consideration of whom to choose wasn’t a matter of good or bad. It was an issue of more suitable for that particular instance. Therefore, the fact that you were actually a final candidate is a testament to your abilities and talents.
2. The company you’re interviewing at is looking for “the perfect candidate.” You might or might not be the one. But there are criteria for the position. And what determines whether you’ll get this job is the match between what the company is looking for and what you bring to the table. That’s it. In fact, there’s probably very little connection with why you were rejected from the last job.
So with this insight, follow these two steps as you prepare and go for your interview:
1. Thoroughly familiarize yourself with the job requirements and then work out which ones you meet and which ones you don’t. Rather than fretting over what’s missing, prepare to highlight the requirements you do meet. Also, take a look beyond the listed requirements. Perhaps there are qualities or experience you bring that would make a valuable contribution to the job? Identify these and make note of them. But please remember: if you find that you neither meet the basic requirements nor can offer any added value, consider rethinking your decision to apply in the first place.
2. If you think you’ve got a fighting chance, prepare a short elevator pitch about yourself that highlights your relevant qualities and experience so that you’ll be ready to tell about them in the interview. Here’s an example: let’s say the company is looking for a candidate with proven experience in complex project management (and you know that complex projects have been an achilles heal for the company). You’d begin your elevator pitch stressing your expertise in managing complex projects, citing relevant experience, such as solving critical bottlenecks or saving key projects from doom. In your elevator pitch, you’d include how you’d been shortlisted as a candidate for a similar position at your previous organization, which you see as a testament to your suitability for this job. However, in the end, since you didn’t get the position and you didn’t see any similar opportunities on the horizon, you decided to move on. Please note the importance of bringing up the fact that you weren’t promoted and to “spin it” as I’ve described above. You don’t want to let your interviewer think you’re hiding any skeletons in your closet.
Finally
Dealing with the embarrassment of having to tell an interviewer about a failure can paralyze the best of us. But if you want to manage your career, you can’t let embarrassment take over. Instead, concentrate on gaining a sound understanding of the job requirements and how you can meet them. This, coupled with true belief in yourself, will give you more than a fighting chance at achieving the job you deserve.
And always remember:
Great managers are made. Not born.
Originally posted on the Noomii Career Blog.
That’s the number one question managers ask themselves after being rejected for promotion. In most cases, the knee-jerk answer is “go” especially if you were sure you had that promotion in the bag.
But this isn’t always the best decision for your corporate development career path. You see, deciding whether to stay or go depends on so many factors. But the point I want to get across now is that you should make this decision while in a rational state of mind.
When you find out you’re not getting promoted (or even anticipating this might be the case), your mind automatically becomes very emotionally charged - almost like having your very own state of emergency.
So it’s no surprise that your knee-jerk reaction is to high-tail it away from the danger zone. And leaving your job might give you the feeling of regaining control - getting back on the saddle, so to speak. But in reality, it’s really just escaping a very unpleasant situation and will be detrimental to your corporate development career path.
Instead, it’s better to face your emotions, as, like it or not, you’re going to encounter what I call the Big Seven. You might experience some stronger than others, but they’ll all be there. So here’s the lineup, not necessarily in this order:
Surprise
Shock
Anger
Disappointment
Frustration
Embarrassment
Helplessness
The worst part of the Big Seven is that you just can’t control them - their appearance, their intensity, and how much they’ll affect your rational decision making.
What you can do is learn to handle them. In general, this means letting them play out without trying to fight them. If you do try to combat them, you’ll find yourself expending a lot more energy on the battle than if you’d just let yourself feel them. Don’t forget that getting rejected for a promotion is a traumatic event. You have all of the legitimacy in the world to experience these feelings. That’s about as natural as natural can get.
Most of the managers I’ve worked with have told me that their feeling of embarrassment is the hardest to handle. Embarrassment can cause you to feel like you want the ground to open wide and swallow you up. But what’s even worse is that embarrassment can cause you to make the worst choices. Such bad decisions are commonly based on what your bosses, subordinates, family and friends might be thinking about you, instead of what’s really good for your career.
I wish I could give you a magic pill that would cause embarrassment to vanish, but there’s just no such thing. What I can do, though, is reassure you that feeling embarrassed is natural. But the real question is what you decide to do with it: allow it to control you or to let it play out and then make your decisions rationally?
I hope it’s clear by now that you shouldn’t make any decisions while feeling embarrassed - or any of the other Big Seven. It’ll just cause further damage, both professionally and probably personally.
Instead, the thing to do is to let yourself feel the Big Seven. Validate your feelings by talking to someone you trust and letting them know how tough things are for you. Or let yourself work through the Big Seven while taking a series of long walks or energizing runs. Maybe acknowledge the Big Seven while reading a good book or meditating. For others, it’s a fancy meal or some good old-fashioned comfort food that does the trick.
When it comes to handling career disappointment, cool-headed, rational decisions are the way to go.
And always remember:
Great managers are made. Not born.
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