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Sometimes knowing the right people isn’t about them advocating for you. I have risen to my current position significantly faster than the traditional timeline and I have my long-term eye on Sr VP of R&D of a F500 pharma company.
I have various mentors at this level and knowing them provides me access to a wealth of knowledge, what are the most critical skills, where depts show the greatest growth/value, let’s not forget about knowing all the right buzzwords… they advise me on how to negotiate, ask for work above my level as a demonstration of readiness etc.
Pro
It’s because they do not know how to climb the ladder. It’s about who you know and not what you know.
Definitely. So much of career success is in your people skills and how likeable/charismatic you are. If you can get an average amount of work done but be extremely likeable while you're doing it, you'll get promoted.
I’ve heard “who you know” matters - but how do they help? What do you need to do to get these other people to advocate for you?
Pro
Oh that’s easy! You need to become their favorite for them to advocate for you. Sometimes it’s simply a matter of “I really like so&so” during promotion talk
A VP in HR once told me, it's not about who you know, but about who knows you! I've tried to stay out of politics but I've learned that unless you network or become someone's "favorite", its hard to move up.
This is one of the unfortunate things about any workplace. Networking for promotions is like a part-time job on top of your already full-time job, so you have to decide if it's worth the extra time/effort for you to climb that corporate ladder.
Even when the whole department knows you…. It’s tough
Agreed SS1, I have the same approach. You are essentially creating your own BOD.
It helps to go for roles/activities that has visibility. But you have to do great work. Your network matters a lot