Enlist Your Boss’s Help For Getting A Promotion (Without Scaring Him)

If you want to move up in your company, the best way is through your boss. Asking for help getting promoted, however, can be tricky — especially if your boss thinks you want his or her job. CNN Money offers a tactful way to enlist your boss’s help.

First, you’ll want to emphasise your loyalty to the company and frame the conversation as a discussion about your career, asking your boss for advice on skills to work on so you can make a better contribution. Then:

Ask for your boss’s help in reaching out to other managers, both at his level and one rank higher. “Say something like, ‘I’d appreciate having their input into my career planning, especially what skills I need to develop and where in the company those might be most useful,’” says [career consultant and author John Beeson]. “Managers outside your immediate sphere can be influential in opening doors for you in other parts of the company. They can recommend you for openings that are never posted anywhere, so you want to get on their radar screen for when the timing is right.”

This all assumes you don’t have a horrible boss who wants to keep you from moving up, but if your manager is decent, why not have him or her pave the way for you? (Just make sure you really know what you’re getting into when you get promoted.)

How to tell your boss you want to move up (but not into his job) [CNN Money]
Photo by David Blackwell.