The Promotion Starts Before the Posting

The first time I applied for an Operations Manager position, I thought I’d done what I was supposed to do. I was leading a high-performing team. Our results were strong, and we handled a large portion of the organization’s core interactions. From where I was sitting, I had a reasonable case. I was doing the work, and I believed I was ready for more responsibility.

Other leaders wanted the position too. We talked about it, and those conversations started showing me something I hadn’t been paying attention to. They were meeting with hiring managers before interviews were scheduled. They were talking to people who understood the role and asking questions about what leadership was looking for. I was preparing to explain my results. They were learning about the job.

I hadn’t understood how much was happening before the application.

I didn’t get that position. Looking back, I can see how much I expected people to conclude from my performance. I knew the effort behind those results. I knew the decisions I made and the problems I worked through with my team. But I was assuming people outside that work understood all of it too. And then I was expecting them to take another step and see how it prepared me for a larger role.

That was a lot to leave to an assumption.

I still think good work should matter. I understand the frustration of someone who keeps delivering and feels like they have to do something else just to be considered. When you’ve been taught to work hard and let your work speak, building visibility can feel unnecessary. You’re already doing what was asked of you. Why should you have to explain it again?

But the results from my team couldn’t answer every question about how I’d lead at the next level. People needed to understand how I thought beyond the responsibilities I already had. I needed to understand those responsibilities better myself.

So I started paying more attention to the organization. I built relationships before there was a position I wanted to discuss. I looked for ways to support peers and contribute beyond my team. I also started watching where the business was growing, because wanting a promotion and having a position available were two different things.

Later, I could see advisor headcount increasing. More advisors would need more frontline leaders, and that growth could eventually create a need for more Operations Managers. I began preparing about nine months before the position opened. By the time it did, I’d spent months building experience and making my work more visible.

I couldn’t have made that connection if all I was watching was my own performance.

Being in leadership also gave me another perspective on this. I’ve had employees I would’ve promoted if I’d had a role available. They were capable, reliable, and ready to grow. There was no approved headcount or budget to move them into something else. Their performance wasn’t the problem, and asking them to keep proving themselves wouldn’t have created a position.

That’s part of why I’m careful about reducing advancement to how hard somebody works. I know what effort can change. I also know there are decisions and constraints outside an employee’s control.

When I look back at that first application, I can identify things I needed to do differently. That doesn’t mean I can explain every part of why someone else was selected. It means I learned enough to approach the next opportunity with a better understanding of what I was walking into.

I still had to perform. I also had to stop assuming that performing well meant I understood how the next decision would be made.