Most people believe that promotion to the top of an organization is the most important promotion. Let us critically examine this assumption and learn from U.S. President Barack Obama (born in 1961).
Undoubtedly, promotion into the circle of top managers is fabulous for anyone intent on a great career. However, instead of viewing this as the most important kind of promotion, I suggest classifying it as the highest promotion. When deciding how to fill top jobs, management selects people from among a small, preselected group. For the executives involved, their highest promotion is often also their last. Meanwhile, at the other end of the spectrum, the first promotion is equally overvalued, even though it may seriously affect the person’s career. So the truly decisive promotion entails an individual’s acceptance into the ranks of those from whom the top executives of the future will have to be selected, because at some point in the hierarchy of any organization the pyramid suddenly narrows very sharply. Below that point, large organizations often have 30 to 40 suitable candidates for a single job, whereas for posts above that level mostly just 3 or 4 candidates come into question. So this is where the really decisive promotion lies.
When planning your advancement, be aware that careers, especially those of knowledge workers, will in future be defined less and less in terms of how often you have been promoted or how high you have risen, and judged more and more in terms of how important the tasks are that you will take on. This constitutes a shift to building a career by big tasks, as opposed to a shaping a career by promotion. Not everyone can become the leader of an organization, but many people can take on very important duties and thus make tremendous contributions. If you are intent on having a career and perhaps also a meaningful professional life, it is worthwhile thinking about such big tasks and seeking them out.
If you belong to the group that decides which individuals to include in the circle of people from whom future top executives will be recruited, you have a tremendous responsibility to select the right people, which is a more important and challenging task than is often assumed for this group. Decisions about which assignment to entrust to whom, and—more importantly—about who will be promoted, sends out very strong signals indeed, both within and outside the organization. There is no clearer indication of what the organization stands for, what it demands, and what it values. So if the effectiveness of your organization and a healthy corporate culture are very important to you too, focus on people’s performance and character rather than on whether or not you like them.
So what does all this have to do with Barack Obama? Well, take a look at his career from the viewpoint sketched out above, and you will soon see that his path to becoming a possible president of the United States of America began much earlier than most people believe. Not just when he announced that he would be standing for the presidency or when he won the nomination of the Democratic Party to be its candidate for the top job. And certainly not just during the election itself. No, the tipping point occurred, at the very latest, back in January 2005, when Obama took up his duties as senator of Illinois. That was when he joined the circle of people potentially eligible for the highest office. In actual fact, the decisive moment could be said to have occurred even earlier, when Obama was a serving as a member of the Illinois State Senate, because he was catapulted into the national political arena in 2004 after delivering an inspirational speech at the Democratic National Convention in Boston, where John Kerry won the party’s presidential nomination.
Think about the decisions that could shape your trajectory; in most cases your career path will begin earlier than you might initially imagine. If professional development is what you are after, seek out big tasks, and do so without expecting a promotion to result. If you do a good job, others will almost certainly want to further your advancement anyway.
Also think very carefully about which direction you want your career to move in. Many people allow themselves to be lured into a career by the attraction of associated power, status symbols, or social recognition. If the kind of activities, the anticipated level of pressure, and the private sacrifices this would involve are incompatible with your value system or your idea of a meaningful life, then you should change your tack. So think very carefully about whether you really want to become a manager. Many top specialists in their field have deliberately decided against management, preferring instead to continue working in their specialist domain.
Many people take too one-sided a view, considering only the positive aspects of new, bigger tasks. It is important to bear in mind that recognition also brings responsibility that you will have to fulfill. This responsibility constitutes a major opportunity, but you must decide for yourself whether you are willing and able to take it on.
Accordingly, Obama does not regard the Nobel Peace Prize one-sidedly, as just an honor, but above all he sees it as a responsibility.
Focus on the performance and character of your employees, not on whether you like them. Use your influence to make sure that the right people fill senior management posts—for those are the people who represent what the organization stands for.
Which major tasks should you take on?