Many people seem to live under the false impression that promotions are given. No, my dear, no one is going to walk up to you and say, “Hey, you know what? You’ve been a great employee. You’re promoted!” That sort of thing just doesn’t happen in the real world. It’s more likely that no one notices how good you are, than they noticing and promoting you for it. Time and time again I’ve heard people complain about how they do much more work than their colleagues in their respective fields (either that, or doing it better), and complaining that more incompetent people have been promoted while they have stayed in the same position for years at a time.

What I tend to ask in such situations is, “Why should your boss promote you if you’re his best worker?” After the initial blank stare, they usually come to the realization, after a few seconds, that there is no reason to be promoted – they are the best. If you’re the best, why would someone want to promote you. If, for example, you’re making more cups than anyone else (I’m drinking coffee right now so that came to mind), why would your boss lose your productivity in the field, instead of keeping you there to make sure that enough produce is released? It doesn’t make sense from a business perspective.

Instead, he is going to promote someone who seems more incompetent than you, but has a much better understanding of how things work in your business – someone who has managerial potential. That makes much more sense, doesn’t it? I’m here to help you become that particular individual in the hopes that you will be able to take that promotion!

Learn something new about the business every day

This is the first and possibly most crucial step. If you only know how to make cups, why someone promote you? You know how to make cups, you don’t know how to run the business. This is what you need to learn – how to run the business. You need to acquire as much information as possible about how exactly the cups are sold, from where you make them, to transportation, to where they meet the customers. You need to think about some problems that might be met along the way and how to solve them. If you show this kind of initiative, you will be essentially telling your boss that you’re not a mere grunt who just does what he’s told, but you’re actually a valuable asset to the company.

You want to be a problem solver

Have you noticed how the quiet type who keeps to himself never gets promoted? This caused by the fact that people barely know he exists. He just does his job and keeps a low profile and even though he never bother anyone, he is always the last to be invited to parties, and he is not even on the list to be promoted. If you want to have a shot going up the ladder, you need to be a problem solver. Being a manager is about responsibility. If you show enough initiative and problem solving skills, you will be well on your way to management. But not so fast, as there is one milestone you should definitely go through.

You need the respect of your peers

You can’t be a good manager if people don’t respect you. That’s why you need to make sure that your peers generally speak highly of you and recognize that you would be a good manager. Of course, if that actually happens, no one will like it very much, but that’s how the business world operates and sadly, that’s the way to go. Make sure you meet all three of the criteria, and that promotion will almost surely be yours.

source: Ngcareers