How to Get Promoted from Engineering Manager to Director

Chris didn’t, and it kept every one-on-one career conversation stuck at the wrong level. Once he applied this 3-phase promotion model, he moved from engineering manager to director within just a couple of months.

Today, I will show you how to work out which phase you are actually in and what it takes Let’s dive in. The problem is most people think about climbing the career ladder where each rung represents the next level role. So it looks something like this. You imagine climbing the ladder. And each rung on that ladder is a role. So you go from senior engineer and you get a promotion, you might make that first engineering manager role.

Maybe you hit senior manager and hit director and continue to climb. And you think about each position as a single phase, mastery of that level. Yes, there are lateral moves that may occur before the next promotion, but you look at this as each rung being a level of the job hierarchy. And the truth is that inside each of these levels, there are actually 3 distinct phases that you need to pass through.

And if you don’t understand that, then you can get trapped in one of these earlier phases, 1 or 2, and never make it to phase 3 where you’re actually ready for the promotion, not in your own eyes, but in the eyes of your leader, which is extremely important. Remember, this is not just about what you think. It’s about a partnership with the decision makers who are going to control your destiny of getting to that next level role. So let’s look deeper at each of these 3 phases.

First, phase 1, This beginning phase of your role is when you are new. Surprise, surprise. New to the role. When you are new in a position, your job is very simple. It’s to hit the break-even point. You want to hit the break-even point as fast as you can. Now, what is the break-even point? Let’s talk about this because the impression that most people have of what that means is inaccurate. The truth is break-even can be thought of like this. Imagine when you’re starting a roll— oops, there we go. Uh, There’s this imaginary scale of how much value you are creating for the organization. So this represents value. And the truth is, when you’re brand new, you don’t know what you’re doing. You’ve got to ask more questions than you can give answers on day 1. And you’ve been there. You know what this is all about.

Those first 90 days, even up those first 6 months, a lot of times you’re still learning how to create value. So your actual starting point in the new role is negative. You’re actually a liability to the company, and they’re investing in you to learn the job, to learn the systems, learn the tools, get to know all of the people so that you can deliver value. Well, this neutral point, this middle line represents a point where you’re no longer A drag on the organization. You’re not creating resistance. You’re actually able to contribute at least as much as you’re taking. That does not mean you’re doing your job at your full capacity. It just means your boss no longer sees you as a liability. At least you’re at neutral. And so some people think, wow, if I can just get to that point, that this middle line is my break-even. But it’s not. It’s not you getting to the point where your boss says, whew, at least this person’s no longer a net negative to the company.

What you need to do is get to the point where you are now contributing at a high level. Remember, there’s a certain expectation of what you’re going to deliver in that role, but the break-even point is when you look at This integral, if you will, and this becomes zero, breaks even. The negative has been replaced by positive. So this is the actual break-even point in phase 1. Your job is to learn the role, learn the people, and learn how to contribute at a high level as fast as you can to hit the actual break-even point. When you get there, we can shift the conversation with our leader into phase two. Now really quick before we go into phase two, the green light readiness is hitting break even, but the one-on-one conversation with your boss revolves around one core question. That question is, how well does my performance meet or exceed your expectations? How am I doing in the role? That requires clarity of what those expectations are, and you are checking in on how well you are meeting or exceeding those.

So during phase 1, in a career conversation with your leader, you’re asking about how well am I performing or exceeding your expectations for me in this role? That’s the question that we’re building our career chats around. And you can get stuck in phase 1. In fact, here’s the most common trap that will keep you stuck is you don’t realize that your growth curve isn’t getting to the level it needs to. So this gap right here between your performance and the expected performance in the role, you’re not actually elevating to that And I know this is not super nice to say about some of our bosses, but the truth is a lot of bosses don’t make their expectations very clear. And so you might think that you’re doing what you need to do, but in their mind, you’re not actually hitting those expectations. And now look at what happens to that integral. It’s like you are in the negative for a long time and you don’t get— A lot of positive, and so your break-even point extends way out into the future. That is a real risk. So you need to take responsibility to drive the one-on-one conversation. Hey, leader. Hey, boss. How is my performance meeting or exceeding your expectations? Then once we get that thumbs up, you’re doing a great job, there’s some time that we need to deliver to hit our break-even point. Once you do, you’re ready for phase 2.

So what’s phase 2? In phase 2, you are in the role delivering. I call this second phase being stable and growing. Stable and growing. Everybody needs to escape phase 1. If you don’t, you’re likely to get let go. Okay, so it’s important that we get to phase 2, but not everybody is going to make it a priority to escape phase 2. If you don’t want to get promoted, then it’s totally fine to stay in a stable performing phase for, shoot, as long as you want. Now, I’ll warn you that if you’re not growing, you’re dying. And so I would encourage you. to continue to think of this as ongoing growth and development. But it’s a place that you can stay for as long as you desire. Now, in phase 1, the break-even point was what we were looking to accomplish. That’s our green light metric that we’re ready to move on. In phase 2, what we’re looking to achieve is complete closure of our gaps to the next level. We’re focusing on gap closure. Next level being the next role that you want to hold. That could be a literal promotion within the org, but it could also be a lateral move, something into a new technology, into a new domain, cross-functional transition, something like that. So we’re closing gaps of your current capability, your current skills, your current experiences to being ready For that next level. Phase 1 is about break-even.

Phase 2 is about closing every gap between where you’re at and where you want to get to. Now, here’s the question. What are those gaps? So the core question that we’re discussing with our leader is around what gaps do I need to close and how will I demonstrate my readiness and closure against those gaps For my target next step? Hint, hint, you need a clear vision of where you’re going in your career in order to answer that question. So if you don’t have that, then that’s a prerequisite. You need to get with your coach, you need to get with your mentors and figure out where we’re going so that you can have a very direct and informed conversation with your leader about that. Here’s the kicker in phase 2. You need to continue to deliver at or above the expectations of your current role while closing the gaps to your next role. Those 2 things happen simultaneously. You’ve heard it said, and there is truth to the fact that you need to demonstrate your capability to perform at the next level before you get the opportunity to perform at the next level. Now I have some additional important news for you. This is not a one-player game. The green light metric that you’re ready to move on is that all of those gaps are closed. The core question in your one-on-ones with your boss, hey boss, what are my gaps to the next level? And how will I demonstrate to you that I have closed them? Of course, bring your own suggestions, bring your own ideas, do your own research, talk to your own mentors, work with your own coach, take responsibility. But that’s the nature of the conversation. But just because you think that you’ve passed all of those criteria, that you’re ready for the next level, doesn’t matter if your boss Doesn’t think that you’re ready for the next level.

So the trap, the thing that will keep you stuck here in phase 2, right? If you, if you look at this, it’s when you and your boss are not aligned, right? If you have not calibrated before you attempt to climb, then you are going to experience frustration. Here’s what happens. You are asking the phase 2 question. I imagine you’re doing this with your leader right now. You’re going in for a one-on-one and you’re saying, hey, I want to be a director of engineering. I’m a manager today. I would like to be a director. What else do I need to show you and the organization to have my name at the top of the list When we get to the next promotion cycle? Can we start that promotion packet? Can I get my name in the ring? And you’re asking that question and you’re coming back to your leader and you’re saying, hey, what gaps do I need to close to get my name at the top of the list? And your boss says, okay, well, we have this gap and this gap and this gap.

So you take those and you put together development plans and you work on those things. And then you come back to your leader and you say, hey, I— I did it. Did those things, and I’m not promoted yet. So what else do I need to show you? Well, what happens? What happens when you ask the question, what else do I need to work on? Your boss is going to answer that question. You are directing his or her focus on your gaps. So there’s a really important transition that needs to happen if you want to move From phase 1 to phase 2, we need agreement with our boss that we are meeting or exceeding the expectations of our role. Now we can start a conversation about gaps to the next role. By the way, if you don’t wait for that green light metric in phase 1, you come across like an entitled millennial. I say that because I almost fell into that trap multiple times in my own career. You come across entitled, like, Wait, you’re talking about promotion before you’re even delivering in your current position? Don’t do that. So to get out of phase 1, we need to be on the same page, calibrated with our boss that we are now delivering.

Phase 2, we change the question. It’s not, am I meeting or exceeding? It’s, what are my gaps to the next level? We start asking that question. Well, guess what? You can do all of the development things that you said. Oops. Uh, I’m already showing the iPad. You can do all those things, but if you ask again, what else, what else, what else, your boss is going to keep coming up with more and more things to work on. So you need to shift that conversation to, hey, I have finished The development plan to showing you that I’m ready for director.

And let’s now move into a phase 3 conversation. Think of it like this. Your career is not like Sonic the Hedgehog. In the video game Sonic the Hedgehog, you’re a single character and you just sprint through the level. And there’s different obstacles and there’s things that can knock you down and you might experience failures along the way, but you’re just racing to that finish line, collecting all the rings you can. And when you get there and you pass the finish line, great, you get to move on to the next level.

And you’re treating your career like Sonic the Hedgehog. If I just race through and get past all of these hurdles, these development objectives, you know, deliver results on my projects, be a top performer in my current position and be the fastest one to the finish line, then I’ll get the next promotion. I’ll be at the top of that list when they get together for who’s going to be promoted. And that’s not how it works. It’s more like the game LittleBigPlanet. And if you haven’t played it, my wife got me hooked on it. It’s pretty fun.

LittleBigPlanet is a team-based game, similar to Sonic the Hedgehog, where you need to advance through the level and get to the finish line, but the entire team has to get there together. You can’t leave somebody behind. If we don’t all progress, then— We don’t make it. So you and your boss are in this together. If your boss doesn’t come with you into phase 2, then it doesn’t matter if you think you’re in phase 2 and they still think that you’re in phase 1, not yet delivering. And if you think you’re ready for director, but your boss is still calibrated as phase 2, no, you have gaps to close, then you’re in phase 2. We must advance through these phases Together. All right, this is a 2-player game. And in fact, there are other players and decision makers beyond just your boss that we would cover in a Proximity Power Plan if we coach together.

But the primary person is your leader. You’ve got to be on the same page. By the way, I’m going to put a complete summary of the 3 phases, the green light metrics, the core question that drives the one-on-one with that phase, and the traps that can hold you back In a little document that you can download and have this for reference so you can keep track for yourself. What phase am I in? Where do I need to be focusing? And what do I need to watch out for as I’m building my career? So if you wanna grab a copy of that, there’ll be a link in the description or in the show notes where you can actually grab that summary. Let’s talk about phase 3. You’ve closed your gaps, you’ve got your boss ready And calibrated with you that we’re in phase 3. So what is that? In phase 3, you are ready now. Ready for what? Ready for promotion. Ready for that next role. Ready for that lateral move. You’ve closed all the gaps. You are capable. You have demonstrated the skills and experiences that are necessary to be qualified for the next step. level. Once you hit phase 3, that core question that drives our one-on-one shifts. It’s totally different.

Instead of talking about gaps, we’re talking about which opportunity is the right opportunity for you. Where are you going to go? So instead of coming to my one-on-one and talking about development plans for the next level, I come to my one-on-one and we have organizational conversations about where in the org is the best place for me to go and get that promotion. We’re talking about opportunities. Who else do you need to talk to? Who do you need to mentor with? Who are the people who will influence creating that space? If your company is smaller, this could revolve around generating growth domains where you can go lead that. If you’re in a bigger company, it could just be, hey, you’re in Next in line for this position when so-and-so moves on or retires. But the point is, we’re not talking about gaps anymore. We’re talking about which opportunity and the timing of making that transition. That’s the phase 3 conversation. I mentioned Chris at the beginning of this video, and Chris was not underperforming. Chris was trapped in phase 2.

He was having the wrong level conversation. He and his boss were not calibrated. He felt ready for promotion to director of engineering, but his boss was still looking at him as someone who was closing gaps. When Chris saw this 3-level model and he realized that he was still speaking and initiating these skill development, next-level readiness conversations, when what he needed to do was calibrate around promotion, promotion readiness. He changed his conversation. He started asking about the opportunities. He started acting as if he was already at the director level. He changed that conversation and he landed the director promotion, an internal promotion, in just a couple of months because the leadership saw that shift. They experienced the change in the energy. And when he’d redirected his boss’s focus from, where else do I need to grow, to which place in the organization does my director-level talent fit the best? His boss went to the senior leadership team and said, we need to get Chris promoted. And he landed that director role. Now, what can keep you trapped in phase 3? Most people get trapped there Because they become passive or frankly a victim to the organization’s movement and what their boss does to create that opportunity for you instead of you being proactive to continue to push and to create and to challenge where you can go to create value and get to the next level. So frankly, you get stuck because you’re just waiting.

You get into a pure waiting mode, and patience is a virtue. You don’t want to come across as impatient, but also don’t become passive. Don’t just sit back and let other people decide when the right opportunity opens up for you. Go get involved. Go find the roles. Go say, hey, here’s a place where I could create more value, because the number one reason people get trapped in phase 3 is that they are not proactive to go create opportunity rather than becoming passive and waiting on opportunity. Now, if your organization is not willing or not ready to allow you to move to the next level when you’re clearly in phase 3, then you face the tough decision. Do I want to wait and continue to push and continue to create and continue to Do what’s possible for me to make this happen, or is it time to look outside? Because I’m already at that level, and if the opportunity won’t exist here, then I will go create that opportunity somewhere else.

That’s a choice that you need to make when you’re in phase 3. Again, I’ll give you a full recap of each phase, the green light measures that you’re ready to move on, The traps, the red lights, things that will keep you stuck, and the core question that your one-on-ones with your leader revolve around so that you can calibrate before you climb. This is a 2-player game. Move to the next level with your boss, not by yourself. And remember, strong performance by itself doesn’t get you the promotion. It’s positioning yourself, branding yourself, and having the right conversations at the right phase to accelerate your growth. Don’t focus on more results. Don’t just focus on better performance in your current level. Once you get out of phase 2, it’s a whole different conversation.

I hope this helps you. I’m gonna be creating some more content to support each of these phases and check it out if you still feel stuck on how to execute these things. If you need tools, if you need tips, you need strategies on how to advance in your engineering career, we’re gonna be adding a lot of material here to the Happy Engineer podcast and the YouTube channel. If you’re listening on audio, then I would encourage you to go check out YouTube because there’s going to be a lot of visual elements where you can actually watch and see, because modeling this is important. I love the whiteboard. As an engineer myself, I think you can’t solve any good problem without being able to draw it on the whiteboard. So we’ll be doing a lot of this together. I hope this helps you. Get out there and crush it. Remember, courage is the catalyst to your growth. Crush comfort, create courage. I’ll see you in the next video. Let’s do this.