We all want to get promoted quickly. At the begining of your career, you can get through couple of job levels quickly, because you are hired below the expected average level for the job. Once you reach certain senior level, it is getting harder and harder to get to the next level. There is only so many VP positions available in any given company.
Manage your boss has two meanings :
- make sure your boss understand your strength and your career development path, and not waiting for your boss to discover it;
- support your boss to be successful. Once your boss is promoted, there is a place for you to get promoted to as well.
The first item is more about reaching out to your boss, instead of passively hope your boss will find your value. You should always let your boss know your strengh and what you are expecting in your career development. And you should periodically discuss your status and progress w/ your boss, and not wait for your boss to give you performance review. When the opportunity comes, he/she obviously will first think about the person who already talked to him/her about this. This is actually part of manage yourself.
The second item is really more about managing your boss. Assuming you like what you are doing, what you want to get promoted to is then likely your boss' job. However, he/she is not going to give you his/her job and let him/herself be jobless. Some people think that sabatage your boss is the best way, but that usually backfire more than often. By doing so, your boss' boss basically view the whole department (where your boss is managing) is poorly performed, and it is highly unlikely he/she will choose a new loser to manage a already bad department. The best way is to do all you can to make your boss successful. By growing the pie bigger, it creates more opportunity. When your boss get promoted, he/she will remember who made him/her successful and more likely you will get the job.
You need to demonstrate that you are promotion worthy. The best way to do so is to think like your boss. Many time where there is a problem, people runs to their boss to complain and expect the boss to solve the problem (and that's why your boss get paid more.) Instead of that, when you have a problem, you need to think about possible solutions. Then you go tell your boss that there is problem A, the potential solution is B. In order to execute solution B, you need your boss' support on C (e.g. resource, etc.) Your boss will definitely appreciate that there is already a potential solution available. It is not only a less problem to worry about. He/she can already take credit for fixing a problem w/o any work from his/her part !
