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Jessica was a high performer with 10 years’ experience in her specialty retail field. She loved her job, but did not feel that her title accurately reflected neither her scope of responsibility or level of contribution to the business. She often asked about career advancement and could not understand why senior leadership did not consider her requests for a promotion.
In the course of our 360-degree feedback process, we learned that, while Jessica’s managers appreciated her skills, the way in which she communicated the complaints about her job title and handled challenges from peers and her manager about her department, made her come across like she wasn’t ready for the next level.
In Jessica’s coaching sessions, we discussed ways to adjust her interaction style to more closely align with her career goals.
- Think about how you are presenting yourself: Are your behaviors representative of the job you seek? Or are certain aspects causing people to question your readiness (e.g., your tone of voice, facial expressions)? Executive presence resource
- Act the part first: Go above and beyond your current job duties to show that you are ready for additional responsibility.
- Seek feedback: Identify partners that can give you “just in time” (JIT) feedback to monitor how your actions are perceived.
Leader’s Reaction:
Jessica was surprised at the 360-degree feedback results, because she did not realize how she was coming across. She realized that she needed to adopt a more positive attitude and has stopped complaining and “pouting” about her title.
Outcome:
It took some time for peers to buy in to the new behavior, but eventually Jessica noticed that her peers started asking for her input and listened more to her ideas. She has taken on more responsibility and has recently presented a recommendation that is under management consideration: adding a vertical function to her team. Jessica was promoted within six months of receiving and acting on her feedback.