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Getting That Big Promotion

By Dennis McCafferty on 2010-07-22


Hiring senior executives from within the enterprise is an art that few companies have truly mastered. Even at companies committed to talent development, aspirants to top management often find career guidance that is vague and contradictory. In such an environment, those employees who figure out the unspoken pathways to success are the ones who end up with the most senior-level roles, says an upcoming book, "The Unwritten Rules: The 6 Skills You Need to Get Promoted to the Executive Level" by John Beeson (Jossey-Bass, October 2010). Beeson, a consultant and a former top executive at Harbridge House, Frito-Lay and Hallmark Cards, says the inadequate development system imposes real costs on both employers and would-be executives. Yet familiar career-development tools like annual performance reviews focus too much on the present and the immediate past to offer helpful blueprints for future advancement. That leaves some promising candidates in a holding pattern and pushes others out the door.
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Half of Outside Hires Fail


As much as 50 percent of new hires from outside the organization at mid-level management and above fail within the first two years.

What These Failures Cost Organizations


1. Hard dollars — expense, time spent recruiting from outside the organization.
2. Soft dollars – slowing the career growth of upward-aspiring managers within the organization.
3. Helping your competitors – Loss of talent to other organizations.

Why Annual Reviews Do Not Help


Organizations often focus on whether the person being reviewed is performing his or her current job well. They lack a concrete blueprint as to how to advance within the company.

Break The Code


Useful, concrete direction from senior execs requires going beyond vague "code phrases".

Lost In Translation


What management says: You need to be a "more impactful team player"
What management means: You need to improve your influence and persuasion and develop collaborative problem-solving skills.

Strategic Thinker + High Achiever = Winner


1. Establish a steady set of priorities for your team, instead of dispatching them to chase the "initiative of the day."
2. Anticipate and respond to market trends – before the C-suite spots them – that contribute to measurable success.
3. Get involved in cross-functional projects that integrate you and your abilities within a multi-departmental playing field.

Team Builders Are Top-Exec Material


What stops team development from happening? Managers who cannot detach themselves from the team to allow success to happen.

Micromanagers Don't Make The C-Suite


Senior management will conclude that you will be overwhelmed at higher levels of responsibility.

Stop The Micromanagement Madness
Be clear with your team about objectives big and small. Set hard time tables. Then step away.

Break The Micromanagement Cycle


Entrust your high performing team members to carry out oversight roles; resist the temptation to keep all these roles for yourself.

Focus On Priorities


Establish performance metrics that focus on priorities. Acknowledge measured successes and reward the employee behaviors that you have prioritized.

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