Dreaming of advancing in the workplace?
Luckily, there are tons of effective steps you can take to make it happen.
You don’t have to leave workplace advancement to chance, but can take some active steps to reach the position and role of your dreams.
Often, workplace advancement can seem confusing because there are many factors that impact it.
But the truth is that workplace advancement comes down to one thing: what your frame says about you and how it will help you advance.
How Workplace Advancement Works
We’ll dive into what your frame is all about, but let’s first look at how career advancement typically works.
When we talk about workplace advancement, it’s easy to get caught up in everything you’re doing—how you perform, what steps you take, and the conversations you have.
But your career advancement does not exist in a vacuum without any other input. The actions and inactions of other people also impact opportunities for workplace advancement.
Simply put, your workplace advancement opportunities do not exist in a silo. There’s more to it than just your performance and skills.
Factors like networking, being politically savvy, and building social capital also impact getting a promotion. And, unfortunately, factors like nepotism can also still be at play in certain workplaces.
Sometimes you’re selected for a role that isn’t in line with your dreams or goals, but you’re the best person for the role. It might make you feel stuck or disengaged in work—you feel kind of pigeon-holed into somewhere you don’t want to be.
How do you break out? It’s all about how your frame yourself.
How to Rapidly Advance in Your Career
We all frame ourselves in a certain way.
Just think of what you put on your resume—your skills, education, experiences, clubs, and anything else you choose. You make deliberate selections of certain things so that it frames you in a specific way.
And it’s the same with your career.
There are things that you own, skills you have, and opportunities you choose that make you an expert in one area.
But if you don’t want to stay in that area, you need to reframe yourself.
People have to see you differently. To get the role you want, you have to show them that you are ready for that role—they have to see you in it.
Reframing yourself happens by introducing new things to other people. For example, you may want to take on and demonstrate:
- New projects you are taking on
- Leadership initiative
- Recent successes
These things will help your boss see you in a new role because you’re resetting the frame.
It’s not always about doing 100 new things. Often, the best strategy is to communicate with your boss about career promotions. You need a strategy that offers solutions and shows them why you are capable for the role.
Reframing yourself as the right candidate for workplace advancement is a proactive approach—you have to do something new and different where they see you in the role.
Putting your head down and continuing to do the same thing, hoping you’ll be noticed, just won’t cut it. Why? Because hard work isn’t always the best strategy for workplace advancement. You have to take the steps to reframe yourself and build an effective strategy instead.
If you’re ready to make this year your year for workplace advancement, I invite you to join my My Promotion Plan course. It’s specifically designed to help you reframe yourself and build the confidence to have a successful career advancement meeting and reach your goals.
