Again and again, as a manager, I am asked the big question:
“What do I need to do to become a Sr. Engineer”
“How will I become a manager if I am not given an opportunity?”
As a leader, my greatest motivation is seeing my people grow, and then impressing my customers. But, make no mistake, you do not help people by handing promotions.
Of course, you need to earn that promotion, but a naive, ignorant, manager might just answer with a “plan.” Such a manager will say: Do this, do that, and you will get promoted. That will only achieve a hollow win, or make you quit. You can get someone promoted that way, but you are not supporting their growth. You might actually be harming it.
My answer is always the same, and it always works: Do not work for a promotion. You will always lose, sooner or later, and later is more painful.
Jeff Bezos did not start the Amazon bookstore to become the richest person in the world. Would you start that with a Bookstore? Elon Musk did not start Tesla to make it the largest car manufacturer in the world. Would you start that stuffing a battery in the back of a Lotus car? Bill Gates did not make the BASIC interpreter for the Altair to get rich. How many computer hobbyists were there in the 70s?
No, life is tough. Promotions, success, are hard. Luck does not exist. Churchill said: “Success is going from failure to failure with enthusiasm.”
If you are only thinking about the promotion, eventually, you will give up. You might actually go into some cycles of that until you realize the truth: Successful people are not lucky; they were the only ones still standing when the opportunity finally came. And they were still standing, failure after failure, because they were working for their passion, their vision of the future, for the cause they have dedicated their lives.
So I was telling this story to my coworker at Amazon, in a one-on-one. He replied:
“But, Alejandro, I have no passions. I don’t know what to do with my life.”
I told him:
“What? But you love cars; we all know that.”
Then he said:
“Yes, but I do not want to be a mechanic; give me a break.”
Then I commented:
“That is so sad. Your passion is your power, your secret weapon. Alexa cars is next door. Have you looked into that team?”
Of course, he left my team later. I felt bad for that. But later he came to thank me. He was accepted in Alexa cars, and that changed everything. Now that story is one of my most precious memories.
So, how do you get promoted 100% of the time? Easy, stop thinking about it, be honest with yourself, do what you love, not what you want to love, or what others recommend. Because it is already in you, you just need to see it, and you will succeed 100% of the time.
