How to Get Promoted to Manager if Your Boss Isn’t Developing You

You need to find someone — or something — who will.

By most traditional definitions of ‘success,’ I’ve had a pretty successful career since graduating from college. Four years into my first full-time job, I got promoted to Manager, and two years after that, I got promoted again to Director. So, what’s my secret?

I’d be lying to you if I told you that this trajectory was because I was somehow exceptional compared to my peers. The truth is that my ‘success’ was probably due to a combination of hard work and luck.

And when I say ‘luck,’ I mean that I won the best boss lottery.

She made all the difference in my career path and the speed at which it accelerated from zero to sixty in the span of just a few years.

How’d she do it? Well, she taught me how to start thinking like a leader before my peers were expected to do so, and it got me noticed.

• While my peers struggled to come up with the right answers, she taught me how to ask the right questions.
• While other leaders expected my peers to become task-masters, my boss challenged me to understand big picture strategies.
• While my peers lived in the ‘how,’ she encouraged me to prioritize the ‘why.’
• While other leaders helped my peers plan for their next meeting, my boss allowed me to plan my career.

Had I not worked for this leader, I would not have been able to become a leader so quickly myself. It’s that simple. I would not be where I am today without the coaching I got from her.

I often wonder what would have been different about my career had it not been for her.

And what about all the young professionals today who are working for horrible bosses that don’t take the time to develop them into the leaders of tomorrow? How are they going to make it?

Here’s the sad truth, folks.

If your boss isn’t investing in your career growth and development, and you want to become a leader, you need to find someone who will. Fast.

Here are three things you can try doing instead to cultivate the leadership skills you will need to excel at the next level and get promoted.

1. Find a mentor

A mentor doesn’t have to be a narrowly defined, formal relationship with another leader. A mentor can be anyone who challenges you to think bigger picture and broadens your perspective on the possibilities at work. It doesn’t even have to be someone who works at your current organization.

In some ways, you might not want to ask someone at your company to be your mentor because doing so kind of implies, “my boss isn’t doing their job.” And, while that might be the truth, you may not want to broadcast it.

Earlier this year, I discovered LunchClub AI, which brands itself as a platform facilitating “smart introductions to relevant people.” Each week — or multiple times a week — you can sign-up for video meetings with curated 1:1 professional connections recommended by the platform based on your specific needs and preferences.

Indicate in your profile that you’re looking for a mentor to help develop your leadership skills and advance into management, and you’re on your way to finding a slew of potential mentors.

Not every connection on this platform is home-run, based on my experience. Some weeks, you might wonder what exactly drove the match you received.

But, worst-case scenario, you’re meeting other professionals across the globe, building your network, and learning new things along the way. Plus, even if you don’t find the perfect mentor in one of your connections, you never know who your matches will introduce you to.

2. Utilize technology

Bite-sized training and development is all the rage for busy professionals these days. And, it makes sense. We don’t always have time to sit down and commit to an entire training class or series.

Bunch is a new-ish AI leadership coaching app, and the company’s mission is to “help every manager become a great leader.” Pretty cool, if you ask a leadership nerd like me.

The app uses data and psychology to curate advice from a bunch (get it?) of leadership experts and enables managers and aspiring leaders to learn and grow in just two minutes a day. That’s right — you don’t have to be an existing manager to use the app. Anyone can download it and start using it for free.

Each day the app will present you with a leadership lesson focused on the skillsets that matter most to you — things like feedback, communication, and motivation, among others. These are the kind of leadership insights that you will want — and need — to know once you get promoted.

And, for just two minutes a day, there’s honestly nothing to lose.

3. Invest in a leadership course

I’m biased when it comes to this last option because building and facilitating leadership development programs is what I do. I think a lot of leadership training misses the mark by spending too much time telling leaders what to do without ever explaining how to do it or why it’s important.

I’ve made it my mission to bridge that gap one leader (or reader!) at a time.

The fact of that matter is that if your boss isn’t investing in your career growth and development, it could be because they don’t know how to. If no one ever showed them how to lead people, then they might not know how to show you, either.

It’s sad but true. I see it all. the. time.

So, in that scenario, it makes sense to bypass your boss altogether and invest in an online course or seminar focused on building your leadership skills. The best leadership development is about teaching you how to think like a leader, anyway. And you can start thinking differently long before you have a manager title bestowed upon you.

If your boss isn’t investing in your career growth and development, you need to find someone — or something — who will.

Whether you find that in a mentor, an app, a course, or something else altogether — just be sure you’re not stagnantly waiting for your boss to wake up and get with the program. If it hasn’t happened yet, it probably won’t.

Remember that no one will ever care about your career as much as you will. So when what your boss is providing you isn’t good enough, you have to take things into your own hands. Especially when it comes to your career.

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