For years, when I was climbing the corporate ladder, I assumed my promotion was between me and my boss. What reason did I have to think otherwise? They were the ones giving me feedback. They were the ones I reported to. It seemed logical that they would be the ones who would decide when I was ready.
So in each role, I focused my energy on making sure my boss saw my work, heard my ideas, and knew what I was capable of. And truthfully, I rarely put effort into building any other stakeholder relationships.
Don't get me wrong, if the CEO wanted to have a conversation or I found myself in a room with a cross-functional VP, of course I would bring my best. But I wasn't proactive in ensuring I had strong relationships with key stakeholders. In fact, I didn't even really think about it at all.
I remember when I was a director working to get promoted to VP, and trying to convince my boss that I was ready for that title, he asked me a question:
“Do you think the rest of the senior management team would support me making you a VP? If we put it to a vote, would they all vote yes?”
I wasn't sure what to say. I knew the answer was “no” because I didn't have a great relationship with one of the most influential executives, and when I thought about it, I wasn't sure whether the other VPs saw me as a peer or not. At the time, I had no idea why he was asking me this or why it even mattered. It was only later that I realized how promotions actually happen. My boss was one voice, but he wasn't the only person weighing in. In fact, these decisions were made by the team as a whole.
I see this all the time now with the women I work with. They have an amazing relationship with their boss. Their boss loves them! And they assume that’s enough. But when the promotion conversation happens, their boss is sitting in a room with other leaders who need to agree. And if those leaders don’t know you well enough to say “yes, she’s ready,” the answer usually ends up being “not yet.”
I can think of multiple clients who have been put up for promotion by their boss and it was denied. That's proof right there!
So today I want to get tactical about this. Who are the people who actually influence your promotion, and what can you start doing this week to get on their radar?
Let’s dive in…
Your boss is one vote, not the only vote
I think most of us assume that our direct manager has more power over our promotion than they actually do. And at the manager or senior manager level, that might be true. Your boss puts your name forward for a promotion, and it usually happens.
But once you get to director and above, it doesn’t work like that anymore. Promotions at the senior level almost always require buy-in from multiple leaders. Your boss might be your biggest champion, but if the other people in the room don’t have enough information to back you, it may not happen.
I experienced this firsthand as an executive when I started sitting in on these conversations. We’d be discussing whether someone was ready for a bigger role, and it wasn’t just their boss making the case. Everyone at the table would weigh in. And if someone said, “I'm not sure I see her as a leader,” or “I’ve only seen her present once, and it was fine, but nothing stood out,” that was enough to slow things down.
Your boss can want to promote you with everything they’ve got. But if they’re the only ones at the table who can vouch for you, they’re fighting an uphill battle.
And this becomes even more important at the VP level. Consider how important it is for your organization to make the right decision when it comes to the executive team. They want to take as little risk as possible at that level, meaning you want everyone sitting at that table to support your promotion! If the stakeholders weighing in are doubting your readiness, your boss is not going to be able to save you.
So who are the 3-5 people who matter?
This is going to vary depending on your organization, but here’s a general framework for figuring out who actually influences your promotion:
Your boss’s peers. These are the other leaders at your boss’s level or above. When your boss puts your name forward, these are the people who need to agree. If they don’t know you, they can’t support you. And if they can’t support you, your boss has a much harder time making the case.
Your boss’s boss (or whoever approves the decision). Depending on the size of your company, this person may or may not know you well. But they almost certainly have a say. If the only thing they know about you is your name on an org chart, that’s a problem.
Cross-functional leaders you work with (or should be working with). These are the people who lead other functions that interact with yours. If you’re in marketing, this might be the head of sales or the head of product. These relationships matter because they show that you can operate beyond your own team, which is exactly what VPs need to do.
Key stakeholders or senior people who have informal influence. Every organization has people whose opinions carry weight even if they’re not directly involved in the decision. Maybe it’s a long-tenured leader who everyone respects, or someone on the exec team who has a reputation for spotting talent. If these people know you and think highly of you, it helps. If they don’t know you at all, it’s a missed opportunity.
Take a minute and think about who these people are in your organization. Can you name 3-5 people outside of your direct boss who would need to say “yes” for your promotion to go through? Write them down, and then ask yourself: How well do they actually know you and your work?
How to get on their radar (starting this week)
If you wrote down 3-5 names and discovered that they probably wouldn't support your promotion today, don't worry. Now that you're aware, you can actually get intentional about changing this.
Here’s the good news: this isn’t complicated. It just takes some intention. Here are a few things you can start doing right away:
Put regular time on their calendar. This is the simplest thing, and the one most women skip. Set up a monthly or bi-weekly one-on-one with the leaders who matter. It doesn’t need to be formal. You can frame it as wanting to better understand their priorities so you can find ways to support them. Most leaders will say yes to this, and it immediately gets you face time you didn’t have before.
Share your thinking, not just your updates. When you do interact with these leaders, whether it’s in a meeting, a one-on-one, or even over coffee, don’t just report on what your team is doing. Share an insight. Offer a perspective on something the business is facing. Ask a thoughtful question about their function. You want them to walk away thinking, “She thinks about the business, not just her area.” That’s the perception that matters.
Volunteer for cross-functional work that puts you in front of them. If there’s a cross-functional project, a task force, or a strategic initiative that involves leaders on your list, raise your hand. Not to add more to your plate for the sake of being busy, but to create natural opportunities to work alongside the people who matter. This is how you build real working relationships that go deeper than just chatting in the hallway.
Make your boss’s job easier. Your boss is going to be the one making the case for you. Help them out. Make sure they have specific examples of your impact that they can share. Make sure they know about the cross-functional relationships you’re building. When your boss walks into that room, you want them armed with more than “she’s great and she works hard.” You want them to be able to say, “She’s already operating at the VP level, and here’s the proof.”
The bottom line
Your promotion isn’t decided by one person. It’s decided by a group of people, many of whom you may not have a strong relationship with today. And if those people don’t know you, don’t know your work, and can’t picture you at the next level, even the best boss in the world is going to struggle to get it done for you.
The good news is that once you know who these people are, building those relationships is 100% in your control. And it doesn’t take years. It takes intention.
Ready to cover all the bases you need to get promoted?
If you want help shifting the perception that you're ready for a VP role and ensuring that you're focused on the right things to be a successful exec, early bird registration is now open for the next cohort of Own Your Seat at the Table, my exec leadership program for women who want to land that VP or senior leadership role and thrive there.
The topic from today's newsletter is just one of the things we work on together: mapping out the people who matter, building a plan for getting visible with them, and making sure that when the promotion conversation happens, you’ve got more than just your boss in your corner.
Not only that – my only goal is to help you show up as the best leader you can be and land that promotion. Trust me when I say that we are 100% aligned!
Early bird pricing won’t last long, so if you’ve been thinking about it, now’s the time.
And if you’d like to chat with me first to see if it’s the right fit, you can book a call here.
Until next time friends… ✌️💜
Katy
