Get Promoted Faster – How Does It Work?

Two Key Aspects to Keep in Mind on Your Path to Promotion

First, the people reporting to you must have strong professional competence so your team can perform reliably even when you are absent. The goal is to create an environment where efficiency and success are guaranteed without your constant presence.

Second, you need to show that you are ready to take the next step. This means not hiding your ambitions. Take responsibility, make decisions, and demonstrate your potential. Be prepared to embrace the challenges of a higher position and show clear initiative to reach it.

Here are three practical tips to help you move forward in your career:

TIP 1: Multiply Your Effectiveness by Building Great Leaders

One of a leader’s most important tasks is to develop outstanding leaders beneath them. Don’t just rely on people who were already in leadership when you arrived. Keep striving to recruit, nurture, and empower first-class individuals for leadership roles.

Always keep your company’s value creation in focus and never settle for mediocrity. Everyone in your organization deserves the best leadership you can provide. By investing energy in selecting talented, passionate leaders and giving them resources to grow, you’ll strengthen your team’s culture and performance—and multiply your own impact.

TIP 2: “Dress” for the Job You Want, Not the One You Have

This well-known motto goes far beyond clothing. It means proving you are ready for the responsibilities of the next level.

• Think at the next level: View tasks and decisions as someone already in that higher role.
• Build relationships at the next level: Network with people who matter to your targeted position.
• Master information and complexity: Learn to filter essential data and focus on what truly drives results.
• Understand the value contribution: Show how this future role creates measurable benefit for the organization.

Decision-makers above you must be able to picture you excelling at the next level. Prepare mentally and professionally to shoulder the responsibilities and demonstrate through action that you already operate on that higher plane.

TIP 3: Become a Trusted Advisor, Not a Workhorse

If you are seen as a pure workhorse, the message you send is that results come only from effort, not influence, and that long hours matter more than strategic value.

A trusted advisor, on the other hand, is someone senior leaders consult to create higher value for the business. Focus conversations on topics that benefit the next level of leadership (while still delivering in your current role). This shows that you are ready to make a broader contribution.

If you aim for promotion, make yourself replaceable in your current job. Build strong leaders, prepare for the demands of the next level, and shift from workhorse to trusted advisor.

This article draws on leadership insights from Martin G. Moore. Find more ideas and inspiration at yourceomentor.com and martingmoore.com.