Practical solutions for asking for a more senior role

Do you remember Jenga? That game with the wooden blocks stacked in sets of 3 into a tall tower. You and your friend take turns carefully teasing out each block one by one to place on top, stacking the tower higher and higher. Until… a slight imbalance or mischosen removal and CRASH! BANG! BOOM! - the whole thing comes toppling down, wooden blocks everywhere and your dreams of victory destroyed.

Well, lovely, your career is NOT like Jenga.

We often talk about climbing the corporate ladder when it comes to our careers. Taking step after step in the right direction, usually up, occasionally sideways. We build a foundation and lay down levels of experience to reach ever-dizzying heights through promotions. Much like Jenga.

But sometimes the tower isn’t being built fast enough; you’re ready to climb but your friend (boss) is taking their time. It might be up to you to reset the rules of the game and carve your own path higher faster. But it might take a little courage and a lot of confidence.

Try these easy solutions to build the confidence to ask for a more senior role:

Map and rate your transferable skills

Transferable skills are the skills you can use in any job, any company, any industry, any country. And the more of them you have, the more employable you are and the wider the opportunities can be for you. Map the skills for the promotion you want and rate how competent and confident you are in them. If you’re rating 7 out of 10 on more than half, go for the promotion! I actually provide detailed instructions on this rating activity in my Intro to Change Management webinar. 

Tell people about your ambitions

Most people keep their dreams to themselves for fear of being laughed at, being seen as too greedy, or having others who feel threatened turn against them. But when you don’t tell anyone the next level role you want, then no one can advocate for you when conversations are happening behind closed doors. Trust me - on a work trip, I joked with a colleague once that I’d like to live and work in Brisbane so I could try all the amazing restaurants, and a few weeks after my Head of Change came to ask me if I’d be interested in a role that was opening up in Brisbane. You might get tapped on the should for the role or just a heads up to apply if people actually know you’re ready to move up so if you can trust your leader, colleagues, HR, friends or family with your ambitions, speak out. 

Remember there’s no minimum wait time

I got told early in my career that I had to “do my time” - some colleagues had to wait 5 years to be eligible for leadership. Yes, I had to “do my time” - but only in that company according to the rules of their game! I swapped companies, industries and professions, and within 2 years was leading change on a massive project. There are actually no rules about how long you need to wait before going for a promotion. Not 6 months, 12 months, 2 years, 3 years, and definitely not 4 years. and you can totally accelerate however fast you want.

Remember strategic sideways moves do count

Sometimes, it’s good to question whether you want to keep climbing the same path. Moving to another team or project that has more influence, visibility and worthiness in the company can also be a great step up. You might feel it’s a sideways move, but if you can show more scale, complexity, or variety it can be a great rung in your ladder to jump 1-2 steps super quickly. And you can always get a pay rise on a sideways move!

Remember you might be better than more senior people

Have you ever noticed that there can be some people in really senior roles who are terrible at their jobs and everyone knows it? Whether because they’ve been there longer, are great influencers, or have just been lucky for not being held accountable, if you know that you are smarter, savvier and more passionate than them, then remind yourself that you absolutely can step up, too! 

Seniority isn’t based on intelligence, it’s based on confidence. It's not about time, it's not about title, and it's not about the work you do. It's the confidence you have inside, the energy you convey to others, and the success you bring to the lives of the leaders and teams you work with.

What if you could own your own career and confidently carve your own path to your next promotion and climb your tower in record time?

That's exactly what I'm sharing in my free “Underpaid and Overlooked Confidence Workshop”. We’re right in the middle of it with our live “Earn Your Worth” session held via Zoom tomorrow Wednesday 15 February 6.00pm AEDT (Sydney time). If you’ve registered, the Zoom link details are in your calendar and on your exclusive Workshop Page.

CLICK HERE to register for my Underpaid and Overlooked Confidence Workshop and join me live tomorrow

And don’t worry if you can’t join us live, a replay recording of the live session will be available for a limited time… but only to those who register!

Lata xx