Why new tech managers should care about getting people promoted, even those that hate it.
It’s not about promotion. It’s about high performing teams.
As a new tech manager you should care deeply about getting people promoted, even those that hate it, so that you can build a high performing team. 👇
“I’ll go for promo next cycle”
“I’m too busy”
“I haven’t prepared”
“Everyone wants my feedback”
“It’s all corporate bull-$#!+”
Yes and yes and yes, AND you NEED to get people promoted!
Why?
BECAUSE when you get promoted… 👇
1) You access better resources
When you get into the next level you will…
đź‘Ť access new peer groups
đź‘Ť generate more visibility
đź‘Ť have a bigger platform
đź‘Ť be closer to influencers + budgets
…which you can leverage to help everyone (team/project/product) succeed
2) You help others get promoted
💡 there’s not enough cash to promote everyone every cycle
💡 when you stack rank top, people below can’t get promoted
đź’ˇ at the next level you get to sponsor/support people below you
Your team need you to get promo because it helps all of them.
3) You get paid for your level of contribution
đź’° when nobody goes for promo the budget shrinks
đź’° it inspires others higher performance
4) It creates more success potential for the team
đź‘Ą recruiting into the team becomes easier
đź‘Ą the team get more visibility
đź‘Ą the team gets more headcount so can expand impact
5) It helps build trust + safety
❤️ as a manager you have open performance conversations
❤️ people trust you are managing low performance so that doesn’t become an issue
❤️ you need to ensure fair representation by supporting and inviting people to go up who may not do so.
6) Nobody gets left behind
♣️ when you focus on it you make sure everyone gets your attention, even more important for those who hang back to be lifted(see 2)
♣️ org success increasingly requires cognitive diversity. As manager you need to be looking out for bias and helping raise all strong candidates
I’m not saying promotion trumps business goals.
I’m am saying giving attention to promotions is part of building a high performing team.
A rising tide lifts all boats.
