Just A Guy Thing

With the economy tanking, you need to be thinking proactively about not only keeping your job, but moving up the corporate ladder. Company layoffs can actually be opportunities to take on more responsibility, get noticed, and get that big promotion you’ve been eyeing.

You can do all this without becoming “that guy”. You know who I mean – the Dwight Shrute of the office. The guy who’s always sucking up to the boss, putting in face time, and generally being the office pain in the neck.

Here are six strategies to get promoted without turning into a jerk:

1. Create opportunities for yourself. Studies have shown that getting promoted has less to do with who’s the right person for the job than with who’s in the right place at the right time. Finding these opportunities for advancement often depends on your relationships within the company. Volunteer to work on groups that cut across functional boundaries. Is there a task force to get a new product to market that brings together marketing, sales, and product folks? Get on that task force! You’ll get to know more people in the company and see where opportunities for promotion may lie.

2. Create your own job. Most companies these days have flexible, dynamic work environments. Clear lines of responsibility are now blurred and often upper management doesn’t recognize or can’t define what a new job requirement should be. If you see the need for a new position and your skills match, then take the initiative and propose it. You don’t have much to lose.

3. Don’t stress about performance appraisals. We’re not saying you should slack off on the job – far from it. But approach performance appraisals as an opportunity to develop a closer relationship with your boss and get feedback on what roadblocks may stand in the way of advancement. Getting a five star performance rating every quarter is not as effective in moving you up the ladder as showing your boss that you are flexible and can overcome obstacles.

4. Observe what works. Each company is different and has its own way of handling promotions. Study the career paths of those managers that are two or three rungs above you on the ladder – how did they get there? What was their path? You may observe that getting to upper management requires broad cross-functional knowledge. If so, may need to go sideways for awhile and take jobs that fill in your knowledge gaps before you can move up. Use your observations on others paths to success as a road map for your own career advancement.

5. Sell yourself, but let someone else do it. We said you get could ahead without become a jerk, and here’s where it comes together. Going around showing off how great you are really doesn’t cut it and makes your co-workers rightfully resent you. A better strategy is to form a mentoring relationship with someone in upper management who can spread the good word about you instead. Now be aware that many managers have no interest in becoming a mentor, so you may have to look outside your group for help. But once you find someone who you have a genuine connection with, make sure you keep them informed about your successes. Promotions often occur when managers talk to each other, so make sure you’ll be the one who’s mentioned.

6. Get results. Probably the one surefire way to get promoted is also the most obvious: produce real, measurable results. If you’re a salesman, exceed the quarterly sales goal consistently. If you’re a product manager, carefully track everything you can about the product and make sure all indicators are pointing in the right direction. The more you can show how your work is directly tied to the company’s profitability, the better your chances of advancement will be. No matter what the industry, all companies reward those that add to the bottom line.