What are some of examples of ways you have been able to get promoted or support your colleagues to get promoted at the same company?
It's important to be transparent with your manager about your career aspirations and then align on the criteria for a promotion. Create an actionable plan to close any gaps and track progress against it. I have had these conversations with my manager several times over the years to prepare for my own promotions, and conversations I've had with my team now as a manager.
At GitLab, we have a career development framework that outlines competencies and levels https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/product/product-manager-role/product-CDF-competencies/ . We have check-ins every 10 weeks to outline progress against each competency and have discussions about long-term career goals.
To achieve promotions and support colleagues in their career advancement within the same company, I advocate a systematic framework. First, it involves 'auditing your own skills' to understand one's current capabilities. Next, we 'audit the role' desired, pinpointing the specific skills and experiences required for that position. The crucial step is conducting a 'gap analysis' to identify areas for development.
Once these gaps are identified, I recommend the 70/20/10 approach for professional development. This means 70% of learning should come from on-the-job experiences, 20% from mentorship or coaching, and the remaining 10% from formal courses or training. Regular discussions with managers to align expectations and track progress are essential in this process. This methodical approach has proven effective in charting clear paths for promotions and growth within the company for me.
One way I got promoted at a smaller startup of <200 people, and helped my colleagues do the same, was by smart teamwork and negotiation at a startup. My friend and I were working as Product Managers and felt we deserved to be Senior PMs based on what we were doing and how much we were getting paid. We compared our salaries with the market and found we should be earning $13k-15k more.
So, we worked together to make a strong case for our promotion and pay raise. We prepared answers to questions we thought our managers and the product leader would ask, like why we thought we deserved more money and a higher position.
Even though I had a bit more experience than my friend, working together helped us both. We ended up getting promoted to Senior PM, and so did another coworker who wasn't even asking for it at the time. My friend got a bigger raise than I did, since when we started negotiations I was earning more already, and I was really happy with what we achieved together. It showed that by joining forces and being well-prepared, we could convince a company that's usually tight with money to recognize our value and pay us more.
To be honest, what we did is not unlike what unions do on behalf of their members. Joint negotiation when you see a flaw in the system.
As part of my self-evaluation, I focus on understanding what the next level demands and identifying the skills or behaviors I need to learn and demonstrate to get there. I actively seek feedback from my manager and trusted peers to gain clarity on expectations and uncover blind spots. Regular self-reflection helps me track progress, align my work with company goals, and recognize opportunities to stretch myself.
To support colleagues, I encourage open conversations about career goals, provide constructive feedback, and advocate for their work in relevant forums. Collaboration and mutual support play a key role in everyone’s growth.
This one is fairly easy, add value. We as Product Managers need to ensure that we are adding value for our organization by understanding the market (and our customers) and guiding the strategy to be successful in that market. It's easy to be a product expert, but we need to focus on being market and strategy experts.
In my career, some key examples of adding value are:
Knowing My Market Better Than Anybody Else.
When I am the expert on what our market needs, both short and long-term, I add significant value in defining and driving our strategy. My product can't be successful without this. When we are proven right in terms of our strategy definition and market validation, we win.Build and Foster Relationships
I work hard at establishing relationships around the organization where I am working. These enable me to be effective in cross-team collaborations and makes driving alignment across the organization easier. My relationships add value to me and my team.Be an Expert
When you are viewed as an expert and continually show your expertise in an area that is needed within the organization, it's easy to be seen as somebody who deserves that promotion. Show that your expertise drives direct value for your organization with clear successes.
These are two great questions, so I'll address them separately. First, getting promoted...
I think the most important philosophy is to focus on what you can control - delivering impact, building relationships, and growing your skills. When business opportunities arise, you'll be a natural choice because you've already demonstrated the capabilities needed at the next level. The things you can control are
Drive Business Impact: Consistently deliver measurable value aligned with business goals while taking initiative on high-impact opportunities beyond your scope. Do the role, before being promoted into the role.
Build Strong Relationships: Be a force multiplier by collaborating effectively across teams and creating positive experiences that make others want to advocate for you.
Own Your Growth Path: Clearly communicate growth aspirations to your manager and proactively pursue the skills needed for your next role. Focus less on arriving at that next role, and more on learn and growing new skills & expanding your scope & impact.
Position Yourself for Opportunities: Stay aligned with business needs while building visibility for your work, so you're the natural choice when opportunities arise.
Each time I've been promoted it's been a culmination of all of those things. Promotions are a culmination of work rewarded + growth trajectory.
In terms of advocating for others, I think it's important to understand what they want. So, start there. Then, I think the best ways to support them are:
Sharing your experience working with them, especially to their manager. Tell them what you like about working with them, the impact they make and how they create leverage beyond their current role.
Celebrating their impact publicly. It can be really powerful to highlight peoples work in places like Slack, Zoom meetings and elsewhere that others might see. And do it regularly with consistency.
Help them develop the skills they are trying to develop
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