with greg layton

The Inner Chief is for leaders, professionals and small business owners who want to accelerate their career and growth. Our guest chiefs and gurus share powerful stories and strategies so you can have more purpose, influence and impact in your career.

Listen on

G’day Chiefs,

Today we’re going to discuss a formula that can enable you to get promoted faster. This might be something that you want to consider yourself or it might be about somebody in your team or even someone you're mentoring who is a bit stuck in their career and not sure of the next move. So what I've got here is a formula that will help you understand when or if you should be promoted and how to be promoted faster.

Every chief should know that in order to get ahead, you need the ability to add measurable value. However, what will get you there much faster is your entourage. These are the people around you and they are either your ambassadors or detractors.

Promotion Speed Formula
Now let’s analyse each element in turn.

Track record

There is nothing in this world more magnetic to an employer or business owner than someone with a bulletproof track record. I've interviewed more than 100 CEOs for the podcast and met with another probably 300 in my career. Every single one of them is looking for someone that can do the job that can get results and someone who can measurably add value to the business.

In your current job, if you're getting no results and you're getting nowhere, they start to think in their heads that you probably have gone as far as you can go. There’s an old saying, “People get promoted to the level beyond their ability.” That's what they are thinking, even though you've potentially got the ability to go further.

However, if you are laying down a track record, ie. the numbers are better, the service levels are better, you deliver projects on time and under budget, it says to the people above you that you're good at your job and, significantly, you're actually ready and capable for a promotion.

Entourage

There are five elements to entourage:

  • Board, Executive team, and your boss
  • Your peers – these are the people at the same level in the organisation as you
  • External trusted advisors
  • Direct reports
  • Home

Firstly, there is a reason why the formula is to the power of your entourage and not merely multiplied by. If each of the people more senior than you in the organisation know that you have a wonderful track record, they will have trust in you, and they become ambassadors for you.

However, if you have detractors, they will tell bad stories about you and focus only on the negative. We also know that people are seven times more likely to tell a bad story than a good story.

If your ambassadors are promoting you and telling the world that you're wonderful and that you've got a great track record, that you're trustworthy, then every single one of those people is telling their entire network they think that you could be really good to work for.

If those people are detractors, they will either tell a bad story or they do nothing. And when it comes time for an opportunity in the business, they're not looking your way. So you might be good at your job, but if you're leaving a trail of destruction behind you, all of a sudden the track record loses power.

So, entourage – whether good or bad for you – is to the power of your track record.

And why is home on the list? Well, if you’ve got a wonderful track record at work, and your home is not supporting the work you’re doing, it’s going to be harder to get promoted because it's a drain on energy. You're going to look tired and stressed and not look like you’re ready for action. However, when they’ve got your back, it's a team effort and there's this incredible supportive energy behind you.

Finally, your entourage is the people that would gladly come to you and share their secrets and come to you for advice. But perhaps more importantly, if you have a solid track record, they will come to you when things need to get done, and that is when you’re able to rise above the flock and be a stand-out candidate for a promotion.

Stay epic,
Greg