You Got A Promotion; Now What?

We hear it often with folks who have just been promoted:

I’ve

… just been named CEO.
… just went from managing 650 people to a new role managing over 20,000+ people.
… just started leading 9 people based across the globe.

And then, the worry that, somehow, it won’t work out: 

…It’s a huge jump in context, and I’ve never worked at a large company before
…I worry I’m going to get blindsided by what I don’t know.
…I worry I don’t have the tools to navigate big company life.
…I want to step forward as a leader.
…I need help organising the team and providing impactful feedback.
…I need to be sure I’m getting the best out of everyone in a way that feels encouraging and authentic.

Identity Level Change

A promotion doesn’t just change your job: It can change your identity. 

Leadership isn’t a destination—it’s a continual process of becoming. Each promotion isn’t just about what you’ll do; it’s about who you’ll be. What got you here may not get you there, but it also doesn’t mean you leave behind what’s essential about you.

Every new role is a new mirror. What does this role reflect back to you?

The Inner Critic

Often, our inner critic–the Crow who sits on our shoulder trying to protect us from humiliation by making us doubt ourselves–gets louder just when we’re stepping into a bigger game. Often, these warnings stop us from taking promotions. 

Deep in our inner landscape, we all have a self-critical voice. There it sits, on a long-held post in our inner world, serving us to keep us safe and to ensure our lovability and belonging in our family of origin story. Yet, we must dismiss the inner critic from holding the megaphone up on the balcony in our mind’s audio-scape. Instead, we hire above that critic… and employ our inner self-advocate or inner ally in its place–the part of us that knows who we are in our wholeness.

What helps you remember your strengths? 

Imposter Syndrome

How we feel about ourselves impacts how we lead and how we experience life. If we can trust our inner goodness and what we know to be true about ourselves, in our bones, we learn self-acceptance and a deep love for ourselves that is hard to shake. When we find ourselves shaken, we can find our way back to ourselves–our ground–much faster. 

Imposter Syndrome lives in the gap between our perceived capacity and perceived expectations. This framing helps us play with ways to make the situations in which we feel the suffocating, anxiety-producing impact of imposter syndrome less intense and more manageable. One of the big things we forget when imposter syndrome has us in its grip is that we have choice. We have a choice in how we want to respond when it has a hold on us.

(For more on Imposter Syndrome, and that feeling of not being enough, see our post here.)

The Hierarchy of Competence 

Promotions often represent an opportunity to grow into a role. In fact, the etymology of the word itself means to advance or move forward. Knowing that growth is ahead can make promotions both exhilarating and nerve-wracking. There are always “known unknowns” and “unknown unknowns” with any role, and throughout life. How we relate to these unknowns in leadership is reflected in how we show up, whether it’s with imposter syndrome, humility, or curiosity. 

The four stages of competence arranged as a pyramid. (Reference: Wikipedia) In psychology, the four stages of competence, or the “conscious competence” learning model, relates to the psychological states involved in the process of progressing from incompetence to competence in a skill. (Reference: Wikipedia) 

The “hierarchy of competence” is a learning model that describes the stages people go through as they develop a new skill or knowledge area. These stages are: Unconscious Incompetence, Conscious Incompetence, Conscious Competence, and Unconscious Competence.

All four of these are constantly operating in our lives, but they can be especially pronounced when we step into a new role. 

If I know I haven’t yet become competent at something that’s part of my new role, approaching learning with a growth mindset will keep me from spiraling into self-defeating shame or imposter syndrome. 

(Image source) 

For each skill and task you’re required to perform in your role, you can map how competent you are at each. Whatever hasn’t been mastered yet (unconscious competence) represents an opportunity for learning, practice, and growth. But equally important is how you show up as you move through the continuum. 

How do you feel about yourself at each level? 

How do you relate to others from each level?

What are the behaviors you engage in for each level?

The Team Dynamics Around Your New Role

Were you part of the team you’re being promoted to run? Are you leading people who were your peers? Did you get the promotion over someone else in your organization? Were you an external hire brought in over an internal candidate?

Understanding the dynamics of the team or part of the organization you’re promoting into can be crucial to your success as you transition into your role. You might think of this as “reading the room.” If you’re already familiar with the team dynamics, you’ll have some context for understanding the work, the challenges, and the personnel. If you’re not familiar, this is a great place to listen and observe–learn what you can from previous leadership if that’s available, have 1:1s with the team members, and pay attention to your own instincts as an observer.

If you were part of the team that you’re now leading, you’ll need some separation between your old role and your new one. It’s time to get clear about what your new responsibilities are and the shifts those will require–in the work you do, in relationships, in embodying the leadership the organization needs from you–and re-draw the boundaries.

Each step of the promotional process, from the vacant leadership role up through actually being in the leadership seat, has the potential of creating tension along the way. Whether it was a competitive hiring process or direct appointment, internal or external candidate pool, how the team or individuals feel about the process and hiring selection may show up in interactions. You might face enthusiasm, indifference, or even resentment, but having grace while maintaining poise and the proper authority of the role is important during the transitional time.    

Reflection Questions

1. The Threshold:

• What are you feeling right now about this new role—excitement, fear, grief, pride?
• What part of you is ready for this? What part of you is scared?
• What stories from your past roles (or your past, period) are you bringing with you into this one?

2. Letting Go:

• What parts of your identity were wrapped up in your old role? What do you need to mourn as you let that go? What do you have to give up about yourself or your old identity that you love in order to step into the new opportunity?
• Are there any old beliefs–old subroutines– (e.g., “I have to do it all myself”) that you suspect won’t serve you anymore?

3. Capacity and Integrity:

• What kind of leader does this role ask you to become?
• What are your non-negotiables—values or boundaries you won’t sacrifice, no matter how high the stakes?
• What are your early warning signs that, with this promotion, you might stray from your center?
• Who might be available to “mirror your blindspots” (as the poet, John O’Donohue says in his poem, For A Leader) as you grow?

4. Relationships and Communication:

• How will you build trust with your new team? What would “trust-building” look like here?
• What kind of feedback do you need, and from whom, in order to thrive?
• Do your stakeholders understand how you operate at your best? Do you understand how they do? (Here’s an Operators Manual exercise for the team.)

5. Tending to Yourself:

• What practices will help you stay grounded in the face of complexity?
• What do you need to stay resourced emotionally, physically, and spiritually?
• What would support (not just advice) look like for you right now?