BECOMING PROMOTABLE

by: Lincoln Bittner

Do you feel you are ready to move into management? Before you can receive a promotion, you must appear promotable to your supervisor. Here are some of the key elements reviewed by management when they are selecting managers.

Managers Must Have Maturity

Sometimes we think of a mature person as someone who has gray hair and wears a gray suit. This is not maturity, but age. Maturity is the ability to make decisions that will affect the company’s future in a non-emotional way. The lack of maturity holds more people back than does any other factor.

When you are working in your current position you must demonstrate the ability to make decisions that are clearly based solely on profitability. Everyone will know of your friendships in the company, and will be expecting you to make decisions based on these relationships. Your record of making decisions that are the best for the company, regardless of these relationships will go a long way to making you promotable.

Managers Take Action

If you want the job, do the job. How can you learn the responsibilities of the job you want to assume while continuing to perform the duties of the job you already have? Time management plays a big role in this area.

You know what you need to accomplish any given day, and you usually know this the night before. So get a game plan put together the night before. This will help you focus, and will allow you to recognize when you have time to learn the duties of the job you want to assume.

The person who gets promoted is the one who is the most help to his supervisor. When your supervisor is asked for a recommendation, you will come to mind because she believes you are organized and capable of handling greater responsibility. The reality is that she feels this way because you are always around when she needs you. If you manage your time properly, you will be available when your supervisor needs help. You then can watch what your supervisor does, and gain some insight into her job duties.

You may need to study on your own to be able to accomplish the tasks that she is doing, such as preparing a budget, using a computer program, or managing an inventory. Being around her will allow you to gain insight into how she makes decisions, and how she accomplishes tasks or uses programs.

Managers Build Solid Relationships

Working closely with someone as a peer allows you to become very familiar with this employee on a personal level, and he in turn becomes very familiar with you. This familiarity can lead to many problems when you are the one being promoted. The old saying, “familiarity breeds contempt” carries more importance in the business world than anywhere else.

Remember that managers cannot afford to make friends in business, but rather make allies. If the person who did not get promoted feels that you were ‘friends’, then he is going to expect you to continue to treat him as a ‘friend’ and not as a subordinate. If you have to counsel him, or even reprimand him, he will feel betrayed and the quality or quantity of work will be affected. This will reflect directly on you and will be a determining factor when you are being considered for another promotion.

A skilled manager is someone who can remain friendly but impersonal. Never discuss anything of a personal nature, but rather stay with casual conversation, such as sports, current events, or non-personal hobbies.

It's okay to attend group activities outside of the workplace, but don't allow yourself to be involved in one-on-one activities. These one-on-one settings, however much fun they can be, can be the breeding grounds for a problem in your later career.

Managers Must Have Creativity

Managers are always looking for new ideas. The ability to suggest sound ideas is a great asset to any company. A good suggestion or idea shows that you are in tune with the goals and direction of the company. Top managers are those people with the entrepreneurial spirit who have shared their talent with the company.

This does not mean that you should just throw out ideas whenever you meet with management. Carefully placed ideas, given in a group setting, is the key to promotability. You give these ideas where there are witnesses so that there is no mistaking where the idea came from. A reality of the workplace today is that if you don’t time your delivery properly, your supervisor may get promoted because of your idea, and you will not even be recognized as the author.

Appearance Matters in Management

The old adage “dress the part” applies as much in business as it does in acting. The decision maker in your company needs to be able to see you as a manager. You are responsible for making them see you this way, and the best way to do this is to maintain a neat appearance. Ratty blue jeans and a tee-shirt are not the attire of most managers. Watch what the managers are wearing in the department that you want to be promoted into, and start dressing like them. Don’t make it a dramatic change, but over the course of a few weeks slowly add the pieces to your wardrobe that will make you look like you fit the part. Even if your job requires blue-collar style work clothes, keep them especially neat. Pay attention to your grooming.

If you can master these keys to promotion, the decision makers in your company will see you as someone who is promotable. This will not be easy, and will require a great deal of practice, but the results will be worth the effort. Always be looking ahead to the next level of employment. The possibilities are endless, and managers appreciate someone with a vision for the ‘big picture’ that this will create.