Opportunity Doesn’t Always Knock

ImpactDevelopment

Mar 8

One of the most important decisions a company makes is who they select to fill their leadership positions. However, according to Gallup, they fail to choose the candidate with the right talent for the job 82% of the time. The truth is, these decisions are made on unproven methods that rarely yield good results.

I met Katie about seven years ago during a focus group meeting, she stood out immediately as someone who was a smart, creative thinker with great ideas. At the time, Katie was an individual contributor who was a high performer with an interest in becoming a leader. Fast forward to today, Katie is now in a front line leadership role and consistently identified as a high performer with high potential by her company. She has been passed over for several higher level positions and no action has been taken to put her into a more challenging role. She is frustrated, questions the competence of those promoted and hired from outside the company, often angry, and doesn't see a path forward.

I imagine Katie's situation resonates with many of you. You know you are ready and want to broaden your responsibilities to make a greater impact, but you feel stuck in your role. You might even see others being promoted into positions for reasons you cannot understand. Or, external hires which clearly sends the message that there is no one internal that is qualified. You have been a dedicated, strong advocate for your company and are passionate about what you do but, the messages you are receiving are completely mixed and it continues to get harder and harder to stay positive.

What are your options? It is difficult to stay positive and engaged when you find yourself in this situation. Here's the thing, you might not have control over getting promoted or selected for a role with more responsibility but, you do have control over how you react to your situation. Here are some of your options:

Suffer, be a victim to it - stay in your role and continue to find examples of unjust that support your position. Focus on collecting all the examples of poor leadership and bad decisions. I know this is an easy one to fall into, it's not healthy, and I personally don't recommend it.

Accept it - stay in your role, accept it as a great opportunity, and focus your energy on your team and creating the best environment possible - just like the slogan of the US Army, be all that you can be!

Alter you experience - focus on growing your skills in your current position and find external areas of expanded responsibilities, like volunteering to do projects for non-profit organizations, joining a board of a non-profit, or taking on a leadership role with a professional organization.

Change the situation - don't wait to be promoted, being tapped on the shoulder only happens to a select few. Everyone else has to put themselves completely out there by being vocal about what they want, advocating for themselves, and going after the jobs they want - even when it is outside their current employer.

Coaching Tips:

Identify what you want and how you are going to get there:

Where do you want to be in 3 to 5 years? Be very clear and specific - what responsibilities, what industry, how many direct reports, how big of a budget will you manage, what will be your span of control, what about compensation? Write it down, list it out.
Where are you today? Conduct an honest evaluation of where your skills and strengths are today - what feedback have you received, what are you really good at, what do you most enjoy, when do you get stressed, what pushes your buttons, when are you lost in moment?
What are you willing to do? Consider everything that might get in your way and determine what you are willing to do to move forward - Are you willing to relocate, change companies, change industries, take a step back to move forward, work more hours, learn a new skill, build a network of new people, ask for what you want?

By getting very clear in these three areas, you will be able to build a plan and identify specific actions you can take (things within your control) to stay focused on getting the job you want.