You won’t land a promotion if you think this way

One of the most common reasons people contact me for 1:1 coaching is to help them get a promotion.

I can immediately gauge from our first conversation how serious they are, based on the amount of time they have dedicated to working with me before pursuing their next big opportunity. For example, if I get a call from someone who is applying for a job or going for an interview that week, I usually have to say no and wish them well. Whereas someone who contacts me months or even a year in advance of applying for a more senior role will almost definitely hear a yes!

This is because (after many years as an executive coach) I’ve found that there are distinct differences between people who give little thought to applying for a promotion, and those who genuinely want to understand:

• what the work at a more senior level entails
• how it is different from what they are doing now
• what they need to do to close any skills gaps between the two.

I opt to work with the latter, because experience has shown me that a promotion is never ‘just a promotion’. Moving from one executive level to another is serious business, and there are often mental roadblocks that people must overcome before they’re ready to not only land the role, but do it well.

Overcoming promotion challenges

To be promoted, you must know how to “promote” yourself. No one is going to place you in a very significant role if they don’t have confidence in you – and their confidence is based entirely on your confidence in yourself.

This doesn’t just mean feeling good about your capabilities. It means having a cohesive, logical, authentic, and impressive leadership narrative that communicates exactly why you’re the right fit for the role.  

Building this narrative takes work and requires deep reflection. Through this reflection (or if it’s clear the person has an aversion to self-reflection), we’re able to uncover roadblocks that will hinder their chances at a promotion. These generally present as comments like:

• “I’m good at getting things done and managing my team, but I wouldn’t say I’m anything special.”
• “I’m already managing a lot; isn’t a promotion just more of that?”
• “I may be doing good work, but I’m just doing my job.”
• “I don’t have relationships with senior leaders so I don’t know how things work at that level.”
• “But saying that feels like bragging.”
• “I don’t need to reflect. I just need to write my application.”
• “I’d rather not ask for feedback. It might be more negative than I expect.” 
• “I was told to do it that way, or that quickly.”
• “I don’t have time to sit around reflecting. I’m too busy delivering.”

Each one of these tells me that our coaching work needs to overcome a limited perspective or understanding that is crucial for senior leadership. Dedicating time to work through these is really important, and it’s why my track record for ultimately helping a client secure their promotion is very strong.

Coaching = insight

What we are actually doing through this type of coaching is developing insight. My clients come to me with a wealth of experience, yet they can’t explain what they know with any clarity or cohesion. They may even have tried for a promotion before, and been left frustrated by the fact that others can’t see the value in what they could offer at a more senior level.  

Communicating your value requires translating your experience into wisdom and insight. You need to demonstrate how you lead as opposed to what you produce.

Once you can do this, answering questions like these is very easy:

• What are your unique leadership strengths? How do they align with the role you are aspiring to?
• How do your past achievements demonstrate that you can achieve broader organisational goals?

If you would struggle to answer these questions with clarity and confidence now, I invite you to consider joining us for the next Leadership Strategies Series.

Over the 32+ hours of collaborative learning that the series offers, participants will have access to all the tools for self-discovery to gain the insight needed to build a cohesive, logical, authentic, and impressive leadership narrative. A narrative that makes sense of and harmonises all the scattered pieces of their experience, and paints a compelling picture of future achievements.

The Autumn in-person Leadership Strategies Series kicks off Tuesday 6 May 2025, or you may wish to register for the online series which starts a week later. You’ll find all the details here: Leadership Strategies Series.

Whether you join us or not, don’t leave your preparation for a promotion until the last minute. Ask the deep questions, use self-reflection to gain insight, and invest in building your personal leadership narrative. Once you do this, and do it right, you won’t have to reach for that next big career milestone – you’ll simply walk right into it. 

If you have questions about the Leadership Strategies Series or 1:1 coaching, please book a discovery call.