Ask These Four Questions To Determine If You're Ready For Promotion
January 1, 2018
Have you been in your current management position for a few years? Then you might be thinking of moving up, especially if you ultimately aspire to a leadership position within your company. However, before talking to your supervisor about a possible promotion, it’s advisable to first perform a self-assessment to determine if you’re really ready. Ask yourself the following four questions:
- Do you perform your current job with ease? If you routinely perform all of your responsibilities with great ease, it means you’ve reached a plateau. You’ll need more challenging work in order to grow professionally.
- Do you contribute highly creative solutions? Sometimes, it’s good to do things the way they’ve always been done. However, there are always instances where this approach isn’t sufficient. If you often come up with innovative solutions that work, then you clearly possess both a good knowledge of your organization’s operations and needs, as well as the creative thinking required to solve new problems.
- Do you assume more responsibility than your position requires? According to the Forbes Coaches Council article “Eight Signs It’s Time to Promote an Employee,” someone’s ready for promotion when they’re already doing work at the next level. If you’re habitually looking ahead and assuming responsibilities that make your supervisor’s job easier while simultaneously advancing the company’s goals, then you’re demonstrating to your boss and yourself that you’re able and willing do the work a promotion requires.
- Do you know how your specific strengths will contribute to the organization’s growth? Your company invests a lot of effort and money in its managers and leaders. That’s why you need to possess insights into how a promotion will allow you to better put your strengths to work for the organization. This involves having an in-depth understanding of the company’s objectives, its skills needs, and your own unique strengths. For example, let’s say your company needs to increase sales in order to make it grow. Under your leadership, your team improved sales by 15 percent in the past 12 months. Clearly, you have an ability to create effective, high-level sales strategies; plus you’re able to coach your sales teams in how to execute those strategies. This is a valuable skill that can help your organization grow in the long term, so you need to emphasize it.
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