Manage the tricky stuff, get promoted!

Dear Managers,
One of the things that has a truly significant impact on your boss's opinion of you, and therefore impacts how likely they are to support your career progression, is how you handle tricky issues in your team.

If they think you're too nice or if they judge that you shy away from the hard stuff, they are less likely to promote you.

It might not even be a conscious choice. For some senior leaders it is a form of unconscious bias.

But you will probably know it's happening when you go for an internal promotion and they decide to give it to an external. You might get feedback like "you were a close second". (it's not the only reason that happens, but it is the most common.)

That's why it's so powerful to learn how to find the courage to tackle tricky behaviour early and to get comfortable with difficult conversations.

When you tackle this stuff and find that healthy grounded part of you that knows how to approach tricky issues in your team, you become a sought after manager because your team is happy and productive, so your boss is happy and ultimately you are less stressed. You're known as a safe pair of hands, AND you will have better examples to give in job applications and interviews. The self-assurance you feel in your day to day work will flow from you at interview.