Doing impactful job that deserves a promotion is not enough to get promoted. That’s a sad truth that I discovered and confirmed over and over through my career and from a lot of people that I’ve mentored, coached, and sponsored.

There are multiple reasons for that. Some of them are:

- Others may not be aware of your work.

- They may be aware but not understand what it takes to deliver those results.

- They may know it but don’t remember it at the promotion time.

- Only your manager knows about your achievements.

- You deliver great value on key initiatives that are perceived as “one-off”. That is, the value doesn’t fit the “typical” checkboxes for promotion.

- Your work has reset the baseline of what people expect from you: You consistently deliver fantastic work, so by doing so in each project, you’re perceived as not doing anything “extraordinary” worth a promotion.

- You are perceived as a “commodity” worker: The business believes you won’t leave.

And there are many more.

Where to begin? Two actions you can start implementing right now to visibilise your great work:

1.- Record your wins - For example, create a “win folder” in your inbox/notebook/laptop to record your achievements, including those that appear “small”. That especially includes positive feedback from customers and colleagues. This information will be invaluable at the annual assessment time.

2.- Socialize your wins – Make aware your manager of your achievements... and everybody else that can support your promotion or may raise an objection about it. That includes your peers and especially other senior leaders in the organisation.

Let me know in the comments how you visibilise your work.

#PromotionMyths #WomenInTech #WomenInBusiness #WomenInLeadership #InclusiveWorkplace