Want a Promotion? Write a letter that gets you noticed.
by Susan West

Jackie has been in her current job for more than 4 years. She has mastered projects she’s received year in and year out. She feels that she’s gone as far as she can in her current position. She’d like her boss and human resources department to know of her interest in advancement. Jackie writes a letter that points out her qualifications, experience and eagerness for a promotion. She bases her request on her performance and progress alone.

Here are some dos and don’ts that Jackie kept in mind when crafting the letter.

DO’S

Tone of the letter
Jackie writes in a formal writing style and she checks her grammar, vocabulary and spelling. She is brief, confident and respectful.

Jackie begins her letter by saying that she has enjoyed working for the company. Jackie ends it by thanking her employer for taking the time to consider her request.

Why she wants a promotion
She states that her reason for seeking a promotion is to look for new challenges. She adds that she believes that she deserves what she is asking for.

List of accomplishments
Keeping in mind the position that she wants, Jackie does the following:

• Gives examples of her accomplishments, loyalty, years of service, etc.
• Lists her most important contributions to the company, including specific projects that she’s devised or managed.
• Focuses on the progress she has made while at her company.
• Mentions the skills that she’s acquired in her current job and any outside business classes or seminars she’s attended.
• Concludes that she is ready to move up the ladder.

Request for an appointment
Jackie concludes her letter with a request for an appointment to discuss a new opportunity within the company.

Resume
Jackie has updated and enclosed her resume with her letter of interest.

References
Jackie has received many compliments from her colleagues and clients. She contacts them before she mentions this in her letter to make sure they would be willing to write actual letters of recommendation on her behalf when the time comes.

DON’TS

Jackie has avoided the following:

• Don’t waste your employer’s time. She immediately gets to the point and states the reason why she believes she’s qualified for a promotion.
• Don’t demand a promotion. Jackie is careful to make her letter a respectful request.
• Don’t confuse your employer with auxiliary information that could weaken the message you actually want to convey. Jackie only mentions those skills that are needed to be successful in her new venture.
• Don’t tell your boss what a ‘good egg’ you are and how you get along with everybody else. Maintain a professional tone and stick with your talents.
• Don’t threaten to look for alternative employment if the request isn’t granted. This may not be the right time to get a promotion, but there will likely be another opportunity. For Jackie,her attitude of goodwill will be remembered and be considered for another opening.

Click here for a view of a sample letter, The Promotion Letter

by Susan West
Have you ever had a great thought or idea and then could not remember it a few days later? I have. And does it ever make me mad when I cannot remember a moment of my own brilliance. Funny how we have things come into our mind unexpectedly and they make perfect sense or raise a curiosity. Some of greatest leaders, philosophers have referred to their notes, journals, diaries for information that lead to a significant event.

Do you use a planner, a daily calendar, a task list? Whatever you use, find a place where you can jot down your ideas as they come to you. I have a journal I carry with me in my briefcase everyday. I use it for many things: 1) My vision and values are written down so I can refer to them daily, 2) My goals are documented, 3) I write down what I am grateful for, 4) I write down my reflections, observations, learnings of the moment, day, or week, and 5) I jot down my ideas. In the back of my journal I have a few pages reserved just for the purpose of capturing an idea, phrase, question, etc. that I would like to review later. In this area, I also write down a book, website or a movie that someone recommends to me.

Get a journal, a notebook or find a place in your planner to capture those unexpectedly brilliant thoughts in the moment they come to you. Do not let it get away. You will be amazed at what a valuable resource this becomes for you and for others. Although, at first glance, this suggestion may seem strange, I encourage your to give your ideas away to your team members. It is so empowering to watch your team members take ownership in an idea’s
development and ultimate delivery. An idea needs to be acted on to become reality. And as the saying goes, “all good things take time.” An idea will not become reality before its time. Yet we can be ready… Get a journal Capture your ideas Give an idea away Watch your idea unfold Begin again.

by Susan West

Stop Right There! Leaders often make these five mistakes when under pressure or feeling stressed. Take the time to observe whether you have any of these habits and make a choice to change so you do not lose your leadership power.

1. Apologize for something that is not your fault or not your responsibility. “I’m sorry” is an overused statement and in many cases it has lost it’s meaning. Using this phrase is often a habit that woman managers fall into without realizing it. Watch how you use this phrase. For example, it is not necessary to apologize for not being available to take a call as many people state in their voice mail messages. Save using this term for when you really need it!

2. Whining by using a tone of voice or choice of words that sound like a young child.
Our effectiveness can be immediately minimized when we sound like a small child complaining because they have to pick up their toys. Often we can find ourselves “whining” when overloaded or surprised with additional work or feedback that we perceive as negative. Be careful to use a matter of fact approach if you feel the need to respond to a situation.

3. Taking credit for someone else’s work, no matter how small. As a leader, you already are in a position of some influence and recognized for some accomplishment. Not recognizing someone else’s work, leaving the impression that the work completed is yours (when it wasn’t) or worse yet, stating that the work done is yours (when it wasn’t) will lead to your losing credibility, trust and influence sooner or later. Abraham Lincoln even suggested taking it a step further by letting the team take credit for your work /idea with his quote “If you are a good leader, when your work is done, your aim fulfilled, your people will say – we did this ourselves.”

4. Dressing sloppily. Even in these times of casual business dress, being aware of your appearance and ensuring that you represent not only the position you desire but also the person you want to be is critical to your power and effectiveness. People do not take seriously the words of someone who has a rumpled, spotted shirt or blouse like they do a person who has a pressed, professional look.

5. Lying, not admitting that you may not have an answer. As we climb the leadership ladder, we are often expected to “know it all.” You may feel the expectations of already having all the necessary “experience.” In reality, times and business situations are changing so quickly, we cannot “know it all or have had all the necessary experience.” Do not be afraid to say “I do not know.” When under pressure or during stressful times, this can feel awkward. However, lying just to look good is never a good choice. A better choice is to say “I do not know” and then follow up with whatever action you can take “to know.”

Engaging Your Imagination
by Susan West

Imagination is defined by Webster’s dictionary, as the act or power of forming a mental image of something not present to the senses or never before wholly perceived in reality; a creation of the mind. All things are possible. As Wallace D. Wattles states in his book Financial Success: Harnessing the Power of Creative Thought,

“There is a thinking stuff from which all things are made, and which, in its original state, permeates, penetrates, and fills the interspaces of the universe. A thought in this substance produces the thing that is imaged by the thought. A person can form things in his thought, and by impressing his thought upon formless substance, can cause the thing he thinks to be created.”

So think of this in terms of your business, a new service is created, a department is organized, a book is written. In our personal lives, a new house is designed and built, a new oak cabinet made, a painting created. All of these projects began with an idea, a thought. How do you become a leader demonstrating creativity? For most of us our imagination has been stifled. We must learn to uncover it again. At birth we had 100% imagination, it has been said that we have only 4% usage of imagination by age 7. Studies as referenced in Success at Life, “show remarkably, even shockingly, that in the first five years of life we as children are told no over fifty thousand times and yes only five thousand times. This foundation of conditioning is how children are trained to conform and succeed. The minute percentage of the victims who escape this fate become the rare minority that go and change the world.”

Would you like to be one of the rare minorities that make a difference? Even in your own business? This all begins with asking a question. Asking a question engages our imagination. And taking time to think, taking time to let our mind formulate answers to questions like – How may I better serve? How can I bring value to this situation? What can I do to show I care? – is very powerful.

Here is a simple way to engage your imagination to solve a problem or be creative:

1) pull out a blank sheet of paper,
2) write your problem or whatever you want to accomplish in the form of a question at the top of the page, and
3) jot down whatever comes to mind. Just let the ideas flow. One thought will lead to another. You will be amazed at what you can create!