Jul 12 The Key to Predictable Promotion™: Attitude + Latitude = Magnitude
I hear many doomsday declarations about how promotion is impossible in today’s economy. But that’s not actually true because I see people, including many of my own clients, getting some great promotions.
I use the algebra of attitude plus latitude equals magnitude as a simple success formula. Here are some reasons why that equation works, despite the harsh economy or fierce competition:
#1 Attitude
- Our mindset is the key to everything we do, because the way we think becomes the way we are. How we see the world, in other words, has a great deal to do with how our world is constructed.
- Oftentimes the biggest and most chronic obstacles to career success are psychological, internalized barriers or negative chatter inside the mind.
- But it is also important to constantly celebrate our accomplishments and talents – and that requires a job that resonates with us on a meaningful, satisfying, sustainable level.
#2 Latitude
- Look at latitude markings on a map of the globe, and you’ll see visual clues to predictable promotion. Latitude measures vertical degrees ranging from south to north. But the latitudinal lines run laterally, not up and down.
- In the same way, career acceleration often involves strategic lateral moves in order to move vertically up the ladder. These days many people make lateral moves, for example, in order to gain a more robust understanding of every facet of this organization.
- This prepares you for vertical progress to higher positions of leadership, responsibility, and power. That, in turn, makes you a more attractive asset to companies wanting to invest in you ongoing career development.
#3 Magnitude
- If you have a healthy attitude and accept positions that ensure lifelong learning, new challenges, and experience beyond your comfort zone then you’ll never be bored or burned-out.
- You’ll develop a more panoramic vision of your organization, your industry, and your overall career goals. That’s a kind of magnitude that cannot be easily quantified and measured in dollars or prestigious titles. But it is equally valuable.
- You enjoy greater work/life balance and a sense of satisfaction that you are leaving behind a worthwhile legacy. At the same time you become more marketable as a capable, multi-dimensional, self-motivated leader.
By what yardstick do you measure success, and how do those values resonate and synchronize with the image and brand your company wants to project? I’d love to hear from you!
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Sarah Hathorn, CEO of Hathorn Consulting Group, is the go-to-expert in working with leaders and companies to create successful corporate DNA. As an executive coach, consultant and speaker she collaborates globally with clients and brands such as Deloitte, McKesson, Kimberly-Clark, Sherwin-Williams, Home Depot and other leading organizations.
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