Eight Tips That Will Block Your Next Promotion

Most executives and managers we coach have a desire to be promoted and take on even more responsibility in their organization. Some successfully implement what they learn in the coaching sessions we provide and rise to even higher levels in their organizations. Others struggle exhibiting new behaviors, are passed over for promotions, and tend to be stuck treading water in their careers. Here are the eight most frequent pitfalls that trap leaders from walking up the ladder of success to their next promotion.

1. Refuse to delegate. Many times, leaders refuse to delegate and instead do the tasks themselves or micromanage others because they do not trust that anyone will do the job as well as they could. By not delegating, they are unable to take on additional responsibilities or sometimes, get their most important work done. Successful leaders get bored easily. Once they know how to do a task, they are quick to delegate the task to a team member so they can focus more of their time working on strategic tasks and projects that improve the condition of their team or organization.
2. Focus on perfection, not success. When leaders are focused on perfection, they are perpetually late on assignments because to complete the task, it has to be done perfectly. Since very few things in life are ever perfect, it delays their ability to respond to emails, make decisions, or efficiently complete work in a timely manner.
3. Operate under an umbrella of arrogance. These leaders do not treat others with dignity and respect because they truly believe that they are the smartest person in the room and no one can live up to their expectations. They are disrespectful to others, belittle other’s ideas and seldom take personal responsibility for their misguided actions. The sad part of this point is these struggling leaders don’t realize that almost everyone in the room is smarter than they are when it comes to social or emotional intelligence (EQ).
4. Hire weak team members. People who have a difficult time getting promoted do not like to hire brilliant team members who have a stronger skill set than they do.  Great leaders know their strengths and weaknesses and hire strong, smart team members who challenge them by bringing talents and skills in the areas where the leader needs greater depth.
5. Live with poor work-life balance. If you are working 60 to 80 hours a week, you tell people in your organization that you cannot handle additional responsibilities. Great leaders are constantly asking themselves how they can be even more effective, focusing on success and not perfection, so they can maintain a successful work-life balance. When leaders can figure out how to be even more effective and efficient, they are ready to assume additional responsibilities.
6. Non-responsive: When managers have a back log of several hundred unread or emails that have been read but saved as new because they have not been responded to, the manager quickly tells everyone that does not get a response that they are in over their head and cannot assume any additional responsibilities or one more email.
7. Stop learning: When managers are in over their head, they struggle to find the time to just keep their head above water getting the most pressing day-to-day tasks completed. In other ways, these managers who are difficult to promote make a whole career out of focusing on putting out the most pressing fire that arises.
8. Road block change: Leaders who find it difficult to be promoted have the bad habit of displaying resistance to implementing changes that will improve the condition of the team or organization. They are great at making excuses like, “Why fix something that is not broken,” “We’ve never done it that way before,” or “I am not against change, I just don’t think we are ready for this change now.”

All of the behaviors outlined above build a leadership reputation that makes you and your boss look bad. People with bad reputations find it more difficult to be promoted. So, do you want to be promoted? To maximize your options, check out our blog next week on Managing Up to a Successful Promotion.