Promotions get harder the higher you go. Doing 80% right won’t get you there. You need the whole package to move up.
Customer Journey Series: Jim
This article is part of a customer journey series following “Jim,” a VP of Research and Development in a multi-national pharma company navigating shifting organizational demands, rapid leadership changes, and pressure to adapt and keep his team functioning.
His journey explores leadership presence, empathy, decision making, managing low performers, and helping talented employees grow.
Each post explores a real coaching conversation or leadership challenge from that journey.
This is the fifth post in Jim’s series.
While Jim had his fair share of low performers, he had many others who were chomping at the bit to get ahead. Here’s how he handled one person who wanted more career growth.
Jonathan was a director, two levels below Jim, but they had been friends for a long time and Jonathan considered Jim a mentor.
In Q3, Jonathan came to Jim to discuss where he could grow and discuss his goals.
In our coaching session, Jim told me, “I often get this request from my team, and I tell them don’t just to come in with goals, but a list of skills they need to develop to reach them. That usually gets them to think a little harder.”
With Jonathan, though, the meeting quickly turned into a conversation about his frustration. He felt that no matter what he did, there was nowhere for him to go. He just felt trapped.
Jim told him this situation is not static. For example, Jim could move and his job would open up. Jim encouraged him to see that leadership at the company moved quickly.
Jim told Jonathan, “If you tell me that my position is where you want to go, let’s work to get you prepared.”
Jim reflected on Jonathan’s situation. “I understand his frustration. He doesn’t think anything is going to change in the short term. He was promoted to director four years ago.”
He noted that Jonathan had outstanding technical skills, but the leadership skills were not there. He had improved, Jim said, noting that Jonathan had very poor leadership skills in the beginning. He clashed with his direct reports.
They did a 360 and gave him specific goals:
- Let people finish
- Listen without getting defensive
- Convey his opinion in a respectful way
Even though Jim saw a lot of improvement this year, Jim didn’t think Jonathan was ready to be promoted to AVP level.
Jim noted that he had started really below expectations for his leadership skills. He would roll his eyes, give big sighs, knit his eyebrows, and in general, showed impatience and disrespect with his body language. Jim was patient with him, gave him honest feedback in an acceptable way, and he started to learn better habits.
“He’s improved, but he’s not there yet. I can tell by the way he delivers and receives feedback. I wasn’t happy with the way the whole conversation happened. He said he wanted to talk about growth, but he really just wanted a promotion. It was a surprise, and I was not ready to discuss a promotion.”
Then Jonathan suggested that if the management track didn’t work, could he get promoted to the technical track?
In our session, Jim considered the option. “I have mixed feelings about this. That could be a solution to get him to the next level. He is very strong technically. The advantage is that it plays up his strengths. But it also might be a compromise for him and offer less opportunity for growth. He feels the management side is blocked now, but once he is in the technical side, there is no going back, and he might feel stuck there too.”
Jim was thoughtful about Jonathan. He wasn’t ready yet, but if he worked on his leadership skills, Jim believed he could get there.
“Jonathan loves managing his lab, and he’s very good at it.”
But Jim also saw his point. Jonathan could work hard over the next year, and Jim might still be there.
In our session, I asked Jim to think in broader terms. What was driving Jonathan’s desire to move up? Did he need the money from a promotion?
Jim said no. He’s happily married and has had good vacations with his family.
“So why does he need to move up now?” I asked.
“Maybe I should ask him,” said Jim. “But my guess is that it’s because two other team members at his level are being promoted. Two out of four at his level showed better leadership and got positions.”
Jim reflected: “Promotions get harder the higher you go. He gets outstanding ratings on his performance, but sometimes there are people issues. This is the kind of place where that matters. You need the whole package to move up.”
But even if he becomes a technical leader, Jim noted that he still needs to be much more approachable. He needs to be more supportive. “It’s just an expectation here,” Jim said.
“We have to schedule conversations about growth with team members quarterly,” Jim said.
I said that was a great practice.
Jim told Jonathan that he would follow up in the next 1:1. Jim wanted to be strategic in his approach to this topic and wanted time to think it through.
Jim planned how to work through the conversation.
1. Start by discussing the gap he sees for leadership at either track.
2. Then ask, in 3 years, where do you see yourself? Try to get to the bottom of the question of technical lead or leadership side and find out what he really wants to do.
Jim wanted to communicate empathetically and get him to see that urgency was not in his best interest.
Promotions are not so fast at this level.
The whole conversation helped me clarify a few things with Jim.
- Supportive leadership skills like empathy and listening matter.
- There are fewer promotions the higher you get. The stakes are continually raised and you have to keep improving.
- Take time to help people understand their best pathway forward.
These principles are true at many companies. Understanding how to get from where you are to the next level is not always easy.
In my experience, I see that a lot of people get 80% of what they need to move up, and stall there. Getting the extra 20% is rare and often pays off.
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