Got a burning question about your career, leadership, balance or how to create the success you are after? Welcome to our new weekly column, where Megan Dalla-Camina will answer a question each week on the things you care about relating to your career and life.
Megan is a senior business executive, strategist, coach, speaker and author who specialises in helping people and organisations create positive change. With 20 years experience in large corporations like GE, PwC and IBM, a Masters degree in Business and another in Wellness (Positive Psychology), and a PhD underway in Gender Studies, she knows a thing or two about what it takes to thrive in the modern workplace. Her book Getting Real About Having It All is becoming the bible for working women everywhere who want to create the career and life they love, and live it well.
Send your questions, along with your first name, role and industry, to [email protected] and each week Megan will choose one to address in detail.
Question:
I want to be considered to take on a new role that is at a higher level. How do I approach this with my manager when I am competing with people with more experience?
Susan, Manager, Financial Services
Megan’s Answer:
Firstly, it is great that you are willing to put yourself forward for a new and more senior role in your business. Research shows that fewer women than men have the confidence to step forward, so I would like to recognise this up front.
I would do some preparation before approaching your manager. Start with taking a look at your strengths. Our strengths are the things that energise us, that come naturally to us and that take us into flow at work. You can do this through a tool such as the Values In Action survey (VIA) online at www.viame.org or through asking people to give you direct feedback on what they are, and also doing a self-assessment. How are your strengths aligned with this more senior role? Understanding this first will ensure that you are actually looking at the right opportunity to maximize your strengths, and also help position why this is the right role for you.
Next I would look at all of your skills and experience and see how they will set you up for success in this new role. Just because someone else is more senior or has more experience than you, doesn’t mean that they are necessarily better suited for this particular role. What is it that the business is looking for? What are the objectives of the position? Analysing the job description (or what you think it is if there isn’t one available), and talking to others who are informed about the job will help you see where your unique abilities fit and will give you an idea of how to position yourself.
I would also ask your mentor and your sponsor for advice on the role, your suitability for it, where it fits in your career and life plan, and if everything lines up, how they might be able to help you successfully get the job.
Once you have done all of this, I would request a meeting with your manager to discuss the role. First, ask questions. What is your manager looking for in terms of strengths, skills, personal attributes and expertise? Then, put yourself forward. Express why you are interested, how your strengths, skills and experience line up with the role, and how you would add value in the position. If you have positive recent performance reviews to draw on, reference these as proof points of what you can do. Hopefully this new role would be a good fit with the development plan you have already worked on with your manager – but unfortunately this is not always the reality in some organisations. It is important however, for you to be clear on where this role fits in your plan.
The main thing is that you have done your planning, you understand yourself, the role and why you would be great at it, and that you can clearly articulate that with confidence when you need to. You could role-play this with a colleague, a friend, or your mentor if this helps you further prepare.
I mentioned sponsors earlier. Don’t be afraid to ask for help from your sponsor if you have one. This person is like your cheerleader in the business, who is willing to go into bat for you and help pull you through the organisation and support you into new projects and roles. If you don’t have one, then you need to start thinking about who could play that role for you.
Go forward with confidence. Whether it is this role or another one that you end up with, the fact that you have done this work, know yourself well, and have the knowledge of where you can play to your strengths, will absolutely set you up for success in the future.