“…for your next role every day.” A quote from a mentor and friend.
For a lot of us, it is ‘end of the year performance review’ time. Yesterday, I was speaking to my mentor and friend, and he shared a little nugget with me that he tells his team often. “You’re interviewing for your next role every day.”
The conversation was one of those ‘A-HA’ moments we all enjoy having. If you are wanting to progress your career via internal lateral moves or promotions, this definitely is true. But what does it mean?
From my personal experience, it has been being promoted within the role without asking for it but demonstrating that I could be more. When my role has changed internally (one department to another), it was because my reputation proceeded me. My goal has been to strive to produce results that merits an ‘above average’ rating constantly. That way, when an opportunity comes around, I have demonstrated the drive and commitment needed for the new role, and I am ready.
Looking at this from another angle, this also means as people leaders, we should be constantly recognizing, coaching, mentoring, and providing feedback to the people that we lead. Their annual review should not be a surprise, but a reinforcement of what we have been working on together all year.
I hope that your annual review you receive this year provides the information and the plan to continue to be the best you can be in your current and future role. Have a great holiday season.
