Get Promoted Faster: Act Like a Leader

- How do you demonstrate you're a leader if you have no one to lead? (upbeat music) Often the job requirements for moving up to the next level include demonstrating leadership experience. Now how exactly are you supposed to get leadership experience when you have no direct reports? How exactly are you supposed to move into leadership when you're an individual contributor? When senior decision makers get together to discuss who's ready for promotion, they're looking for people who are delivering above and beyond their current role. In short, they're not looking for title, they're not even looking for management experience, they're looking for someone who's already exhibited the attitudes and actions of leadership. Now you won't get promoted unless you show that you've outgrown your current role by adopting behaviors of someone more senior. You must already be contributing at a higher level to be a shoo-in for promotion. - Your word for today is senior. In this blast, you'll learn how to demonstrate you're a leader even when your title says you're not. And if you already manage others, don't hang up yet, you just might get some new ideas that make others perceive you as even more senior than you are. First, you're going to learn three actions you can take to brand you as a leader instantly. Next, you'll learn some tips to help you assume the attitude of a leader. After this blast, you'll have exactly what you need to stand out as a leader who has demonstrated readiness for promotion. - If you haven't already completed the launch pad assessment you know what to do, pause this, it'll only take a minute, and it will prime your brain to more consciously and intentionally absorb the lessons we're about to share with you. Okay, let's blast off. (blast) Let's start with the three actions that can distinguish you as a leader, disrupt, volunteer, and mentor. Disrupt, when you're a junior professional, your primary role is doing the assigned tasks. You're not in a position to rock the boat or make waves. But once you gain experience, you have insight into the big picture, you understand the implications and impact of the tasks that you're doing. Sometimes you discover that the status quo can be improved upon or even radically changed. Leaders are disruptors, they're not doers. They don't blindly follow others, they have the courage to speak out and make change. In fact, according to a study by leadership IQ, 45% of top executives undertake changes that others describe as difficult or even audacious. For individual contributors, that number is only 27%. Now we use the word disrupt with a little bit of cheek. The key to disrupting successfully is bringing up important issues in a positive, respectful, and sensitive way. Here's a way for you to dip delicately into disruption and show up as a leader. Step one, identify the issue. step two, research solutions. Step three, draft a proposal. And step four, volunteer to lead the effort. Step one, identify an issue that you and others around you struggle with, something that makes you crazy, the thing everyone knows isn't working but no one will touch it. Step two, research potential solutions. To fully understand the implications of change, research it online, talk to colleagues in your organization, talk to colleagues elsewhere. Use those insights to come up with options. Step three, draft a proposal for your boss, include the benefits of your proposed change and address the potential objections. There are four common objections, cost, risk, time, and effort. Step four, volunteer to lead the change or at least be a part of the change effort. Now that leads us to action number two, volunteer. Professionals on the rise have a keen interest in what's going on beyond their narrow functional area. The primary way to learn more and to increase your visibility throughout the organization is to volunteer for an initiative that gives you access to new people and new disciplines. Now, if you're at a large company, you can raise your hand to be involved in things like the go green project, or event planning, or onboarding, or special interest groups. If you're at a smaller company, you might just be the one to take on a lead role and volunteer on some activity. Volunteering is the perfect way to demonstrate your leadership outside your nine to five job or maybe we should call it the nine to seven job. Mentor, the third action of leadership you can adopt helps you be a leader by mentoring others. Now you have superpowers that are valuable to others, you can mentor people formally or informally. And you can even reverse mentor. When you mentor formally, you help more junior employees in programs like newbies orientation or a training program. You can also mentor informally or unofficially. Why wait to be asked? We bet you can find someone who needs your support, expertise, feedback, validation, energy, or influence. Ask yourself who you can help and then mentor, coach, and support them. Finally, reverse mentoring is another way you can demonstrate leadership skills to senior executives. For example, let's say you're an expert in social media and you know that some of the leaders in your organization are a little bit clueless about the Facebook and the Twitter. You can help them understand the power of social media and help them use it to increase their leadership expertise. Reverse mentoring is a great way to get on the radar of senior leaders. - In addition to taking action by disrupting, volunteering, and mentoring, you can adopt the attitude of a leader today by focusing on how you look, how you act, and how you speak. It's turbocharger tip time. First, look like a leader. Ask yourself, are you dressing for your current job or for the promotion you want? Dress for the next level of leadership, power up your dress today. If you look the part, it's easier to get the part. Next, don't whine, leaders stay above the freight and they don't get mired in negative talk or office gossip. So don't moan about how busy and tired you are. Don't roll your eyes about Mr. Totally Incompetent, stay focused on what's important and wear a positive attitude. Finally, express gratitude. You don't need a fancy management title to give kudos to your peers and even your seniors. Say nice things and send nice things, like emails, like cards, like LinkedIn endorsements and recommendations. - To get promoted faster, start contributing at a higher level of leadership today. Show up above and beyond the tasks on your do list, don't wait for the title to be a leader, act like a leader, adopt the actions and the attitudes. And for those of you who already have the title of leader, focus on taking on higher level challenges, this will cement in the minds of others that you are exceptional. (upbeat music)