Jun 26 You Need to Stop Dreaming and Start Achieving Powerful Promotions
Early in my career at Federated Department Stores it was my dream to lead large teams. But then my bosses told me that I was an introvert, and that I did not possess a leadership personality. They said I should focus my energy and talent elsewhere. You can imagine how devastated that made me feel. But even as a child I was never a quitter, so boy, did I show them! Before long I earned a rapid stream of promotions. Within record time, I was part of the top leadership deck…a young woman serving as a senior leader within a prestigious Fortune 100 company.
So how did I do it? First I cried and ate way too much ice cream for a few weeks. Then I questioned my own dreams. I made up my mind that instead of just daydreaming about success I was going to roll up my sleeves and do whatever it took to make myself more promotable. Yes, of course I still had grand dreams. But now I also had a determined plan, a practical roadmap, and a set of actionable strategies. The key was development of the three main pillars to success: 1) mindset mastery, 2) leadership brand, and 3) leadership presence. I used that 3-part approach to get promoted not just once, but over and over again. Then I used it to launch my own consulting company, and help thousands of corporate leaders apply the same formula to experience faster career acceleration.
Many leaders want to get promoted but they aren’t doing the work to market and position themselves. It’s a dream, and we all need inspiring dreams. But you must take decisive action to make it actually happen. That’s why, several years ago, I coined the phrase Predictable Promotion™ and formalized my proprietary Predictable Promotion™ System into a methodology I can share with the corporate world. There are many building-block steps to my Predictable Promotion™ methodology. But they are based on the three key pillars of success.
1) MINDSET Formula: Strengthen + Reframe = Mindset Mastery
What you believe colors the lens of your perceptions of what is possible, and where the opportunities are. But without managing that lens, which can impact your self-identity and your powerful subconscious mind, you have no control over it. To realize your full potential or snag that next Predictable Promotion™ you need to first visualize that it’s possible and you’re worthy of it.
Reframe your obstacles with a solution-oriented mindset. Change the script of your internal voice to a supportive, positive one. Practice resiliency and poise under pressure, which gives you powerful gravitas. Remember that negative self-beliefs will sabotage your promotion from an unconscious level. You become your worst competitor.
To strengthen your mindset, acknowledge those negative thoughts. Then challenge them by recognizing that you have unique value. Visualize your best self, and act on that internal identity. Studies show that when you work on your mindset daily – no matter what problems come your way – you’ll have great confidence and energy, continuing to see the possibilities in what others deem impossible.
2) Leadership Brand Formula: Discover Your DNA + Change Other’s Perceptions = Strong Brand
Your leadership brand should be as unique as your own DNA. Discover your uniqueness and the genuine value that you bring to the organization and to the people around you. Seize every developmental opportunity to grow, expand, and flourish as a well-rounded leader. As you strengthen yourself from within, how people perceive you on the outside will automatically change.
Unfortunately, your team, boss, and peers may not see your leadership brand the same way that you do. So I work with my clients to complete a qualitative 360 assessment, which gives them real feedback around how their leadership is perceived. A long time ago in my career I learned that what really matters is how you manage other people’s perceptions, as a 24/7 leadership brand asset.
That’s how you build a strong, original brand that broadcasts itself every time you enter the room or interact with others. Your brand will be alive, and dynamic. Your DNA will exude the qualities that every organization or team wants in a capable leader.
3) Leadership Presence Formula: Character DNA + Influential Communication = Charismatic Presence
Leadership presence is more than how you look. It’s an energy that comes from inside yourself, when you’re aligned with your own core values and those of your organization. That’s how you build success DNA as part of your leadership character. You’ll begin to infect others with that kind of powerful DNA, too.
Once it spreads from you to your team, and to other teams and departments, the whole organizational DNA becomes stronger, healthier, and more collaboration and innovative. It’s about believing in yourself and then influencing others so that they, too, believe in you. Do that and they’ll start to get the results that make them also believe in themselves.
A leader who commands that kind of positive, persuasive influence is truly magnetic, charismatic, and worthy of Predictable Promotions. Decision makers will seek you out to ask you to consider a promotion. That’s when those hard-earned next-level opportunities for greater success and responsibility come knocking on your door.
Put it to Work & Grow Your Career
You’ve got to see yourself differently, through a new lens, in order to get yourself positioned, prepared, and poised for your own Predictable Promotion™. I’d love to hear what special challenges you face regarding your next promotion. Think about them, and then please let me know!
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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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