The Dangers of Early Promotion
Don't drive your career into a ditch. Here's that time I took a job I wasn't ready for and my confidence almost killed me.
When I was about twelve or thirteen I went to a relative’s farm to do a bit of work and maybe earn a few bob (that’s Irish for "$$$”). It was summertime and I was working with my cousin. We were tasked with herding cattle, moving hay, cleaning out barns, and generally doing whatever was needed. He was older and well versed in farming whereas I grew up in Dublin and hadn’t much clue what I was doing.
On this particular day, I think we were turning hay and my cousin decided I was ready to run the tractor. This wasn’t a little ride-along John Deere mower, this was a full-sized Massey Ferguson with thousands of pounds of torque, no safety features, and a PTO1 that would flay you alive. My cousin thought it would be cool if I drove it and I completely agreed.
I had driven tractors before this but in very controlled conditions and I certainly wasn’t ready to be let loose on this one. Nevertheless, I was brimming with adrenaline and confidence and eager to impress my cousin so I felt very much ready for the job. How hard could it be?
I climbed up into the seat, threw it into the first available gear, let off the clutch, and proceeded to drive that tractor straight into the ditch almost tipping it over to 45 degrees sideways. If it had rolled I would’ve easily been killed. Or worse; we might’ve lost the hay!
My cousin saved the day and no one ever found out but I didn’t drive again for a good long while…
When Should You Be Promoted?
In most cases, you should be promoted only after having already operated at the next level for a sustained period. Think of the promotion as a confirmation that you’re already there. I don’t recommend promoting someone into a role if they haven’t already shown that they are competent with the core responsibilities of the next level. I would argue that promoting someone too early will set that person up to fail and it will be very hard for them to recover.
I’ve written before that “Nothing will kill a career quicker than being promoted too early.“
The goal is not growth at all costs but to set the person up for long-term success.
Confidence is King
Sad to say but I’ve found the world is not that welcoming. To make your way through life you need to advocate for yourself and believe in yourself. Without some degree of self-confidence, it can be tough to make progress. Even as I’m saying this I’m reminded of my struggle with Imposter Syndrome and I acknowledge this is a challenge for so many of us. Don’t be afraid to believe and advocate for yourself.
It’s your mentor/manager’s job to build up that confidence when it’s lacking and to knock it back when it’s over-loaded. I wish someone would’ve told me I wasn’t ready for that tractor! I still have flashbacks to that moment even now.
How to Talk about Promotion
Share your career aspirations with your manager. Don’t be afraid to discuss your vision for where you want to go. Be specific! “I’d like to be a CTO, a Principal Engineer, a VP of Eng”, whatever aligns with your goals. These are all great places to start the conversation and from there you can develop a plan to reach your goal.
Introspection and the Importance of Writing Things Down
How do you view yourself? What’s your mental image? Have you ever written it down?
Part of the reason I write this SubStack is to calm down and formalize my thoughts. The act of writing is almost like an extrusion machine wherein all the ideas and fleeting images in my head are forced through the keyboard into black and white on the screen. Then I read. Then I re-read. Then I re-write and I re-read again. It’s hard.
Objectivity and your Autobiography
If you were to write your one-pager biography what would it look like? What are your accomplishments? Have you sat down and listed them out? Go beyond just the details of what you did and examine what was the outcome. Are you solving the right problems? Are you having the right impact? Sometimes we do great work but its impact is minimal. And sometimes the reverse.
Think of this as your “Brag" Sheet. It can serve as a way to get a sense of where you stand backed by data and evidence2. Before you engage in a career/promotion discussion take a moment to baseline where you are today. Write it down. No really, write it down. (yes it’s hard)
Once you’ve done your homework the next step is to compare your perception to the world’s. Ask your manager to write down their view on your contributions. This is a great exercise if they’re willing to do it and then together you can examine the gaps.
What do they see in you that you didn’t think of? What are you doing that they are not aware of? What are you each expecting of each other?
Are We There Yet?
Once you’ve compared notes with your lead you can discuss the expectations for the next level. What opportunities do you need to explore to develop those muscles and continue your growth?
Always drive the conversation with data - Reference your group’s Career Ladder or Leveling Guide so you have a common set of expectations. Here’s a handy reference if your Org doesn’t have one:
The Searing Spotlight of Early Promotion
When you get promoted the team notices, the organization notices, and your peer group notices. Hopefully, they’ll all congratulate you because they see your impact and support the promo. But if that’s not the case it can lead to problems.
At every stage in your career people hold different expectations of you. It’s complex and nuanced but you should expect to be implicitly compared to others already operating at that level. It’s just human nature.
You will be called upon to do things you’ve never done before. You will be pushed and it will be hard, even if you’ve been operating at the new level for a while.
Let’s Learn from Each Other
Now, it's your turn to share. Have you ever found yourself in over your head? Or perhaps you've experienced a moment when you realized you were truly ready for that next big step in your career? Drop your story in the comments below – whether it's a close call, a triumph, or a lesson learned the hard way.
We all need a support network. Let's learn from each other. Your successes and your stumbles might be the insight another reader needs to hear.
“Oh the Places You’ll Go” - Dr Seuss.
In this life, you need a bottomless reservoir of confidence to try new things. To go beyond your limits. When you succeed at something you’ve never done before it becomes the new “floor”. Confidence builds. You try bigger things.
When you stretch too far you fail and it can be humbling. Even humiliating (e.g. public speaking). Confidence takes a beating. It becomes harder to try again. If that becomes a trend you may never recover and THAT is the negative cycle you should avoid at all costs.
My task was simple, drive the tractor in a straight line from here to there. But I wasn’t ready and no one held me back. I failed epically but I was lucky. We didn’t lose the hay and no one ever found out (except my cousin and I guess all of you reading this).
Don’t drive your career into the ditch. Take your time. Life is long. Enjoy the ride and above all, protect the hay.
a PTO or “Power Take-Off” is the connector that powers attachments on the back of a tractor. It’s an exposed shaft that spins with all the power and force of the transmission. It’s extremely dangerous and one of the reasons you never wear loose clothing when working on heavy machinery.
Shout out to Taq Karim who reviews all my posts including this one and provided this great insight.