Five Questions: What actually gets you promoted?
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What is the main question about promotions in the workplace?
Welcome to Fear and Greed Q&A, where we ask and answer questions about business, investing, economics, politics, and more. I'm Michael Thompson, and good morning, Sean Aylmer. Good morning, Michael. And good morning to you, Adam Lane. Good morning, Michael. Good morning, Sean. All right. Five questions all on one broad theme. And today that theme and that question is what actually gets you promoted? I want to talk about promotions. This is a workplace story, this one. Question number one, Adam, is doing your job well enough? Enough. Well, enough. Is doing your job well enough to get promoted anymore, Adam? Yes, but not alone. Oh, I knew you were going to say that. Like it's always a composite answer, an omnibus.
So it's not just a yes or no. I shouldn't just specify I want yes or no's here. Doing your job well is not enough to get you promoted. That's what you're saying here. I am. I'm saying that. Okay. We're going to dig in a moment into the other things that you need to be doing. Sean, do you feel that just doing a stellar job, you're going to get noticed, right? That'll do. You're going to get promoted.
Totally depends what industry you're in. Sometimes, yes, it is. Good enough. Other times, you've got to suck up big time. Media, for example.
All right.
Is doing your job well enough to get promoted?
Okay, then. Next question. If there is one thing that requires that you need to do in order to get promoted, what is it? And can I suggest if you had to pick one of two, is it performance or is it visibility? Because if you're doing a good job and no one sees it, Does it even count?
So my rule of thumb, right, for me to be promoted and given I now run a small business with YouTube long because clearly it hasn't worked. But prior to this, prior to this, my rule was if I make my boss look good, I'll be okay. And so it wasn't so much about visibility. I mean, you know, there's politics and all that, but the person who's going to most likely improve my prospects is my immediate boss. So make your boss look good. You'll be okay.
Good point. Adam? Be a good teammate. Oh, so it's not just up, it's to the side as well. So I should remember we're in a podcast and me pointing at the roof and then pointing to the sides does not work quite as well in audio. I prefer the greasy elbows, Adam. Greasy elbows, eh? Shove aside. Here I come. All right. The next component then, how important is... relationships, how important is networking kind of, is it a case of, um, who, you know, is as important as, as kind of what you do. Do you network? Do you need to know them? Yeah. That feels very loaded there, Sean. Adam, you are fantastic at relationships, at maintaining, having kind of watched you now for a long time, that you just have a very good contact with a lot of people.
How important is networking if you want to get promoted? Or is there a risk that you're going to kind of split your focus and you end up kind of trying to be friends with everyone?
I don't know that I am great at networking. So I don't think networking for networking's sake has any point at all. Yeah. Right? So just to go to a function, oh, I better meet people. It's like, no, just in your day-to-day relationships, build really strong relationships. Working relationships.
Is this coming from Adam Lang, this particular commentary? I've never known a man to go to a function just to meet people like Adam Lang goes to a function.
Have you noticed that he doesn't go to meet people? He walks in there and he already knows every second person. Like if you, Sean, want to meet people, you go with Adam. Because he knows everyone. Hang off his coattail. Oh, a hundred percent. A well-connected fellow, this Adam Lang.
Did you know, actually, I was on Hamilton Island last weekend visiting one of the kids and I'm sitting there and this guy comes up to me and he says, Sean. And I looked at him, I thought, actually, I know you, but I don't know who you are. And he said, Michael and Adam, how are they? I'm like, They were connected to this fella. And I wasn't. And I've told Adam who it is. And maybe I shouldn't say it on.
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