5 Steps to Get Your Next Promotion at Work!
About this video
Jeff Su says, by his account, he earned his fourth promotion in eight years, but argues managers did most of the work while employees can still influence the outcome. He outlines five steps. First, build a macro-micro roadmap: macro is when you do things, micro is what you do — for example, spend six months learning the core job and another six over-delivering before seeking visibility work like mentoring or presenting to senior leaders, because asking too early lacks credibility and too late misses the cycle. Second, manage up and across by building relationships with a mentor one level ahead, a diagonal peer at your manager’s level, and your manager’s manager, who can become advocates in reviews. Third, be direct with your manager about promotion goals to surface skill gaps early, then ask for assignments that close them. Fourth, play the game and keep score: know both business OKRs and company attributes you are measured on, benchmark quantifiable results against team or regional averages, and track attributes quarterly in your 1:1 document with supporting projects and advocates. Fifth, be the master of one boring, unsexy area nobody else wants — in his examples, onboarding videos for backend systems in sales and drafting contracts and purchase orders in marketing — to stand out with senior leaders.
Key takeaways
- Use a macro-micro roadmap: sequence learning and over-delivering before visibility work and promotion asks
- Build advocates: a mentor one level up, a diagonal peer, and your manager’s manager
- Ask directly about promotion to identify skill gaps early and request assignments to close them
- Track both business OKRs and company attributes, benchmarking numbers against team averages
- Own one boring, unwanted specialty to become known for a clear strength
Episode details: published December 6, 2022 · 6:26 long. Summary written by Self Growth Videos from the episode itself. Business results and any income figures mentioned are Jeff Su’s own claims, shared for education — they are not typical or guaranteed.
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