6 reasons your boss won't promote you

Thanks to everyone who has thrown in their thoughts over the last couple of days.

Obviously the "strangle" reference is a metaphor as was already pointed out and should not be taken literally. It does refer to the level of frustration that any manager can clearly relate to.

Kip pointed out the purpose of the YouTube reference, and correctly distinguished a perception that anyone in the digital space working as a brand marketer can relate to. We're often working on the cutting edge with fun "toys" in the space as well as utilizing things as marketing or communication tools that most others use as a purely social activity such as YouTube, Facebook, or Twitter.

First, I know Sean and I don't think anyone in his office will be strangling anyone anytime soon, so let's not get caught up in the vernacular.

Want to get promoted? Ask. Take control. If you sit back and think that hard work, staying late, et al is the way then you will surely be set up for dissapointment.

The YouTube reference was a little weak, though. But I get what you are saying...for those of us in the digital/interactive arena, others in the org don't understand when they see us on Facebook or playing around with an iPod Touch in the office (but they still expect us to be experts in those areas).

hi dear sean cheyney, well much appreciated,

Satheeis Neelakandan
Senior Marketing Executive
Sri Lanka Rupavahini Cprporation.
www.rupavahini.lk

Oh, one more very important point, Ms. Shecter, i believe you taking the strangling language a bit out of context. I think if you've never been that frustrated, then you've never worked for a large (great than 30 people) organization. It appears to me as well that you're not such an OOTB thinker. You can either be a "me too" type of person or one that's willing to take calculated risks. I'd much rather work with and have those that work for me not do what everyone else does and the only way you do this is to occasionally see what's going on in the outside world. I wish you the best however, I think you might need it.

Sean, again you hit the nail on the head! I personally feel it goes beyond a simple promotion, but why many people don't exceed in business all together. The part regarding perception is reality is spot on. This is something everyone; individual contributors, managers and executives fail to communicate up and down. I think this all begins with the alignment towards a common goal. If the team is aligned to a common set of goals AND performance is measured along the way, then what and how you communicate will be that much clearer.

Mr. Cheyeny, well said. Understanding the limitations of the amount of depth you could go into in this short article, while you do suffer from some over-generalizations, your point is spot on.

Lori, I think you may be missing the point --- I don't think Mr. Cheyney in fact wants to, or actually strangles co-workers. However, using the phrase as a metaphor for the frustration and disappointment with some colleagues is pretty appropriate. As for writing a whitepaper on viral video, I would agree that it is probably a solid career move. In this job market, with most employers cutting back and looking for ways to get by without promotions, raises, new hires, etc., all employees have to go the extra step (or two) to achieve their goals of growing in their job responsibilities and compensation.

Additionally Lori, I think he pretty clearly states that it is on the manager to identify what he/she wants and talks throughout the piece on communication being critical.

I think Mr. Cheyney has done a good job of identifying some ideas an employee can utilize to help themselves in a very difficult economy/job market to achieve in the work place and as a manager I can attest to many of these things figuring in to our annual reviews/promotions/responsibilities. While obviously it should be on on the employer/manager to layout a path to success for each employee, along with the tools necessary, any employee that wants to succeed needs to step up and take on responsibility for themselves as Mr. Cheyney has identified.

Sorry, it sounds to me like Mr. Cheyney has been the victim of really bad management or that he's a bad manager himself. Anyone who has a manager who wants to strangle him, in my opinion should friggin' LEAVE THAT COMPANY. And the reverse is, If you want your team to report to give them the format you want to have status updates in. If you have a problem with either your subordinate, or vica versa, open our yous mouf and SAY SOMETHING. That is why we've got them. If you or your boss are at the strangling stage, you need therapy, not better communication. . Lastly, if a peek at a YOU TUBE video during work hours means you need to write a White Paper on Viral Video, that is a lot bigger problem and brings us back to LEAVE THAT COMPANY.

Much appreciated focus in this issue, Sean.

There are a lot of visible successes, especially in an agency envrionment. The vast majority of them are difficult to detect and are often associated with critical components of larger initiatives without which, the visible portion (e.g. aware winning campaign) would not have seen the light of day. The many individuals behind the scenes are often overlooked.

For more on this topic, see my and Dustin Hoffman's thoughts in his role as Stanely Motts, the producer in Wag the Dog:

http://pm2pm.blogspot.com/2008/12/project-management-there-is-no-evidence.html

Related to the "Paradox of Excellence" is a notion that I've observed, which is the Curse of Competence. I first learned about this as a teacher. My reward for doing a great job with a tough class was to get a class stacked with the biggest group of misfits, thus doubling the challenge. Often high performers are given the tough assigments. Just keeping it out of the fire is a major accomplishment and takes more skill and talent than managing a sweetheart assignment with great numbers.