Inside Promotions

To get a promotion, four things must be true:

The division or squad must have a position that it needs filled.
You must be capable of filling that position.
You must be the best person for that position.
You must express interest and willingness to take the responsibility with the new position.

You cannot get promoted into a position that does not exist! - Don't ask to be promoted to Captain if the squad doesn't need a new Captain right now. It immediately marks you as someone who wants a promotion for the sake of it vs. showing a true understanding of how you can help your squad/division. This is why you want to be a part of a dynamic, growing squad or division. Those are the ones that generate new opportunities.

Promotions are not about longevity - Yes, there are time requirements in TRT in order to be eligible for a promotion, and yes, it usually helps, but don’t believe that putting in your time automatically makes you the best person for the open position. Or even that seniority rule is relevant to what your leaders are looking for when searching for the next candidate for a promotion.

It is not enough to just be qualified. You need to be the most qualified among other candidates for the position. Think of your squad/division as a sports team. Being able to kick a 30-yard field goal, and having been on the team already may make you qualified to play varsity, but you’ll still lose out to the newer person who can kick 50-yarders and is training every day. Be the guy on the team who can kick 50-yarders.

A promotion is a change of job description. You don’t get a promotion then get to sit around pretty with a new title. You go into a new position, and that adds new responsibility. You are still responsible for all prior duties, but being promoted adds more duties to that list. Do you know what that position entails? Are you training and preparing to do it?

Promotions are about the future, not the past. They are about putting the best person into an open position starting *today*, not a reward for a job well done in the past. Don't be blinded by the fact that you were a large contributor at one time to your squad/division's success and expect that success will carry you through more promotions. EACH PROMOTION IS BASED ON HOW GOOD YOU WERE AT THE JOB YOU WERE DOING AT THAT TIME AND HOW YOU WILL BENEFIT THE ORGANIZATION IN THE FUTURE!

Focus on *being* good, not about *convincing people* that you are good. Understand the job you want. Talk to the people who have it. Read, learn, and study. Look for projects that let you exercise those skills. By the time a position opens up, you should have firm evidence that you are ready, as your results will speak for themselves.

You don’t become a leader by being promoted. You get promoted because you are a leader don’t sit in the corner lobbing pot shots at your clueless ranking leaders then act bitter when you don’t get invited to join them. Understand TRT's projects and priorities and work to make them successful. Approach problems the way your leaders should. Lead from your current position. Don’t try to convince yourself that once you get promoted you’ll lead.

You must cross over into the dark side when you take a leadership promotion, you simply can’t do some of the things that you used to do. Your team of supporters changes. Be ready to handle intense situations. Make hard decisions. Get ready to constructively explain to other people why they are not getting promoted. Be ready to inspire, motivate, evaluate, plan, instruct, LEAD!!! Don’t want to do those things? Then why do you want a promotion?

Much of what is dismissed as politics is simply part of the job description - Being a good communicator. Being visible; Being helpful; Building relationships; You can’t be a leader without doing those things. Many folks make the mistake thinking people change upon promotion. Usually it's not that the person changes, it's that the responsibilities change. Being diplomatic comes with being a leader, and being in charge. Are you capable of being diplomatic in situations?

Stop obsessing about politics - Yes they exist and you need to be aware of them, but treat them as the exception, not the rule. Yes, you may lose a promotion because of what you perceive as politics but if it keeps happening to you again and again, you are the problem, not politics. Does Tiger Woods stop practicing because 5% of his shots take unlucky bounces? No, he trains like hell for the other 95%.

If your organization is really so truly dysfunctional that you believe none of these apply, quit - Why do you want to work there anyway? You can't be a part of something and be an effective leader, if you don't believe that what you are doing is going to make a difference.