Lynne Levy outlines three steps to move from individual contributor to people leadership: build a fan-base of peer and senior supporters, have a direct 15-minute conversation with your manager about promotion readiness and the next-level job description, and set concrete development goals while getting feedback from cross-functional colleagues.
Chapters
Lynne Levy from The Inspired Product Leader. It is approaching that time of year again, the time of the dreaded performance review. So my guess is you've been working like crazy all year, especially with the COVID crisis, working from home. You're ready. You're ready for that promotion. You are ready to move into people leadership. My guess is you've felt like an individual contributor for a really long time. You're ready. It's your turn. So what do you do? How do you get on that promotion track? So let's walk through a couple of things I want you to start to do today to help move you and get you that promotion. First is I actually want you to build a base of people who think you're a rock star, who know the value you bring to an organization. Now, I want, I want you to make sure that they're at both your level and one level up. Tell people you are looking to move into leadership. Tell people you are looking to get promoted. Make sure they know about all the accomplishments. Excuse me, all of your wonderful accomplishments in the world of product. Second, I actually want you to have an honest conversation with your boss. Now, I know you're probably in the middle of 2021 roadmap planning. Your boss is overwhelmed and busy, but you need to spend 15 minutes with him or her talking about your career path. You need to tell them you are ready for the next level, and I want you to get specific with them. What do you need to do to get to that next level? What are those knowledge gaps? Get a copy of the job description for the next level up. Then I want you to build goals. So if, let's say, you need to improve your communication skills. So let's build some goals around them. And last, I want you to ask for feedback. I know it's really uncomfortable to ask people for feedback, but it's really important. I want you to start to ask your colleagues, folks from engineering, your cross-functional team members, and actually, and other leaders for feedback. Ask them about your leadership skills. Ask them about your strategy skills. Ask them how you can improve. I know asking for feedback can be really uncomfortable, but it's important that you take a breath, ask for feedback, and then process the feedback to understand what are those gaps. So again, you have a couple of months. Let's get you on that promotion path. This is what I do as part of my programs to help you, as I like to say, be comfortable being uncomfortable to level up in the world of product management. And the good news is it works. All of my clients, you move, they move into leadership positions, and most importantly, they're happy and they love what we do. So again, what there are things you can start to do today to get you on the right, right track. Build a fan base of people who think you're awesome. Have an honest conversation with your boss. And number 3, I want you to ask for feedback. So I'm here if you have any questions. Thank you so much and have a great day.
