May 31, 2022
…ask for help.
Last week I spoke to a member, we’ll call her Gail, who is in charge of customer experience at a high growth startup.
When I asked Gail about her career goals, she said she wanted a promotion to the role of chief customer officer.
But she was afraid to ask her boss.
She did not want to appear as focused only on her own career.
“I’ve known you a long time,” I said to her. “There is no danger of you being a narcissistic sharp-elbowed player.”
Further, as I told her, any boss worth a darn really wants to know and support the ambitions of the people who work for them.
Finally, I asked what the impact would be for the team and customers if she were promoted to this role.
She thought about that for a moment and saw my point: there’s no contradiction between her ambition and her ability to help others.
In fact, the promotion will only amplify her ability to build a better more customer- and employee-centric culture.
So, she agreed to go ask her boss.
As it turned out she happened to be meeting with them later that day.
And here’s the text she sent me several hours later after she spoke to the CEO.
“Hi! His reaction: ‘Our company deserves to have a Chief Customer Officer’ And he said this is the right time for us to talk about making that happen!”
Voila!
That’s what I’m talking about.
So, again, if you are thinking about a promotion, be like Gail and ask for help.
Do not lead alone.
Phyl
P.S. Because we want to help you achieve your dreams, we now include career coaching with every CG membership.
