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Despite what you may think… You don’t need another certification. Or degree.
(I used to think I needed one to advance too…)
This question landed in my LinkedIn messaging:
Do you need advanced degrees or formal education to be promoted?
I used to think so.
I looked for university programs to expand my knowledge.
I took technical classes from well-known colleges.
I completed a pre-MBA course at Harvard.
I gained more knowledge. But none of them led to a promotion.
“People don't get promoted for doing their jobs really well."
Know what did?
Having an idea. And making it happen.
It wasn’t a project assigned to me. It started as just a thought. I thought… my company (Pfizer) needed an innovation space. We said we were an innovative company.
Except, when I looked around, all I saw was cubicle-land.
But this wasn’t my job. I was in R&D and I didn’t know a thing about building new spaces. I also didn’t have any political power, budget, or direct reports
I wasn’t even a director yet! There were a lot of reasons to just give up on my idea.
But, I didn’t.
Thank goodness.
I secured President stakeholdership, I was given $1.5 million in budget, and half an office floor to reconstruct…
I built a state-of-the-art innovation space. And after the first year, 65+ teams used the space!
After years of waiting for a promotion… it was that idea that tipped the scales for me.
I was promoted!
Not due to my degrees or certifications.
Because of the impact of my leadership.
“People don’t get promoted for doing their jobs really well.
They get promoted by demonstrating their potential to do more.”
Tara Jaye Frank
Equity Strategist, Consultant, Speaker, Author
