Copyright © 2008 Ed Bagley
There is probably not a day in America when at least a
million employees wonder "When am I going to get promoted?"
or "I am so upset that they promoted him and not me?"
On that very same day there are hundreds of managers or
employers who, when confronted about offering a promotion
would say, "If you want to get promoted, do something and I
will promote you," or, when confronted about a promotion
they made would say, "You are simply not ready to be
promoted."
These workplace sentiments happen because employees tend to
look only at opportunity, and employers tend to look only
at preparedness. The reality of life is that the greatest
explosion can only occur when opportunity meets
preparedness.
The fact is, millions of employees would get promoted
before their counterparts if they were better prepared
before an opportunity occurred.
Imagine for a moment how fired up I would be if the Seattle
Seahawks suddenly needed a middle linebacker after a
serious injury to their All-Pro and 3-time Pro-Bowl Samoan
Middle Linebacker Lofa Tatupu. Imagine that Mike Holmgren,
the Seahawk coach who will retire after the season and
wants desperately to get to and win another Super Bowl on
his way out, calls for an open tryout nationally.
Hundreds of wannabe professional football players would
show up for the tryout. All of them would have played high
school or college football. Some would be very big. Some
would be very fast. A very few would be able to take the
pounding that you would receive fighting off 300-pound-plus
nasty offensive linemen. Even less would be great open
field tacklers. A scant 1 or 2 might be able to cover a
tight end or slot receiver.
Exactly none of them would have all or enough of the skills
to compete effectively in the National Football League or
they would already be there. In short, they would not be
prepared to take advantage of a great opportunity to
succeed in the NFL.
This is an extreme example, but an example nonetheless, of
how too often opportunity does not meet preparedness when
offered.
So how does one get prepared to meet opportunity in the
workplace? The obvious answer is acquire more education
and/or training. If you do not have a college degree in an
academic discipline, do whatever it takes to get one. If
you do not have specialized or professional training in a
certain task, get involved in a technical training course
at a vocational school.
Make yourself more marketable to be hired at a higher level
task, or to be promoted to a higher level task.
Believe it or not, as difficult as it may be for you to
acquire more education or training, it will be far easier
than accomplishing the second route to getting prepared to
meet opportunity head on when it arrives. That will require
personal growth.
Personal growth is 100 times more difficult to achieve than
professional growth because it requires that you not only
learn or become aware of new information, but forces you to
willingly change your thought process and belief system.
People CAN change but most choose not to.
You will rise higher faster by achieving more personal
growth than professional growth. If you do not believe me,
that is your business, but you might want to ask yourself
this question:
If it only takes professional growth to get on in life, why
is it that there are so many people with college degrees,
professional training, smarts and talent that are not
promoted and are also prejudiced, intolerant, judgmental,
self-centered, self-absorbed and sometimes even nasty?
----------------------------------------------------
Read my 4-part series on Job Interviews: "It Is Not What
You Say, But How You Say It That Counts ' Part 1", "How to
Answer When Asked Your Strengths and Weaknesses ' Part 2",
"How to Handle Job References ' Part 3" and "What Do
Employers Really Want When Hiring? ' Part 4".
Find my Blog at:
http://www.edbagleyblog.com
http://www.edbagleyblog.com/JobsandCareers.html
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