Effective career strategies make the difference between a steady, safe, and slow climb to the top, and an elevator ride to the top.

This post shares politically smart and proven career strategies for the quickest possible career progression.

1. Negotiate Salary at Peak Leverage

If you’re senior or skilled, ask upfront.

Ask for a salary range and frame it like you’re in demand:

You: To save time, can you share a range for this role

Only start the final negotiation at highest leverage:

1.2. Ask About Career Growth During Interviews

Inquiring about career growth during interviews is far better than asking about the salary.

You look pro-active, you sound ambitious, you gain intel… And you avoid dead-end roles.

Of course, you must calibrate your ask, or you come across as entitled.

You: I’m very driven and I know that before asking, you must give. <— Shows you ‘get it’ and prevents you from coming across as entitled
So imagine I will be successful in this role. What does that look like to deserve a promotion?

2. Ask For A Raise As Soon As You Prove Your Value

Demonstrate your value first, then ask for more to deliver even more.

This is basic social exchange and social exchange strategies:

⚠️ Don’t over-deliver for too long without asking, or it becomes a baseline expectation

Ie.:

Boss: Keep doing well and we can talk about it <— ⚠️ If you worked long hours and weekends, now it’s expected.

Anything less feels like backsliding, risking promotion.

2.2. Negotiate Before Delivering Big Results

General rule:

• Recurring excellence = your leverage👍🏼
• One-off results = company’s leverage 👎🏼

With one-off results, gratitude becomes your only leverage hope.

One-off work includes:

• Onboarded a ‘whale’
• Lead the IPO
• System implementation
• Raising funds

Bosses may say, “Do one more, then we’ll talk,” but repeating major achievements is tough.
Negotiate beforehand to avoid this trap.

Ask For: 10-20% More of Your Worth

Ask slightly more than your work-value.

🧑🏼‍🏫 Rationale: unrealistic numbers break rapport
While a huge number can be helpful for anchoring, avoid it with your boss. Unrealistic demands reek of power moves and harm your relationship.

If you’re not sure, do this:

• Research similar positions and add 20%
• Ask slightly more than you’re comfortable asking
• Ask for the most you can ask while being able to somewhat justify it

⛏️ Negotiating for a raise

3. Ask For The Position You Want

A closed mouth never gets fed

Ask for the role you want. If you don’t, they may assume you’re uninterested.

4. Work Hard & Network, Limit Manipulation

One study by Kyl-Heku and Buss identified three major tactics to get ahead in hierarchical structures:

1. Deception/Manipulation: Derogate and exclude others; ingratiate self with superiors; use sex; “sell” your results; use deceptive self-promotion (e.g., claim credit for the work of others).
2. Social Display/Networking: Cultivate friendships; display positive social characteristics; participate in social events; enhance appearance.
3. Industriousness/Knowledge: Work hard; display knowledge; obtain education or knowledge; organize and draft strategies for the company; assume leadership.

All three tactics can be effective in Western organizations.

The Industriousness/Knowledge tactic works best in educational attainment. And both Deception/Manipulation and Industriousness/Knowledge are positively correlated with actual salary.

But although Deception/Manipulation tactics can also be effective, they come at a high personal cost. Those who used deception and manipulation did get results, but had significantly lower life satisfaction.
I suspect this is the case because the cheaters feel like they are faking it, they are less confident and more anxious about getting caught, and present a higher incidence of “impostor syndrome“.

It’s a bit like when you take the bus without a ticket. You’re saving money, but you’re a bit tense. And unless you’re a sociopath or very poor, you also know you’re not being the best version of yourself that you can be.

5. Adapt Your Strategies To Your Position

Ie.:

5.2. Individual Contributor: Focus on Skills + Boss Relationship

To move from contributor to manager:

1. Improve hard skills
2. Deliver quality of work
3. Contribute
4. Develop a good boss relationship 🔜

As a newbie top assignments and high-level networking are more challenging. So output and immediate boss matter more.

Focus Less On Power, More On Being Helpful

With little output and information, learners are takers.
🟰 To make others want to help, be warm, likable, and genuinely useful.

5.3. Manager: Focus on Networking + Confidence & Ambition

To reach executive levels:

1. Network
2. Show ambition & drive
3. Develop ‘executive skills’ (confidence, presentation, self-promotion, etc.)

Says career coach Helgesen:

If you allow your energy to be consumed by conscientiously tending to your team’s needs, you will primarily prove that you are superbly suited for remaining in an internally facing position. The management skills that have gotten you here will end up keeping you here, instead of helping you rise to a place where you could have maximum impact.

This is also backed by research.
Fred Luthans studied for four years successful managers -as in getting promoted- and effective managers -as in having productive teams-.
He found out that the successful managers did not overlap much with the effective ones.
Effective managers spent most of their time nurturing and helping their teams. Instead, the successful managers spent less time with their teams and more time networking and promoting themselves outside their departments.

For Machiavellian efficiency, you should focus more on networking and less on your team.
If all you do is be a good boss, you’ll stay stuck there.

Prioritize Ambition & Power Over “Niceness”

Nice and conscientious guys often become managers.
But the executive level requires ambition and placing a high priority on your career.

We share more top strategies on how to advance at work in Power University.

5.4. Exec: Take Risk to Increase Profits or Slash Costs

Says executive coach Carlos Marin:

Coaching data and the psychometric surveys (…) suggest that men at the executive level are most likely to be rewarded for daring and risk-taking

At the executive level, you must affect the bottom line.
So increase revenue or cut costs.

If you’re a woman though, Marin says that you’re more likely to be rewarded for precision and correctness.

In short: men gain with strong leadership pushing for change.
Successful women instead keep efficient department running smoothly.

In my opinion, this reflects the reason why different genders are hired in the first place. The women, slightly higher in conscientiousness and far higher in pro-sociality, are expected to keep a well-running department. Men are expected to take more risks and drive revenues. 

6. Find Mentors & Sponsors

Mentors and sponsors increase your influence and help you advance faster.

Research says that mentors are even more important for women’s career advancement.
Pat Heim says women benefit even more from a mentor because it helps them learn the unwritten rules of male culture (Heim, 1992).

Traits of Top Mentors

• Respected within the organization
• Someone you admire, making bonding easier
• Upward career trajectory
• Access to the dominant coalition

Different personalities are best for learning; similar ones help you advance.

How to Find a Mentor / Sponsor

1. Reach Out

• Water cooler. On a high, ask if you can talk to them more
• Company events
• Email

Approach one at a time, just in case they talk to each other

⛏️ Ask for career advice

2. Tell Them WHY & What You Admire About Them

Perhaps you admire their career progression, share a passion, or appreciate their style or demeanor.

Say it.

3. Start Small, Ask For A Chat / Feedback

Don’t ask ‘Would you be my mentor’, which feels like a huge commitment.

Ask for a chat first.

If that one goes well, say:

You: Thank you so much, this was incredibly helpful. I truly appreciate it.
If you’re available and willing, would it be possible to meet again in the future at your convenience?

👉🏼 Next time you meet bring a little gift.

4. Use Followup Opportunities

For instance, after delivering a presentation to senior management, I asked for their feedback—and several agreed.

You can do something similar:

• After their presentation Say it was interesting/inspiring and you’d like to learn more.
• After a dinner you both attended
• After a quick chat

5. Show Potential

Research confirms basic power dynamics principles:

Mentors and sponsors prefer mentees with future potential.

🟰 Approach like you will go places and need guidance, never like you need rescuing.

6. Show You’re A Good Ally

Support them, defend them, share news, and celebrate their wins.

7. Show Gratitude

• Thank them
• Offer small tokens/gifts
• Pick up the tabs
• Offer help (outside of work & for their family)
• Say or hint that ‘you will remember’

8. Show You’re Similar (& Want To Be More Similar)

Ask questions that suggest you aspire to be more like them (implying admiration)
Ie.:

You: You look always so calm and in control. I’d love to be able to do the same. How do you do that

👉🏼 If they smile, you know they like it

Balance! You want to be more like them, but not a carbon copy
Too much and it feels fake, and people don’t want clones to replace them.

9. Show You’re Taking & Using Their Advice

• Take note
• Back-channeling approval (“Uh-uh“; “Makes sense“; “Riiight“)
• Report back you took their advice

• ⛏️ The Bel’s approach to making free coaching a win-win
• ⛏️ Avoid covert question formats

❗ This is a preview from Power University. Alumni refer to the curriculum for more advanced strategies and techniques ❗