Episode 17 Want to get promotion - Here's how...

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Welcome to Unstuck and Unstoppable,

the podcast for ambitious female

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leaders who want to create more impact,

income, and influence in their careers.

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feel connected to their passion

and purpose, but without

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selling out or burning out.

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I'm Sarah Archer, a leadership coach

and career strategist, helping women

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like you thrive in leadership roles

while staying true to your values.

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I'm the founder of CareerTree

Coaching and have over 15 years of

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coaching experience and significant HR

leadership experience to share with you.

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I know as a female leader it can

be hard to find time to focus

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on your career aspirations.

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The day job can be all consuming.

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Plus, no matter how senior you are,

there are always going to be times

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when you feel stuck, when you have

self doubt, or feel like an imposter.

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And that's where unstuck

and unstoppable comes in.

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Each week I'll be sharing practical

strategies, insightful interviews and

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inspiring stories to help you boost

your confidence, lead with purpose

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and achieve sustainable success.

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If you're ready to stop playing

small and unlock the incredible

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potential you have within you and feel

unstoppable, you're in the right place.

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Let's get started.

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Welcome to episode 17 and today's topic is

a big one so I'm really glad you're here.

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Today we're talking about what

you need to do to get promotion.

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I'm going to run through some

ideas for you about how you can

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make that more of a certainty.

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If this year , you set yourself a career

goal to get promotion either internally

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or get to that next level externally

then these are some things you can

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think about to put in place this year.

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Obviously it depends on your

timeframe to make that happen.

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First of all, how do you know

you're ready for promotion?

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Maybe you are feeling bored, maybe

there's no challenge or stretch

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left in your role, and OK, I

could do this standing on my head.

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Maybe you're bumping up against your

boss, so you're noticing, you're

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thinking I wouldn't have made that

decision, or I know as much as my

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boss knows on this particular topic.

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You just feel like you're

bumping up against them.

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Or you find you're being asked to

act up into a more senior role,

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or you know you're ready for a new

challenge, you've achieved everything

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you want to in your current role.

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Or you find yourself thinking about

wider challenges, you're thinking

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more about the organizational

wide challenges rather than your

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department or your team's challenges.

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So you're starting to think

on that bigger scale.

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But you might have a bit of self doubt

going on because it often kicks in,

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doesn't it, when we're thinking about

stepping out of our comfort zone.

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And you might find yourself

thinking actually, am I ready?

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Can I do that next level role?

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Can I do the strategic piece?

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That all seems to be a

stumbling block with people.

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Am I strategic enough?

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Am I a visionary?

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And also that question around,

is it the right thing for me?

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Just because you can go that next

level doesn't mean that you,

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it is going to be right for you.

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I'm working with a client at the

moment Her boss has left, she's a

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head of department and the director

has left and she's being encouraged

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to apply for that director role.

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But she's come to the conclusion,

quite bravely, that actually that

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isn't the right thing for her.

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She's often thought that role

would be a complete nightmare.

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But it's made her realise that she

needs to find a more senior role,

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but not in her current organisation.

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Having those reflective moments to

think is that next level I can see in

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my current organization the right thing

for me, or is there something else in

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the organization, or is it externally

that I'm going to have to make that move.

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If that self doubt is kicking in, we don't

want it to grow roots and stop you or hold

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you back in moving forward in your career.

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So it is about, engaging with your

inner coach and reminding yourself of

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all the great things you bring to your

current role and why you're good enough.

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Imagine that you are thinking yes, this

is the right thing for me and I'm managing

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my inner critic Let's think about how

to then prepare to get your promotion.

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First of all would be to do a

gap analysis what does that

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next level role require of me?

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And what are the gaps

in terms of my skill?

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or experience.

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How would I rate myself around, say,

influencing or that strategic piece

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or people management or stakeholder

relationships, thinking about the

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elements of that next role and where

am I and what do I need to do to get

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that experience to be a credible.

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candidate for that role, whether

it's internal or external, and

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then having to think about how

you're going to plug those gaps.

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The second thing would

be to start scanning.

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And what I mean by that is looking

for opportunities to lead or to

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get the stretch that would help

you plug some of those gaps.

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That might be about taking on a project.

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It might be about volunteering

to do a presentation to a client

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or to SLT, just looking for those

opportunities to get that opportunity.

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some of that more leadership experience.

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And also thinking about what

opportunities are there for me to

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show that I'm already operating

at that level, at that next level.

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Because if you're really

ready, then you will already

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be operating at a higher level.

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So looking for ways.

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and opportunities where you can

show that to your organisation.

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The third thing, and these are not

in any particular order, these are

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just ideas for you to think about,

is to increase your self awareness.

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You probably know yourself quite well

already, but it's really thinking,

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okay, what are my key strengths?

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What am I bringing that I know

is going to be really valuable?

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in this next role.

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And also knowing your value

and knowing your worth.

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Okay.

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Because, you might have a great line

manager who's really supportive,

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but you might have a line manager

who can't see your potential and

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doesn't think you're ready for that

next level role, even if you do.

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And it's important for you to

recognize when you're ready,

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because it might be that rather than

waiting until that manager thinks

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you're ready, you're going to go.

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to a different organization

where they can see your potential

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and what you are bringing.

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If you've been in your organization

quite a long time, maybe you've moved

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up through the organization, it can be

harder for people to see that you are

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able to step up into that next level role.

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But knowing it yourself will help you

navigate that and make some decisions

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about what's going to be right for you.

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Then the next step would

be to be proactive.

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And that's about again, how you want

to be viewed in the organisation.

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Everybody wants a problem

solver in their organisation.

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People who get things done.

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Making sure that you are seen as

that can do person who gets on and

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solves those problems, whether they're

team, departmental or organisational,

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that you are showing that you are

thinking differently and bringing

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your unique way of approaching

things to different organizational

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challenges or team challenges.

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And also being seen as a positive

influence in the organization.

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You're not somebody who goes and

moans at the water cooler, that

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you're actually setting the tone

in your team, in your department

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around that , let's look at this.

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differently.

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Let's be positive about what

we can do, what we can't do.

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Let's navigate some of those

organizational challenges.

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And obviously while you're doing

this, you can be actually recognizing

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can I be that positive influence?

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Is the culture of the organization one

that actually at the moment morale is

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really low, everyone's feeling negative.

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It's quite a lot of energy and hard

work to be that positive influence

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because that might be giving you

information about actually maybe I need

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to be moving up, but also moving out.

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While you're doing all this preparation,

it'll help you make a decision about

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whether it's right to stay or time to go.

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And also you could be proactive

at thinking about getting a mentor

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if you don't have one, or thinking

about your personal board, in your

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career, and that's about having

different people in your career

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who can help you in different ways.

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Having a mentor is one way, but it could

be about having a sponsor, or a connector,

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or a cheerleader, or a door opener.

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Thinking about what you need,

and engaging with that person

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to help you in your career.

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Which brings me onto my next point,

which is all about building relationships.

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Hopefully you've got good relationships

already, but it might be being more

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strategic in those relationships.

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The first one and the most important

one, if you're thinking about

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promotion is with your line manager.

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Thinking about having a

career conversation with them.

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So not tagging onto the end of a

one to one, but having a separate

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conversation where you are talking

about your aspirations, talking

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about what you want, getting their

input, getting their feedback getting

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their buy in, because they are

going to have to be your champion.

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If we're talking about, promotion,

they're going to be the one who's

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going to be talking about you but

it's also important to have a good

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relationship with your manager's manager.

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So if, say your boss is a director who

puts into the C suite or a C suite member

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and puts into the CEO, you want to be

making sure your manager's manager knows

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you and, you're having conversations with

them, your talking about the business

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with them, you're engaging with them.

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Because they are going to be part

of the decision making process

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when it comes to promotion.

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And also being aware of who

else is a decision maker in

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this organization around.

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this area around promotions, and that

might be HR, so it might be also,

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building a relationship with them.

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And making sure you've got

those good relationships.

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And if you haven't got those good

relationships, thinking about how

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you're going to navigate that,

who else you can get on side.

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And then the next thing, which a lot

of people really struggle with, is

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getting comfortable with self promotion.

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And particularly women, we tend to feel

like we don't want to be seen as arrogant,

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we don't want to blow our own trumpet, but

actually it's really necessary throughout

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your career, not just when you're

thinking about going for promotion, but

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to practice getting really comfortable

talking about your achievements and your

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team's achievements, because that's an

important part of being a leader as well.

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But not just talking about what

you've achieved, but also talking

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about the challenges and the

complexity of what you've achieved.

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Because sometimes we just

go yes, we've done that.

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And, that's ticked off.

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We, we're onto the next thing now.

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But what I want you to imagine

is if you're your boss.

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Has two direct reports who

could be up for promotion.

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Let's set the scene like that.

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And you are the direct report

who goes, yeah, we did that.

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We're onto the next thing

in our strategic plan now.

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This is what we're working

on, blah, blah, blah.

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And then the other person who's their

direct report, who's, potential candidate

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for Motion two talks about what they've

achieved, but also talks about we had

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this particular challenge and what we

did with that is we did this and this.

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And actually it was quite complex

because the client wanted X or Y.

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And so what I had to do was go and

renegotiate this and deal with that.

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So the line manager hearing both

of those things might go well.

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The first direct report has it easy.

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They just get on and they've done

it and they haven't really had

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to deal with any difficulties.

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Whereas direct report number two

actually is super skilled because

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they've had to navigate all these

challenges and, put these things in

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place and actually perhaps they're the

better candidate for this next level

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role, so it is thinking about not just.

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What you've done, but how you've done it

and if you're going to go external to

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get to that next level That's going to

be key in terms of your interview prep as

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well So it's all good stuff to be thinking

about doing on a regular basis and the

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self promotion piece can feel hard But it

is super important and you can position

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it as I'm giving other people inspiration

that I've managed to achieve things.

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I'm giving them information

about how I've done things.

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So it's actually not me blowing

my trumpet and being arrogant.

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It's helping other people

in the business too.

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The next thing would be to think about

doing some research in your industry.

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Knowing what's going on in your industry.

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not in terms of your specialism,

because obviously that's important,

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but in terms of the market.

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Who's recruiting?

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Who's promoting, your peers in

other organizations so they can

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keep and retain their talent?

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What's the pay rates that are

going for those next level jobs?

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So that you are really informed about.

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why your organizations should

promote you to retain you.

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And when you're having those

paid discussions, what actually

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the market rate should be.

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And because you're bringing so much

more value, actually why they should

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be paying you above the market rate.

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Keeping up to date with that we'll

be really helpful at you feeling.

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you know your worth and also

what you want to negotiate on.

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And then the last thing to factor in

would be to think about your timing.

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, sometimes you can't have an impact on

the timing because if your director

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or your CMOs, CCOs, whatever has left

and you're going to go for their job,

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it's going to be a recruitment process.

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There are opportunities to get

promoted within your band . It's

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thinking about the timing.

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If you've just delivered a great piece of

work for them, that may be, about bringing

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in a new client delivering something

on time that meant that, the business.

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retained that client, or, you've

implemented something that's going

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to have a lot of efficiencies and

save the business money, or you've

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done a great job on something, or

you contributed to the team winning

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an award, whatever it might be, that

is a good time to be then really

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pushing that agenda around promotion.

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And also thinking about

where the company is.

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If the company is buoyant, that's

a great time to be pushing for it.

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But if the message is coming out of the

company is things are a bit difficult

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at the moment, business is down we

need to be, making more efficiencies,

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then that's not a good time to be

pushing your agenda around promotion.

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So thinking about your timing.

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I know I've run through a lot of things

there for you to think about, but it

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is about putting this foundational

work in place so that you are in a

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good position to get what you want,

whether that's internally or externally.

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All of these things can be useful

for an external move as well.

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Just to run through it, recognizing

when you're ready for that

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next level and then preparing.

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Doing that gap analysis, doing some

Scanning for opportunities increasing

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your self awareness so you really know

your strengths, you know your value,

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being proactive about how you want to

be seen in the organisation and who

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you want to get on your side, building

those relationships, getting comfortable

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with self promotion, that is the key

piece I would say doing your research

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so you know what's happening in the

market and thinking about your timing.

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I hope that's given you

some food for thought.

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This is something I work on with my

clients around this advancement strategy.

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So if that's something that you

want some help with because you

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want to make this happen this year,

then, do get in touch with me.

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I'm really happy to have a

chat with you about that.

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Thank you so much for listening

to this episode of the Unstuck

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and Unstoppable podcast.

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I have lots of free resources you

can access on my website, ww.career

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tree coaching.co

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uk, and I'll also put

links in the show notes.

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If you found this episode

helpful, then please subscribe

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so you don't miss the next one.

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And please do share it with a

friend and leave me a review

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and I will personally thank you.

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Remember, you're capable of more

than you know, shine brightly.

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Lead boldly and unlock the

extraordinary potential within you.

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Be unstoppable.