I have been up for a number of promotions in my career, and have missed out on more than a few of them for several reasons. However two of the biggest reasons had to do with performance and intelligence. Excellent performance on my part and a lack of intelligence on my superior's part. Seems odd doesn't it? But you can actually be passed over for a promotion because you're too smart or you do your job too well.
Here are five examples of how you can be too smart or too good to be promoted:
Boss Dependency- I had a friend who was working in the fashion industry for years under the same boss, who was not very intelligent and relied upon her, to do all his work for him. On several occasions, a management position would open up, but she would be passed over and never told why. After failing to earn a promotion for the 3rd time, she went to the owner of the company and asked why she had been passed over, when it seemed like some of the positions would have been a perfect fit for her talent. The owner informed my friend that her boss had given her a poor recommendation. She was shocked! She confronted her boss about not giving her a good reference and his response was typical:
"I didn't recommend you, because I can't afford to lose you. Do you really think I want to actually have to work for a living? You do everything for me, and the sign of a good boss is being able to motivate your employees. Right?"
"Yes but you're motivating me right out the door. I don't wanna stay if I can't ever be promoted. That's a dead end job."
Needless to say, she quit shortly thereafter and went to work for a competitor who not only promoted her, but paid her the money she deserved. Good for her!
Flaunting Intelligence - If you're a smart person, don't tell everyone about it! Nobody likes a braggart, and there are a lot of "higher ups" who hate them. If you are an intelligent person please keep it to yourself, otherwise you'll find yourself is some very uncomfortable situations. Once when I was young and little more bold, I had the audacity to say during a meeting, "Am I the only one who can see what a stupid plan that is?" Everyone in the room took offense to the remark, and as a result I probably set my career back about 2-3 years. I was right, and everyone knew that I was right, but that didn't give me the right to be a jerk about the whole situation and insult everyone in the room. If you're smart, then be happy, and don't tell everyone how smart you really are. That's just stupid.
Eddie The Egotist - If you're good at your job, and you know it, then it's best to use your position wisely. 10 years ago I was up for a promotion, and it seemed a logical choice for me to step into the role which my boss had given up for an early retirement. He had been grooming me for years to take over the plant operations and I seemed the logical choice. The employees supported me, the regional advisers supported me, and I had been a service manager of the year and sales manager of the year in the last 2 years. It all made sense...to me.
Unfortunately it didn't make sense to the Vice President who was making the decision. He knew I was really good, but also found me brash, impertinent, and an annoying bastard. Who wants that type of person working for them? He passed me over and when he did so, he made sure to explain why he did it, and throw stock options at me to keep me happy. He explained my ego had gotten the best of me and if I was a little more modest and showed more maturity he might have given me the promotion. I took that as a hard lesson, but I learned to keep my mouth shut despite the fact that I was knew I was right. People don't like a know it all.
The Specialist - Many people are very good at what they do, and in some cases too good. In certain markets you can become so good that you're what's called a "sales specialist". You're almost like a doctor who specializes in colo-rectal surgery except you're selling a certain type of product, and you're not looking at butt holes all day...literally.
While this niche will give you a lifetime of employment, it might also prevent you from being promoted. In fact at this very moment I can think of one person I know in particular who keeps getting passed up for a promotion because she is so knowledgeable about her market, the company won't move her on to a management position. She doesn't know it, but I do and obviously so does senior management. Try not to become too specialized at selling one particular component to a market, otherwise you might position yourself for a lifetime of employment but selling the same thing FOREVER. Boring...
Insecure Managers - I understand this is hard to believe since so many bosses have these huge egos that seem to fill up the room, but secretly a lot of them are insecure. This is why they berate employees, harass employees, and generally make their employees feel like shit. It's because they know they suck, and that sooner or later someone is going to figure it out. Consequently, they won't hire people who they perceive as being better than them. Heck, even some good bosses follow this train of thought.
A few years ago, I had started with a new company and was helping to recruit sales people at USC. I interviewed this great candidate who unfortunately I could not hire because she lived outside of my branch's territory. She was such a good candidate that I passed her on to another hiring manager who needed a rep, and I assumed she would be a perfect fit. I was wrong. He came out of the interview room shaking his head.
"M, I can't hire that girl."
"What? Why not? What happened? Did she interview poorly?"
" No she was great. Very well spoken, very intelligent. Absolutely gorgeous. She'd be a great sales person but I can't hire her."
"I'm not following. She sounds like the ideal candidate."
" That's just it. She's in the top 1% of her graduating class, she sold knives door to door her junior year in college, and she looks like a super model. She'll have my job in 5 years. I can't bring her on board."
"What? That's no reason to pass on her. She's a great candidate."
" She's too smart. She'll get bored with the job, and besides I can't have that kind of distraction on my team."
"What distraction are you talking about?"
" Did you look at her? The other woman on the team will be jealous, and the guys on the team will be drooling. That's a lawsuit waiting to happen. I'm gonna pass."
" I think you're being stupid but it's your call."
" You always think I'm stupid, so why should today be any different."
I just laughed. He was right in so many ways, especially about the stupid part.
Remember you are kind, you are smart, you are important,.....and sometimes you have to tone it down just a little to get ahead. Have a great day!
-M
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