A Route to Follow to Get Ahead
Career ladders have largely disappeared in organizational life. Paths upward are clogged and promotions are no longer guaranteed. The result: stalled careers and disillusioned employees.
To put your career on an upward trajectory, you need to learn how to make the most of each situation. This includes knowing what to do when you get passed over for a promotion.
In a perfect work world, office politics don't exist, no one makes mistakes, and everyone who performs a job properly gets promoted. But the reality is that competence often takes a back seat to office politics, personality conflicts influence decisions, and the best person for a job isn't always the one who gets it.
A 28-year-old social worker in Chicago admits she had underestimated the importance of office politics before she encountered "the boss from hell." Despite the fact that she was admired and respected by many of her colleagues, co-workers and clients, she was passed over for a promotion she believed she deserved in favor of an outsider who knew nothing about the agency. While the newcomer had no social-work experience, she had management skills that the social worker lacked.
Career counselor Janet Scarborough, founder of Bridgeway Career Development in Seattle, says individuals often underestimate the importance of organizational politics while overestimating the role of skills and accomplishments. "When you get passed over for a promotion," she says, "you need to ask yourself: 'Have I paid enough attention to the organizational structure?' Get comfortable with the idea that the interpersonal component matters." In other words, if you shun office politics, don't be surprised if you get passed over for promotions. People who are good at office politics are good at building relationships in organizations.
For the social worker, the first task was sorting out the personal disappointment from the professional ramifications. While she could see the value of hiring someone with management experience, she resented what she saw as the devaluation of her social-work experience. She also suspected that her personality clash with her boss hadn't helped her situation. She was even less sure about whether she'd be able to respect and work with this new manager whose style was so different from hers.
From the other side, her boss worried that the social worker might try to undermine the new manager's authority instead of providing valuable input and expertise. If she wanted to keep her job, she needed to focus on forging a strong relationship with this new manager. This meant setting aside her personal feelings and acting professionally. Still, it wasn't easy for her to continue working in a place where she felt she had no future.
Not getting promoted turned out to be a key to forcing her to re-evaluate her priorities and make necessary changes. When she was able to place the lost promotion in perspective, she realized that, despite her ambition to be promoted, she didn't want to be a manager. She really wanted to become a social-policy analyst.
Proceed Carefully
Getting passed over for a promotion is almost always painful because the rejection feels so personal. But it may not be a reflection on your abilities at all. That's why it is important to get all the facts before you jump to conclusions. A 35-year-old marketing manager in New York figured this out after getting passed over for a promotion on three different occasions, despite the fact that, on paper, she was clearly the most qualified candidate for the job. The manager couldn't understand why apparently less-competent people kept getting promoted ahead of her, despite her outstanding achievement record with the company.
Because all the promotions had been given to less-qualified men, she felt she had only two options: file a discrimination suit or start looking for another job.
In such cases, proceed cautiously, says Lynn Friedman, a clinical psychologist in Bethesda, Md., who specializes in workplace issues. If you are a member of a minority group who has been turned down repeatedly for promotions despite stellar reviews and other kinds of formal recognition, it is natural to wonder whether these rejections are based on discrimination, Dr. Friedman says.
But wondering is different than knowing. Before generating any hypotheses about your boss's intentions, you should consider what other factors might be hampering your efforts. "Your boss may have reasons that have nothing to do with your minority status. For example, she may be more dependent on you than you fully appreciate. She may, for her own reasons, be afraid to lose you. It's important to learn more about why you have been turned down so that you can take effective steps to rectify the situation," Dr. Friedman says.
It's hard to accomplish those goals when you are upset or angry. Dr. Scarborough emphasizes the importance of staying calm during such discussions. She says, "Take time to reflect on your situation before seeking feedback. Come at the question from a positive place. Don't be confrontational."
Dr. Friedman agrees. "Deal with your feelings first, preferably with someone outside the workplace, before you go to your boss. Figure out what you want the outcome" of the talk to be, she says.
Work With a Mentor
In the case of the marketing manager, this meant soliciting feedback about what she needed to do to get a promotion. She asked her manager to help identify the skills and accomplishments she needed to position herself for the next promotion and sought her manager's support as a mentor to help her to achieve her goals.
What she discovered surprised her. Rather than devaluing or discriminating against her, the manager was actually grooming her to take over her own position as soon as the manager was promoted. In the meantime, she wanted to keep the marketing manager close to her so that she could continue to mentor her.
This opened the door for the marketing manager and her boss to discuss learning and growth opportunities the company could offer her in lieu of a promotion. Together they developed a career action plan that enabled the marketing manager to continue to expand her skills, increase her responsibilities and earn more money even though she didn't receive a promotion at that time.
Losing out on a promotion you wanted isn't the end of the world. It's not the end of your career, either. "Really successful people use [rejection] as a learning experience," Dr. Scarborough says. "They don't let it immobilize them. They use it as an opportunity to develop and exhibit resilience."
如何应对升职失利
企业组织内部升迁的机会已经变得十分稀少，上升道路障碍重重，升职机会也不再有保证，其结果就是：人们的事业发展陷于停滞，并且不再对升职抱有幻想。
为了让你的事业处于一个上升的轨道中，你需要学会应对各种情况，包括如果升迁机会旁落他人，你该怎样面对。
在一个理想的职场世界中，不存在什么办公室政治，没有人会犯错误，任何人只要工作干得好，就会得到提升。不过，现实情况却是，能力常常让位于办公室政治，个人矛盾往往会影响升职决定，最适合某项工作的人永远不是得到这项工作的人。
芝加哥一位28岁的社会工作者承认，在遇到她“魔鬼般的老板”之前，她低估了办公室政治的重要性。虽然她得到了许多同事和客户的赞赏和尊敬，但她在一次自认为非她莫属的升迁中输给了一个对业务一无所知的外行人。不过，虽然新经理没有任何社会工作经验，但却有这位社会工作者所缺乏的管理技巧。
西雅图Bridgeway Career Development的创始人、职业咨询师珍妮特?斯卡伯勒(Janet Scarborough)称，人们常常会低估职场政治的重要性，而高估工作技术和成果的作用。她说：“当你未能获得升迁的时候，你要扪心自问：‘我是不是对组织结构给予了足够的重视？’人际关系因素也会影响到升职，要适应这样的思路。”换句话说，如果回避办公室政治这个问题，你在错过升职机会的时候可不要感到意外。那些深谙办公室政治之道的人，在组织内部建立良好的人际关系就会得心应手。
对于前面那位社会工作者，她的首要任务是理顺个人对此次升职决定的失望情绪，虽然她可能意识到启用一位有管理经验的人的价值，但她同样认为这是对其社会工作经验的贬低。她还怀疑她与老板间的个性冲突在其中产生了负面的影响。她甚至不太确定是否能与这位新经理共事，她们的风格是如此的不同。
另一方面，她的老板担心这名社会工作者可能会试图削弱新经理的权威，而不是向其提供有价值的信息和经验。如果她想保住这个工作，她就得和新经理建立良好的关系，这意味著她要把个人恩怨放到一边，投入工作中。不过，她要继续这里的工作并非易事，因为她感到在已经没有什么前途可言。
未能获得升职促使她重新审视自己的喜好，并做出必要的调整。当她能够正确地看待此次升职后，她意识到，虽然她渴望获得提升，但她并不想成为一名经理，她真正像当的是一名社会政策分析师。
谨慎行事
未能获得升职的感觉总是非常痛苦的，这种被否定的滋味只有自己才能体会。不过这完全不能反映出你能力的大小，因此在你匆忙对自己下结论前，弄清所有的实际情况将十分重要。纽约一位35岁的营销经理就是这样的例子，她错过了三次提升的机会，虽然从理论上看，她显然都是这项工作的不二人选，她不能理解为什么能力不如她的人都在她之前获得了升职，况且她还为公司做出了非常突出的贡献。
由于这些升职的机会都给了那些能力不如她的男士，她感到自己只有两条路可走：指控公司性别歧视，或是开始找新工作。
马里兰州贝塞斯达的临床心理学家林恩?弗里德曼(Lynn Friedman)专门研究职场问题，她说，在这种情况下需要谨慎从事。弗里德曼说，如果你一再地与升职无缘，而你的工作表现一流，其他各方的评价也很不错，并且你又是某类少数族群的一员，很自然地你会想到这是否会与歧视有关。
不过，猜测毕竟是猜测。在你对老板的意图作出任何假定之前，你应该考虑一下是否有别的因素影响了你的升迁。弗里德曼说：“你老板的理由可能与歧视毫不相关。比如，她可能比你想像的更依赖你，她可能出于自己的考虑不愿失去你。更多地了解你不被提升的原因非常重要，这样你才能采取有效措施来扭转局面。”
如果你仍感到不安或是愤怒，你将很难了解到事实的真相。弗里德曼强调，在与老板进行此类交谈时保持冷静至关重要。她说：“在从老板那里获得反馈前，你要花些时间来冷静考虑一下自己的处境，从积极的方面来处理问题，不要有太强的抵抗情绪。”
弗里德曼认为：“首先要处理好自己的情绪，在你与老板谈话前，最好先和公司外的朋友进行交流，理清你想要的谈话结果是什么。”
与良师益友共事
在这位营销经理的例子中，她需要的谈话结果是弄清她怎样做才能获得升职。她请求她的经理指出要获得升职，她还需要那些技术和成果，并希望她的经理能支持她达到这些目的。
出乎她意料的是，经理并没有贬低她的工作或是歧视她的意思，经理实际是想培养她接替自己的位置，并希望这位营销经理能够呆在自己身边，这样就能继续对她进行指导了。
这位营销经理和她的老板也因此敞开了心扉，共同讨论起虽然未获升职，公司能给她提供的学习和发展机会。她们一同制定了一份职业行动计划，从而能够继续扩展这位营销经理的业务水平，增加她的责任，并提高她的薪酬，尽管此次她并没有获得提升。
没有获得你想要的升职并不是世界末日，也不是你事业的尽头。 斯卡伯勒说：“真正成功的人将升职失败作为一次学习体验，他们不会就此停滞不前，而会将此作为锻炼和表现自己意志力的机会。”
