Many professionals wonder how to secure that next promotion without feeling overlooked. Do you often ask yourself, “How to Get Promoted at Work?”
In this episode of the #Career101Podcast, host Porschia and guest Orlando Haynes explore practical strategies to position yourself as the ideal candidate for career advancement.
They discuss how to build a strong professional brand, increase your visibility, and develop leadership skills that set you apart.The conversation also highlights the importance of aligning your personal career goals with your organization’s needs, providing you with a roadmap to take your career to the next level.
Orlando is a seasoned Talent Acquisition professional with 20 years of experience shaping careers and empowering individuals. A three-time published author, he shares insightful perspectives and actionable strategies that resonate with job seekers and professionals at every stage.
Tune in for expert advice on unlocking your potential and learning how to get promoted at work!
What you’ll learn:
- Understand the common reasons why professionals are passed over for promotion and how to address them.
- Learn actionable strategies to position yourself as the ideal candidate for advancement.
- Discover how to enhance your professional brand and increase your visibility within your organization.
- Gain insights on leveraging constructive feedback, networking, and volunteering for high-impact projects.
- Find out practical methods to improve your leadership presence and soft skills to better align with promotion criteria.
- Explore how aligning your career goals with your organization’s objectives can accelerate your upward mobility.
As a thank you for listening to this episode of the Career 101 Podcast, we are sharing our FREE master class – Career 911: Solving the Top 5 Challenges Executives and Professionals Have! It’s a training based on solving the common problems our clients have experienced to reach their goals. You can get access to the master class here!
Resources:
- Episode Transcript
Porschia: Today, we’re tackling a topic that’s top of mind for so many professionals, how to position yourself for promotion at work. If you’re ready to take your career to the next level, it’s not just about doing your job well. It’s about positioning yourself as the obvious choice for the next big opportunity.
Promotions don’t just happen, they’re the result of strategic planning, consistent action, and making [00:01:00] the right impressions on the right people. In this episode, I’m honored to share a conversation I had with Orlando Haynes, host of the Career Talks podcast. He was kind enough to feature me on his show, so you’ll get to hear me answering the questions.
We’re diving into the key areas you need to focus on to land that promotion. Number one, positioning yourself for success. We’ll discuss how to build a professional brand that aligns with leadership’s goals and the company’s vision. Two, mastering impression management. From how you show up and the way you handle challenges.
Every interaction contributes to how others perceive your readiness for the next level. And number three, the power of networking. Building relationships across the organization isn’t just a nice to have. It’s a must for demonstrating your influence and [00:02:00] broadening your opportunities. Orlando is a seasoned talent acquisition professional with a 20 year track record of shaping careers and fostering talent.
I know you’ll enjoy hearing his insights as well. Whether you’re aiming for your first leadership role, an executive promotion, or a career. Or simply the next step in your journey. Today’s episode is packed with strategies to help you stand out and move up. So take a deep breath and let’s explore how to make your next career move your best one yet.
This is your time to shine. Let’s get started.
Orlando: About today had a chance to be on this young lady’s podcast called the career one on one podcast dynamic platform. Super excited for that to come out. But it was my turn to return the favor, and have her share her wisdom, her expertise for you all. Cause I think we’re still looking for ways.
To maneuver in our [00:03:00] career, how to get promoted. And so that’s what we’re going to talk about today. So today I have none other than miss Porsche Parker Griffin, the CEO and founder of fly high coaching and a podcaster, as I said, for career one on one. Podcast. How are you?
Porschia: Hi, Orlando. I’m doing great.
Orlando: Definitely excited for you to come on, share your expertise, but always ask my guest, share a little bit more about who you are, who Porsche is, your business, et cetera.
Porschia: As you mentioned, I’m Portia Parker Griffin, and I am founder and CEO of Fly High Coaching. And I like to say that we offer career and business services for seasoned executives, ambitious professionals and brave entrepreneurs.
What we do is we help them to create strategies and execute those strategies while moving through mental resistance, right? That comes up for all of us.
Orlando: I love that mental resistance. Oh, [00:04:00] I think that needs to be another topic when I have to unpack that. Maybe weave it into today’s discussion. I like that.
So we talked on your platform a couple of months back or maybe two months or so. And we landed on this topic as you join me here. And I want to make sure that people understand there’s still opportunities to get promoted. And the goal is though you’re going to share about.
And I think that’s where folks want to, they can be doing a lot of things to get promoted, but it may not be the correct how to. So let’s dive into that topic. And then first question I’ll ask is why this topic and why now?
Porschia: Ooh, I think that There’s so much emphasis, especially in the career space on changing jobs.
And I think that most people believe that they have to change their organization, find a new job, in order to reach their career goals. And while [00:05:00] sometimes changing jobs is necessary. I think that a lot of people forget about developing their career within one organization and what that career plan might look like, what that development, within that organization might look like as well.
And so I think a lot of people just completely miss out on that opportunity. So So that’s why I really talking about how to get noticed for that promotion as well.
Orlando: Now, you said something that’s probably against the grain, which I love for folks, like you said, that may want to stick it out in one organization, which is not the norm.
You’ll, you may meet someone who’s been there a while, but obviously they started 15, 20 years ago. It’s a different time, different era. And so to say that now people probably what do you mean? It’s they stay in one company or, for however long you mean to make that maneuver and get promoted.
So with that, what are some of the benefits you’re seeing in the longevity of folks [00:06:00] that are sticking, at least I’ll say within the five to 10 years. organization.
Porschia: Yeah. To your point, because so many people believe that they have to leave their company. If you stay with one organization for three, five, 10 years, like you mentioned a lot of people can get promoted and move, within that organization and sometimes not have to take a step back like they would if they were switching organizations.
You can definitely progress in your career. You’ve just got to be strategic about it in terms of, how you would maneuver in one organization, but it can be done. And not only just from, the thought of where you want to get in your career. So if that’s a job title, but also it can be done when it comes to salary as well.
I know that’s another reason why people think, Oh, I have to change jobs to up my salary. Not necessarily right. You can do that by negotiating with your [00:07:00] current organization as well. What I think is a really good first question. And we work with our clients on this when they. are thinking about, positioning themselves for promotion.
You have to think about, are you in the right organization? Not every organization is the type of organization where they are going to promote you. So I think that’s a preliminary question you have to ask yourself before you move into all of the other positioning.
Orlando: So with that question, do you suggest asking it prior to getting hired with them, like understanding what their hierarchy is, what’s the upward mobility is, or at what stage do you start to ask yourself, is this the right, organization for me to move up with?
Porschia: To your point, if you are just starting at an organization, that’s a great time where you’re interviewing with an organization. That’s a great time to find out, just ask the question directly. But we know that a lot of times you don’t necessarily get a [00:08:00] straight answer, right? Or the honest answer during the interviewing process.
So you can do that. But I also recommend that our clients really look around are people in the organization getting promoted? Or does this organization hire externally for every new position that comes up, right? If they do that, then that’s something to note. Do you see people who have tenure with the organization being rewarded in different ways, right?
It could be financially, it could be with a different job title. It could be with other incentives and benefits as well. So you want to just make note of if that’s actually going on, a lot of organizations will Say they do that, right? . But you wanna really look around and see if that really happens.
Orlando: So let’s dig into the mechanics of it, the how to, how should someone start preparing for a promotion once they know Hey, I’m ready for the next level. What does that framework look like?
Porschia: All right. So there’s, there are quite a few parts to it. The first thing I [00:09:00] recommend that people do is think about their initial reputation and impression that they have made at their current organization.
Sometimes people say, Hey, I’m ready and I want to get promoted, but they have. A less than favorable will say reputation at their organization. And if that is you, it’s really important to be honest about that. How would you know? One, think about your performance reviews, right? Are they average to below average?
Usually, right? The last few ones that happened. If that’s the case, People are probably not necessarily going to think about you top of mind for promotion right now. So there’s a little more pre work that you have to do if you fall into that category. If that is not the case, then you can really start right away with some different strategies and tips that we share to start positioning yourself for promotion.
So that’s the first thing. [00:10:00] How are you currently seen in your organization? That’s step one.
Orlando: As you look at step two let me, let’s dig in. Let’s dig into step one. Cause I like that. So once you figure it out or how would you go about finding out? Because sometimes, and let me ask you this way.
Sometimes the performance review may not be a direct reflective of how other people see you. Sometimes it’s not a direct line based on performance, right? Cause they may not, Be a different departments that you interact with may not in or not impacted directly by your work. Maybe for some that are, they may have a different perspective.
But in the event, how can you start to figure out? Okay, this is what my boss, he or she said in my overall performance. But I’ve, there’s people that like me. They just like me and it perceived that I’m doing a good job. How do you start to craft or better position that? So your performance review does reflect how people may think [00:11:00] about you and Oh, Porsche isn’t great individual.
Orlando’s a great individual. Didn’t know that maybe their work was suffering. How can someone turn the table in that?
Porschia: All right. So it depends. There are a few ways you can go about that. If that’s the case, you want to think about what your direct manager or boss’s impression of you is.
Does that person perceive you as someone who’s average? above average or below average. Even if you are doing great work in other areas or other people perceive you to be helpful just a great person have on the team. If your direct manager doesn’t see that, you’re probably going to have a tough time.
If you want to get promoted in that same team or department, right? So the other aspect that we’ve got to think about that. I think really plays into what you’re asking is if someone wants to get promoted, are they trying to get promoted in their current kind of department or team, or do they [00:12:00] want to switch teams?
So we know for people in these larger companies and corporations, that’s a, another option for them. And either scenario let’s say that, their performance reviews don’t necessarily come back stellar. You want to ask a lot of questions of your, direct manager or boss? Not only how do they perceive you, but what changes do they think you should make so that you are, exceeding expectations is one rating that a lot of people, see on their performance reviews.
So you want to ask that. Also you want to think about what are some Aspects of career development that you could do right now that would help in your current position that also might shift how your boss or your manager thinks about you. And then third, I’ll add if you really have been doing great work and they don’t know about it think about why don’t they know about it, right?
So how can you bring that up right in a performance review conversation in a [00:13:00] meeting? Maybe in a presentation sometimes people have managers that are so busy, they really don’t know what they’re doing. That individual is doing, I should say. And it’s your job to show them the value that you’re bringing in that instance.
Orlando: That was a great example. It’s definitely good. I like that path because it puts the control back in the hands of that employee to say, okay here’s some action steps that I can take based on that performance review feedback that I can change the perception, like you said, of their manager to get promoted and then talk to us.
This may be a curve ball, but I like what you said about. Whether or not you wanted to get promoted on your team or in a different department, what’s the strategy difference in looking at it? Those ways, if you want it to get, let’s start with you want it to get promoted in a different department, whether that’s a lateral or vertical promotion.
Porschia: So if you want to get promoted in another department, I [00:14:00] think one of the. strategies that you should think about sooner rather than later is networking. How are you networking outside of your current team in your current department? So networking, there are so many aspects of networking. You’re an amazing networker, Orlando, so I’m sure you have a lot of tips, ideas and suggestions on that and other episodes.
But in short, networking could be anything from going to lunch with people and another department or another team. It could be joining employee resource groups, ERGs. It could be doing other types of events that your organization, puts on or offers just meeting people who are not on your current team.
Ideally, if you know what team or department you want to transition into, Getting as close to those individuals as possible. So I would say networking should be pushed to the forefront outside of your team. [00:15:00] If for a fact that you want to do that. So I’ll stop there.
Orlando: Great. Awesome. You started with number one being the.
the perception, what’s your perception inside the company? What would be step two to position yourself and begin as a strategic step to getting promoted?
Porschia: Yeah. Now you want to think about how you are addressing your work. We’ll assume that, you’re at least average to hopefully above average when it comes to your performance reviews.
If that’s the case, now you want to get a little more visibility for the right reasons. I say one of the Best ways to get visibility is to volunteer and to volunteer. Sometimes when I say that people automatically recoil because they think, oh my gosh, I’m already working, nine to five.
I don’t have any more time to do anything else. There are ways that you can volunteer within. Your [00:16:00] current scope of responsibilities and in your current hours that you work. So I don’t want you to necessarily think that you’re taking on a second job. When I say volunteer, look at those projects.
those clients, those programs that other people don’t really want to work on, or that other people might think are difficult, or other people might have some other kind of negative perception about when your boss asks, who’s going to take this client or who wants to work on this project? Who wants to work on this initiative?
If for a fact that other people don’t want to do it, You volunteering for that does a few things. One, it shows that you are not afraid of a challenge, right? It, a lot of times, your boss might think of you as a leader, for taking that on as well. And then, now that you’ve volunteered, right?
You have to deliver, right? Think about, how you can make sure that project or that program is successful. Do you need to bring perhaps new ideas to the [00:17:00] table? Do something that hasn’t been done. Maybe you need to talk with your boss a little more often than normal because it’s a harder project, for example.
Doing all of those things can help you get noticed for the right reasons.
Orlando: Love it. So with that, like you said, you pointed out something really great. Cause people will start to think, Oh my God, she’s talking about doing two jobs in one. I’m already stretched too thin. How should they be approaching certain projects?
Cause I, and there’s always different sides and talking points to this. Where I think initially folks was like, yeah, just go ahead and take on more work. They’ll be seen. You’ll be noticed versus taking on the right types of projects. That are more visible in nature to the, to the organization.
Where would you guide your clients on that?
Porschia: You make a great point. It’s important to take on projects that are part of. your [00:18:00] team, your department or the organization as a whole’s kind of key initiatives and important objectives for the business. So for example someone might ask who wants to plan the Christmas party, right?
Or the holiday party. While someone could think great, that’s a time for me to volunteer. Planning the holiday party is probably not one of the top, initiatives, core drivers main goals of the organization, and your team. So that would be something that, you know, sure. If you just want to do that, go for it, but that’s not necessarily what I’m talking about when I’m talking about volunteering.
So the. Importance is going to vary depending on the organization, but you as an employee, you’ve got to put on your thinking cap and really identify with and look for patterns of what’s important to know what kind of projects are important. A lot of times, you might see, [00:19:00] this is our largest client, for example.
That’s a good clue, right? That something’s important to the team or to the department. But it, you make a great point. A lot of people get preoccupied, I’ll say, with projects or initiatives that are not, Core business drivers there actually have done some research. Orlando, and I can’t remember the source, but I heard about it in the last couple of years.
They were saying women a lot of times tend to fall into doing projects and initiatives that are not core business drivers. And then sometimes they wonder why. They’re not being promoted. And unfortunately it’s because they’re getting either put on these projects or volunteering themselves for a lot of projects that are not part of the kind of core business.
Orlando: That’s no, I’m a research that’s good information. That’s definitely, you don’t hear much about that, but that’s a phenomenal point. So we got two, we got a reputation addressing your work. What would be step three [00:20:00] as we unpack these different strategies?
Porschia: Yeah, I would say step three is looking at your leadership.
So again, getting promoted. It’s about you standing out from other people that can be other people on your team and your department or other people that they might even think about pulling in from the outside of the organization, right? So for the most part, you’re going to need to be seen as a leader, right?
And everyone has their own definition of leader and what that means. But I just mean someone That’s you today. Bye. Bye. Who others believe is capable and can be trusted with responsibility. This person might be motivating to other people, but not all leaders have direct reports or lead other people.
So I don’t want anyone to necessarily get caught up on that aspect either. You really want to think about your leadership. So if you haven’t had, a chance to show your leadership skills you want to [00:21:00] look for opportunities to do volunteering, like I said, is one also people really determine who they think a leader is when things don’t go as planned, right?
So let’s say something doesn’t work out. As a leader, you don’t want to blame other people, for example. Because usually the people who are blaming or negative People just don’t envision them as a leader or someone who can be entrusted with more responsibility. So you would want to make sure that you’re not doing that.
You want to look for solutions. One thing that I think stops a lot of people when it comes to, Getting noticed for promotion is that they are asking a lot of questions and perhaps bringing up a lot of problems to their boss, but not bringing leaders tend to bring solutions to so let’s say you were my boss and I would say, hey, Orlando, I noticed that there’s this discrepancy that tends to happen every [00:22:00] single month at the same time.
You know what? I found a couple of ways that we can address it, right? Not just going to you with Orlando. Hey, here are all these problems. So being intentional about that. I tell people to always look for solutions and fill what I another way I call it is filling the gaps, right? As a leader or as a solution focused person, you’ve identified some gaps or some issues, problems, and you’ve proactively thought about ways to address those.
So I think that’s the third step. And in that whole kind of leadership conversation, Orlando, I know some people are probably thinking I don’t think of myself as a leader. I don’t really know how to even get started with that. That’s where you really want to look into leadership development resources.
There are podcast episodes. There are courses you can work with a coach as well, but that can also be another good starting point when it comes to positioning yourself [00:23:00] for promotion and getting noticed.
Orlando: Love it. Love it. The summary of that is folks to putting your podcast library career one on one podcast, put it in there,
Porschia: we have a leadership series and a leadership development series on our podcast.
Oh, yes.
Orlando: What are you seeing within your clients? What’s some of the commonalities? that they’re bringing to the table for the ones that are looking for that next step inside the organization. Is there some, what are those pockets that you’re trying to coach them through?
Porschia: [00:24:00] One was what you mentioned earlier, right?
They don’t think their boss sees them. in a favorable way or thinks of them as the next person to be promoted. So that I think is probably definitely one of the top things that we see. After that, I think that it is around leadership, like we talked about. They think that they’re just blending in.
They haven’t really demonstrated how they are a leader. That is something that comes up. And then the third one is networking. So we touched on that when it comes to networking outside of your team and your organization. But let’s say you want to progress, within your current team.
So let’s say a position is going to be opening. Everyone knows, in the next six months, [00:25:00] nine months, a year, this new position is going to open. You want to think about networking that you can do on your team, within your group as well. And so it might sound counterproductive, but collaborating with other people on your team again, is going to show that you’re a team player how you can work with other people.
And that also helps to position you to be thought of, right? For that promotion.
Orlando: That’s good. When it comes to the leadership piece there, right? Because are you seeing folks only pushing for vertical promotions versus considering a lateral promotion that may give them a broader perspective of the business?
Porschia: I think most people, and I’ve been a coach for a gosh, it’s going to be 11 years. In July, the vast majority of people are looking for vertical [00:26:00] promotions, but I’ll tell you this Orlando in the last couple of years, I’ve seen a much larger percentage of people looking for lateral promotions or lateral opportunities.
I have had some clients tell me that they’re tired of managing other people. One, one of my clients said that he was tired of following people around and making sure they were doing what they were supposed to be doing. That was his quote. And he was ready for a position that was going to open up, that was going to be an individual contributor role.
And in some organizations, usually a lot of the larger ones are the more specific organizations. They might call that. subject matter expert track under the SME position. And so he was interested in those kinds of roles. So I’m seeing more of that now, but I do think the vast majority of people are.
usually looking for a lateral [00:27:00] promotion.
Orlando: What are some of the things we’re not thinking about as folks strive to get promoted? Like they’re assume, the biggest salary, the bigger title. But what are some areas that, Hey, have you considered this? Do you really want, this particular role inside your organization?
Have you thought it through? Are you, do you? Helping folks see that, that full landscape of what they’re trying to tap into.
Porschia: I think that is a great point. And the first thing that comes to mind, Orlando, when I talk to people about promotions. are usually the soft skills. So sometimes people are just jumping to, how’s the job description different?
What’s the work? But a lot of times, especially if someone’s looking for a vertical promotion, like we talked about before, skills like communication are going to become, So much more important than they were perhaps in your current role. We’ve [00:28:00] already talked about leadership. That’s another one, but also emotional intelligence.
Those three areas, I think Can often be overlooked when people just think, Hey, I’m ready for a promotion. Are you ready to perhaps have more responsibilities and then also more people to communicate with, maybe higher stakes when it comes to the communication bigger projects that is, worth more to the company or the business on your shoulders.
And so how you do. even what is considered minor can be a really big deal. So yeah, I think those are some areas that come up when people are thinking about a promotion, but they’re not necessarily considering those angles, those soft skills.
Orlando: Yeah, soft skills, huge, super huge. I always bring up when leadership becomes part of the discussion that middle, whether you’re senior manager, director, like that’s, [00:29:00] it’s, it gets glorified sometimes people want that, as that on the resume, but it’s not always the best spot to be, right?
Because you have a team below you, especially if you have a team that you’re supporting and guiding and helping. Like you said, the earlier person was like, Hey, I’m tired of running around, making sure everybody’s doing what they’re doing. And then you have right. The people that you need to report to.
So you’re stuck in that middle. of that middle management. That’s always not the best place. And so it’s like you be mindful folks of what you asked for. It’s not just the salary. It’s not just the title. There is a lot of pressure being in that, that middle spot that you have to deliver up and down to.
So be mindful of that. And so when it comes to, the different landscapes of how different strategies, what are you seeing? I was about to say is the most effective, but I think you got to put each one almost side by side or you have to figure out what’s priority based on where you [00:30:00] at. If you were to have a room full of, folks ready to go to the next level in their first time managers, how would you guide them to say, okay, here’s what I would think you look at first.
I know we talked about a few things, but to say, Hey, I got all your attention. And you want to be a first time manager. Here’s some things you need to consider first.
Porschia: Ooh, a lot of things, but I think I will start with communication first. I think that for first time managers, one of the biggest hurdles for them is they think Hey, I told everyone, what’s supposed to happen.
And then they’re shocked at why it doesn’t happen or why someone thought that it meant something else or that they could do something else. And making that connection between not only what you say, but how other people are perceiving what you say and taking that information and then doing their jobs with it.
So for [00:31:00] first time managers, there are a lot of things to focus on, but I think communication is probably the first one. How effective are you with your verbal communication with your written communication? One of our clients who is actually we started working with him last year and he was a first time manager, had a team of three direct reports reporting to him.
And he realized that he was very like verbose. He wrote long emails, long paragraphs and, people just were not resonating with his communication style. And so he had to be more succinct with what he was doing. He also had to explain more of the why to his direct reports.
So they understood, why certain things needed to be done. And that helped them know, what was important and remember more things. He’s just one example, but if there’s one place to start for a brand new manager, I think it’s that communication.
Orlando: It [00:32:00] sounds like he was writing a thesis or Harvard dissertations in his communication style.
And they’re like, what is happening here? It’s going to take me 30 minutes to read this. That’s hilarious. So it speaks to sometimes maybe over communication can be a problem sometimes, right? If you’re not being succinct that’s funny. So let’s talk about the benefits, right? The benefits of getting promoted.
Share with us. Some of the highlights and things that folks can, at least aspire to be like okay, yeah, it’s not all, it doesn’t feel like doom and gloom and super high stress. And I got to manage this and manage that. But talk to us about, Hey, these are great. These are great learning tools that you can pull from being a manager or should I say being promoted into a leadership role?
Porschia: Yeah, I think it goes back to someone’s individual career plan. Most people. And this is one of the first things we do with [00:33:00] our coaching clients is we help them with their career plan. Most people have a career plan where they want to get to a certain role, job position. Whether it’s, quote unquote leadership or executive level that, doesn’t matter.
But everyone usually has a goal and in our career planning process, we help someone work to that understanding what that is. So for most people, their goal isn’t, an entry level position or where they are today. Usually their goal is somewhere else. The benefits to, promotions and working on your positioning for promotions is that it can help you when it comes to your own career plan for yourself and getting to wherever it is you want to go reaching whatever goals that you have.
For some people they have financial goals. that they want to reach and they don’t necessarily really care what the job title is, but they just have that financial goal, right? No judgment [00:34:00] here, right? If that is part of what your goals are then you still need a career plan to reach that financial goal.
For other people, it is about the job title. They do want to be a quote unquote manager or a quote unquote director. Or an executive at some point, right? So understanding your career plan lets, those promotions or shifts changes in jobs or responsibilities that you will need to make to reach that goal.
Orlando: And I wonder, as you were explaining that what hit me was, and this is just A question that I want to get your thoughts on when people say their goal is to, you come across those folks, they have that, the six figure like golden ring, like it’s a life changer. It is for some, right? It is for some.
Or having that VP title or whatever it is. I wonder if that goal. Is really tied to anything or is there [00:35:00] a deeper meaning, behind that? Cause once you get there for the folks that get there, it’s okay, now that you got there what’s next really? Is, was this it, was this the plateau for you?
Any thoughts on people that may be shared to say, Hey, I got to get to VB because of X, or I got to hit to 200 K because of X.
Porschia: I have a ton of thoughts on it. Orlando.
Orlando: Let’s hear it.
Porschia: Yes, those are the top two things that I have seen with clients over the years is maybe they have a financial goal. Maybe they have a job title in their mind.
And yes they think it’s their dream job. They think that the clouds are going to part once they attain that. And what I tend to see is that people are usually looking for the feeling. that they think that they will get when they reach that salary number or when they attain that job title.
And A lot of times, even if they understand [00:36:00] that intellectually, it takes them attaining the director title, right? The VP title, the six figure salary, multiple six figure salary. And then they realize, Hey, I don’t feel too different than I did, six months ago, two years ago, five years ago.
So for, yes, I would echo what you said. I think for most people, those kind of arbitrary goals come from a feeling that they believe they’re going to get. Or and when I say feeling, it could also be status, right? That they think that they’re going to get based on that job title or that salary.
Orlando: Cause I’m sure if you put a hundred and let’s stick with executives, cause that seems to be, the brass ring for most professionals as they starting their career and climbing the ladder is if you were to get a hundred executives in the room you would get either a split.
Response to that. Or you may get a mix and that’s both, men and women. So [00:37:00] it’s interesting to hear that. I love that you explained it that way. It’s a feeling. And then you get there, you’re like, huh? And you go from six meetings in the day to 15 meetings in a day. You’re like, Whoa, I can’t even enjoy this because the work is.
It’s just 10 X because now I have this bigger title and I’m leading the team, et cetera, et cetera. So I would love to I’ll say it early, come back and dissect that with you a little bit more on the feeling behind, leadership roles. And what does that look like? I think that would be a unique conversation for us to have there.
But as we talk about just the, how to, again, the, how to, you shared some incredible advice on how to get promoted. What are you seeing? Is most folks looking for the executive role? I don’t want to assume, or it just, or you can come from your client base or they’re looking for management to director level.
What’s, what are you seeing just in your coaching [00:38:00] practice?
Porschia: Ooh. I would say a lot of our clients are usually shooting more for director level. We do have A lot of clients that are executives as well, but a lot of our clients that are executives, sometimes they’re already executives by the time they start working with us.
And they might, be working with us for leadership development or to find another executive position. And then we have clients who say, Hey, I want to be an executive again, as part of that career plan. But there are a few steps removed from that. So their next promotion might be senior manager or director on that executive path, if that makes sense.
So yeah, I would say most of our client base is probably shooting for more senior manager to director, just depending on the size of the organization. But I would say a lot of our clients have. executive goals as part of their career path.
Orlando: Got [00:39:00] it. And a followup to that would be. Are you seeing that those same clients are striving for those senior manager direct director roles within the organization or they’re saying, Hey, I don’t see it.
I’m at a ceiling here and I need to exit and find something external.
Porschia: Yeah, I think most people think they have to go external. And then once we. Talk about it. A lot of them realize that they actually might be in a great situation right now. And that their organization, might Be able to provide the types of opportunities that they’re looking for So back to the beginning when I said, hey, are you in the right organization?
It’s really easy to think But the grass is greener on the other side, but I know that I’m sure you see this with your clients and you’ve talked about it. There are a lot of organizations laying people off. And there are a lot of people who I’ve talked to [00:40:00] who, and we’ve been in business for quite a while to where we’ve helped people get multiple jobs and seeing them at different organizations.
And they thought, Hey, I needed to get a job outside that organization. They were laid off in six months, a year, two years, and if they had stayed at their previous organization, they might have been able to navigate to another position via promotion and not be back out in the job market. It’s important to consider where you are.
First, I think before just assuming that the grass is greener on the outside and some other clues that I didn’t mention before that people can think about when they’re wondering, am I in a good organization with that potential? One. If you’re in a large organization, and hear about quarterly reports and all of that is your organization making money.
Are they profitable? Are they, and if [00:41:00] it’s not like publicly traded and not as much transparency, are you all getting new clients? Are you all Starting new service lines when it comes to technology are leaders talking about, new offerings, right? All of these things are good clues that the company is.
growing developing, and that there might be other opportunities in the future. So those are some other things to look for before just assuming I’ve got to go external.
Orlando: Awesome. So I’ll sum up that too, is get a friend in accounting and finance so you know what’s going
Porschia: on. Yes. That’s the quick way to do it.
Orlando: Get somebody on that side to tell you, Hey what’s happening in this corner, but no. So let’s let’s flip the room. So earlier I asked. If you had a room first time, individuals looking to become first time managers. So let’s now say you had a room of employers. What would you say to [00:42:00] them to say, Hey, here’s what I think you need to do as organizations.
To create these opportunities or support positioning these folks that want to stay with the organization and want to grow because every organization is not the same and they don’t offer the same opportunities. And so what can be one or two steps that you can say, Hey, I think across the board, you can all at least start to look at this to help, your current workforce.
Porschia: Oh, good question. Another thing that I could talk about a lot, but I’m going to boil it down because we actually work with organizations as well, Orlando on these sorts of things. I think the first thing that organizations can do is look at their employee engagement surveys. If they’ve had any of those employee satisfaction surveys is another, kind of term that, people use out there.
And get an idea of the pulse [00:43:00] of what employees think about the organization. There’s a lot of information that can be found in those surveys. So that’s the first thing. Also, I think organizations should invest in career development for their employees across generations. And we do a lot of research, based on generations as well and what, different generations prioritize, I’ll say in organizations, but most generations prioritized career development.
People don’t necessarily want to feel like they’re doing the same thing over and over again, right? Without a promotion path or without Learning something new, doing something interesting. Some way the position changing and developing to just stay interesting. And investing in career development for employees is important.
And there’s so many ways to do that. It could be [00:44:00] providing coaching. For employees, right? We create coaching programs for organizations sometimes that are focused on career development because most managers don’t have time to sit around, with their team members and go through different aspects of career development, right?
They might have that conversation in the performance review like we’ve talked about, but they don’t have time to just focus on that, right? Bringing in other types of training on different topics and aspects of career development are important as well. So I would think that those are some of the main things that organizations can do right away when it comes to supporting their employees.
And employees will notice that and it will. Eventually it usually helps to increase employee engagement and retention because it’s so expensive for companies to just be on that treadmill of hiring employees.
Orlando: I think employees need to also in [00:45:00] that same vein, understand that. The employer, the employers that do have these options for career development is that they need to take the action.
I don’t think if they are thinking, the employer is not going to, hold their hand through it and say, Hey let’s sign you up for this course. So get this training for you. We have to take the initiative as employees to say, okay, great. I see what’s offered and. Let’s see if we can implement it.
That’s going to support my role or next movement or what’s going to help me get promoted versus assuming again, the employer is going to say, Hey, I think this is going to work for you. Let me sign you up for these three things to get you promoted. No, you got to own your own development. So that’s, I think that’s super, super huge in how you’re looking at an organization in your own.
Upward mobility. So great. Super, super cool point. Love that. So we are coming up on time. This flew by on this Memorial Monday for sure. [00:46:00] Share with the folks where they can find you. What’s your program? What do you touch in your program? What’s your avatar client? So they know they can dial in, learn more about fly high coaching.
Porschia: Yes. One, like you mentioned before, if someone likes podcasts, they can check out the career one on one podcast and Orlando your episode, I believe is going to be coming out in about six weeks. So later on in the summer So if you like podcasts, that’s one place. I am on LinkedIn trying to be like Orlando, and get my personal branding together.
If that’s where you like to connect and follow people, you can find me there. Our website is fly, that’s F L Y dash high H I G H. coaching.com so you can come learn all about our different offerings there. When it comes to promotions and whatnot, we have quite a few [00:47:00] different tiers of programs that you can work with us in.
To help you get noticed for that next promotion.
Orlando: Love it. Pia. The question I always ask my amazing guest at the, towards the end or at the end of each episode, is what makes you get up and do what you do every day?
Porschia: Ooh, you know what it is Orlando, I like helping people and. That is it boiled down in a nutshell. I like helping people. I was telling my husband a few weeks ago, you know what, I think what we do with fly high coaching, it’s a calling for me. I really like helping people to achieve their goals. I think there’s so much negativity in the world on the internet.
Sometimes with your family members and friends that a lot of times people just don’t believe in your goals for you that you might have, right? And so we as a company are those people that are there saying, Hey, [00:48:00] you know what? We believe in your goal. Let’s come up with a strategy. Let’s help you actually attain this.
Orlando: Love it. I love that you said execute. You said executing their goals because there are a lot of folks out there that are willing to help, but they’re not willing to help you execute. And that’s the key driver. I keep saying that’s the last question and it never is. What’s give the folks Some inspiration, final words that from a coach, a professional that you, that with your various background that you can tell them about whether it’s market opportunities, what’s available and how you can support them.
Porschia: Ooh you made me think of a few things there. I think that a quote that I can share and it’s from a book title also. And I really love it. It’s what got you here, won’t get you there by Marshall Goldsmith. It’s a great book if [00:49:00] someone has not read it yet. And I think it applies to so many aspects of our lives, right?
So for a lot of people, let’s say, you want to focus on being promoted. A lot of times, what got you to your current. position. Your current job, your current role is not necessarily going to be what gets you on the other side to that promotion. And so doing more of the same, more of what you’ve always done might not be the way to reach that new goal that you have.
Orlando: Love it. Love it. Love it. Thank you so much. Portia for allowing me to come on your platform, career one on one podcast. And then returning the favor, ensuring your expertise, your advice, your transparency here on the career talks, super excited for you. What’s to come with your business.
I think you do an amazing work, so don’t worry about, Personal branding, stuff like that. You’ve been in business 10, 11 years. You’re doing great. We need to be coming to you to [00:50:00] learn about sustainability and, helping as many folks as you’re helping. Folks absolutely subscribe to the podcast, follow Portia.
Dive into her content, learn more about how she can take your career to the next level, [00:51:00]
