As a high-achieving female corporate executive, today’s topic should be one you are very familiar with: promotion. No doubt you have been promoted multiple times throughout your career and you are either about to move into the executive ranks or you have done so in the past year.
Now let’s get honest with each other for a second.
Because we have experienced it, we believe we have a good understanding of what promotion is; the advancement of our careers. Right?
Promotion is the progression of our compensation and title to match our professional growth and contribution.
Now, I don’t know about you, but when I was on the promotion pathway, I didn’t feel like I was doing a lot of growing. Or, at least a lot of growth that would help me perform well in the future. Yes, I was growing into the person I needed to be for my current role or my “job” at the time; however, I wasn’t growing my executive leadership skillsets.
What about you?
As is common in most operational positions, I got promoted because I did my current job exceptionally well. Similar to you, I researched, I created execution plans, I executed, I followed up, and I kept raising the bar. It didn’t matter the project, the size of the team, or the business focus, these were the steps that when done properly and consistently, lead to my promotions time and time again.
The rule is: perform in your current job to keep advancing.
Advancing was my focus. I wanted to get out of the trenches and into the driver’s seat. I watched other leaders in their executive roles. They strolled into meetings, asked hard questions, gave directions, and went on with their day.
That sounded like a dream! I wanted to be promoted to that. I wanted my life to be easier.
I thought the only way to get there was to earn it. So “earn it” is what I did.
Does this sound familiar?
Are you focused on the concept of “earning it?”
Know this, with your focus on promotion and “earning it” combined with the company’s primary desire of getting maximum value out of you and getting results, no one is going to intentionally prepare you for the executive role.
If you’re not asking for the preparation and prioritizing it, you’re not going to get it.
When we are focused solely on promotion, we are focusing on our “jobs” not our careers.
To get what we want, we must be able to execute our jobs and prepare for our careers.
Today I want you to think about where you are in your career. Are you a new executive or do you want to be?
How do you shift from promotion to preparation?
What key aspects of professional growth must you experience to create your executive brand?
Listen in next week to learn more about the preparation aspect of this process. Download the workbook and answer some of these critical questions.
And if you’re ready to take action and prepare, either before your promotion or after, let me invite you to join the next group of women participating in The Executive Way program here at Legend Leaders.
Email us at info@legendleaders.com to schedule a call!
Be Legendary!