Latest / You're Overqualified Podcast - Career and Leadership Strategies for Women / 119. How to Negotiate a Senior Role When Your Manager is Brand New to the Team

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119. How to Negotiate a Senior Role When Your Manager is Brand New to the Team · You're Overqualified Podcast - Career and Leadership Strategies for Women

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  Hi, I'm Danny Tan, and if you are here, you're in the right
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  place. Today we're talking about how to
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  negotiate a senior role even when your manager is brand new
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  to the team. So maybe your manager was let go
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  or restructured to a different team or you've gone through
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  reorganization and you're like, OK, I have a new manager.
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  How do I talk to them about getting into a senior role,
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  getting a title, getting a promotion?
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  What does that look like? Do I need to wait until they're
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  settled in? Can I tackle that now?
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  And we will break that down in today's episode.
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  But before we dive in, in case you haven't met yet, I'm Danny
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  Tan. I'm a leadership coach and the
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  founder of She Belongs Here, an organization that focuses on
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  women and their belonging, whether it is an
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  entrepreneurship or the workplace, especially
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  leadership. And so if you are somebody who's
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  been trying to find that feeling of belonging in that space, know
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  that you are in the right place. I am a former VP of a building
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  dollar company turned full time entrepreneur.
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  I went ahead and pivoted careers five times, PR sales,
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  merchandising, e-commerce, you name it, all while achieving 11
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  promotions in 11 years. I went from being a sample
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  coordinator to the VP. And through all of that, I
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  worked a lot when it came to developing teams, growing teams
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  and development overall when it comes to leadership.
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  And so IA lot of times felt like I did not belong as being Asian,
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  Latina. I am mixed identity in so many
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  different ways. I have Porter in Filipino
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  Chinese roots and I am first Gen.
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  So first in the sense to graduate College in my immediate
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  family, which led me to volunteering for a nonprofit
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  called Amir Kanedu, which helps first Gen. college students get
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  internships, which led me to this fascinating world of
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  coaching and helping others, which is what I love so, so, so
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  much. And so for today's episode,
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  let's go ahead and talk about it.
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  So I have a couple clients right now, one who was on leave and
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  came back to a restructure with the new manager.
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  I have another one who had quite the journey where they were
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  hired. She was hired, her manager went
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  on leave. So then she had a new temporary
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  manager. Then her manager came back from
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  leave, was no longer going to temporary manager, and then that
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  manager was laid off after a short period of time.
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  And so now they're getting a new manager.
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  So I have seen it from the client side and the personal
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  side of what happens when you get a new manager.
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  And so I want to just break down some things because a lot of the
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  times when we're thinking about our own future trajectory and
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  our career path, we are a lot of the times told like within these
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  systems of corporate America, right, that either the
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  organization, organization or the business is going to have it
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  laid out for you. Like here are the steps 12345.
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  A lot of the times companies don't have a laid out for you,
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  especially even if it's a startup or it's somewhere that's
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  just a little bit less structured and has more
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  flexibility and fluidity of how you can get exposure.
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  So there may be less structure within the organization of what
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  a promotion looks like. So you may be like, wait a
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  minute, no one's telling me the steps 12345.
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  And the next piece is a lot of the times we're told that our
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  manager's going to lay it out for us, but a lot of the times
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  our managers are not. And it's, you know, it could be
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  for a multitude of reasons. They haven't been explained it,
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  they're not clear on it. They're so focused or being
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  pressured on the business. It's not top of mind.
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  And so when all that comes up, it's really up to us.
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  I know not everyone loves to hear that, but it really is up
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  to us to decide what our trajectory looks like for our
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  careers, even if it's inside of organization to get a promotion.
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  And I will talk about as somebody who went through the
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  hoops, stayed alone promotions 11 years, let me tell you was it
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  because I was just like hanging out and like working really
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  hard? It had to be really, really
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  tactical overall. And so that's what I break down
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  for my clients. It's like it's, it's comes down
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  to more like a recipe and a science at that point in time.
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  And so when it comes to this piece, these are things that
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  kind of want to like just reiterate for you.
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  It's like maybe for you, it may be thinking about like, OK, once
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  they're settled in, I'll bring it up.
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  I don't want to bother them. But it's like, how many times
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  can we wait for somebody to settle in?
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  Like how many times can a company change?
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  Like we can't let somebody else settling in be beholden to our
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  future and what we're working towards, right?
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  We don't want somebody coming in and wiping the slate clean for
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  the last year or six months. And so especially when you are,
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  you know, someone, let's say who is high achieving, you have a
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  lot of goals set. We don't have time to give the
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  new boss three to six months, right?
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  We have to get them thinking about our career too and our
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  trajectory as well. And So what I want you to think
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  about is what is actually happening here is like your
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  manager, when they start your new manager, they're already
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  starting to try to form an opinion, a perspective about
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  you, about the team, about the company.
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  And so that's typically your time when you need to come in
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  and talk about what it is you've been working on.
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  It's not time for you to wait. You want to be in there, excuse
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  me, while they are shaping their perspective and idea of what the
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  team is and your and your skills and strengths.
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  So that way, by the time they really get to know you, they
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  have a real good idea of who you are and what you're doing.
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  That you can just not be someone who's on their team that's going
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  to execute, but you're going to be actually a leader who
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  strategic, who can really be a partner.
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  And so I want you to really listen in if it's something
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  you've been kind of trying to calculate what is the right time
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  to talk about a promotion with the new manager?
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  I'm telling you it's now so let's go ahead and bring it
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  down. So for phase one, the one thing
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  I want to talk to you about is called, I call it the onboarding
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  trap. And so you were probably
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  instructed and also how we typically feel, right?
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  Like let me give them space or like, let me be considerate of
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  them and make sure they have enough time to get onboarded.
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  But we can't let that happen, right?
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  We can't let it be that we stay out of their way and we just
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  work really hard and we hope that they see the results of
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  that. Like we have to actually
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  communicate that to them. And so if you were going ahead
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  and giving your manager the space like for three months, six
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  months as they get on boarded to let them figure it out while you
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  continue to be the machine that's running everything behind
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  the scenes, you're essentially training your manager that
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  you're really reliable doer and you're just going to get things
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  done. So we can't have that be that
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  you're just over functioning without their authority or their
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  support and that you would just make it happen.
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  You have to actually build that authority and credibility for
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  yourself. So it's not about being patient
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  because you're actually starting to become a little invisible and
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  all the tasks that you're doing are becoming invisible and have
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  less weight to them. So what about Part 2 phase two
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  here is like, how do we flip the script on that?
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  And So what I want you to do is like, no, on day one of your
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  manager starting, you don't have to be like, Hey, give me a
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  title, I need this. But you have to make sure that
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  you are positioning yourself during their onboarding, not
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  after it, that you're actually going to talk about a couple of
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  things. The first thing you want to talk
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  about is like decoding the gap. This is what I, I typically do
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  promotion planning with my clients.
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  And this is usually how we break it down in these phases.
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  So the first part is decoding the gap.
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  So figuring out where your new boss, where they need to build
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  credibility. So they typically have been
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  hired because there was a need, right?
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  Either something wasn't working out with the old manager or
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  something wasn't working with your team.
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  They're coming in with a pretty focused goal of how they need to
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  build credibility for themselves on the team.
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  So maybe it's the relationship with a cross functional
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  department, maybe it's sales, who knows?
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  But you want to understand like what that gap is for them that
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  they're trying to fill because that's going to be part of our
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  plan. The next piece is you want to be
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  able to make sure whatever knowledge that you have is
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  visible. We don't want you to like be
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  quietly solving problems in the behind the scenes or just doing
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  things business as usual. I want you to start documenting
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  what it is that you're working towards.
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  So that way you can go ahead and showcase to new manager of hey,
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  this is how I'm actually, you know, solving problems.
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  This is how I'm catching things before they become a crisis.
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  The these will become business cases that show your impact that
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  you are already driving. We don't have to create new
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  projects for you to work on like we should have a foundational
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  fundamental case before we start adding new projects.
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  And so when you understand and decode what the gap is for them,
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  for their credibility, for them to prove themselves, and you
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  showcase where you have that knowledge and where it's visible
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  and where you're solving those problems and you bring those
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  together. Then you get to go ahead and
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  pick a lane and think about what is it that I want to go for from
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  a title perspective, from a role perspective, from the work
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  perspective. And then you gather the evidence
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  that helps support that you already living and breathing and
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  doing that right and how that's going to overall help support
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  their gap that you have decoded. And so I just want to talk about
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  this. I had a client who they were on
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  leave, they came back and they walked into full chaos.
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  Brand new manager, the cross functional partners were not
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  happy with the team whatsoever. The new manager was trying to
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  figure it out was definitely over their head.
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  And so when they came in, they were trying to figure out like,
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  OK, how do I like, go ahead and organize things and make things
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  happen? And then while she was figuring
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  things out, she started to realize like, oh, wait a minute,
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  like I have a lot of ability to effect change to make things
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  better. And I have really good
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  relationships with these partners that right now are a
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  little bit shaky. And So what we did was we mapped
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  out not just her manager, but like, who are the key
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  stakeholders to get her a promotion?
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  Who is it that she needs to go ahead and get that approved?
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  And then also what is the knowledge, the institutional
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  knowledge that she has to get her into a senior position,
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  right? And to make a business case for
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  her. And we realized that, wait a
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  minute, she has so many different things from
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  relationships that she's developed with the cross
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  functional team that she has to move forward their goals to
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  different leaders on different teams that she was like, oh, I
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  actually have leverage by had building out these relationships
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  my manager needs in order to be successful that I can help him
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  leverage. And so identifying that was one
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  piece. The other piece was like, now
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  how do I position that in order to get myself promoted and what
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  is the process for that? So we go out, we went ahead and
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  locked that down very quickly and she was ready to move on it.
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  When she started to communicate this through, that's when the
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  eyes perked up. Like, wait a minute, if I get
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  this person what they want, I get them promoted.
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  It's going to help the team overall and I'm going to have
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  somebody else who's going to strategic leadership position
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  who can help me move this forward.
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  And so then she went from just being the person who came back
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  putting things out on fire to being someone who actually is
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  going to move the business board and help them as a new manager
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  as well. And so the next and last piece
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  when it comes to these three phases, right, which is I'm just
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  going to break it down over time, the onboarding trap and we
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  get stuck on the onboarding trap of a new manager.
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  When it comes to how to flip that script for them, the last
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  piece is like what's possible? So your new manager, your new
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  manager being new is not a reason to wait.
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  It is your window, right? It's your window.
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  They don't have to have some. They have no story about you
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  yet, right? They're still figuring out who
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  your team is and who you are. And so this is your time to
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  showcase what it is that you have to offer and then to
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  communicate that. So you get to shape the
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  narrative right now. You don't have to wait for three
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  or six months. And that way you can go ahead
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  and you can move towards what it is you're working towards.
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  That way they also they need to work towards.
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  And so if you've already been operating at that level, it's
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  time to question, are you actually packaging it the way
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  that it needs to be packaged for this to happen?
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  Are you making it undeniable because you are so overqualified
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  before your manager even walked through the door?
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  So do not wait another month, year, second, whatever it is, go
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  ahead and make it happen. And so this is what I want you
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  to know is that you are done being the best kept secret on
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  your team. You don't have to be a secret or
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  the person who just puts out all the fires.
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  Now take that power of how you put out those fires of how you
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  have all those connections and those all those relationships
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  and make it happen. And so just know that I do this
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  time and time again, time and time again, all the time.
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  And so if you're looking to finally stop just being the
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  hardest worker and doing things behind the scenes and getting
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  things done and being hopeful that something will happen and
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  you're not going to let a new manager stop you from getting
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  promoted and you want to know what it's like to work together,
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  then I would say go ahead and go to danitan.com.
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  That's DANITA n.com and book a discovery call.
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  When you book a call with me, there is 00 requirement or
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  pressure to work together on the call.
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  What the call actually looks like is for 30 minutes I'm going
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  through and I'm understanding what your goals are for the next
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  three to six months, what it is you want to focus on, where
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  you've been kind of stuck. And then through those 30
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  minutes, I'm starting to understand what would be the
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  best way to support you. And then I give you a custom
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  coaching plan of what it would look like to get work together
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  in three to six months. And then from there you just
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  decide, OK, is it a good fit? And I will always be honest with
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  you and let you know also if it's a good fit.
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  But that's typically what it looks like to go to discovery
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  call. So go to the website,
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  dannytan.com, TANITA n.com, go to contact book and discovery
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  call with me. It's an hour long for the 1st 30
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  minutes. We're going through the intake
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  form that you've submitted when you go, when you want to head to
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  book a call. And then we'll go ahead and talk
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  about what it's like to work together.
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  And then from there, that's what it looks like typically work
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  together for three or six months.
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  That one of time typically depends on what it is you're
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  trying to focus on, what you're trying to achieve.
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  I'll always give you a recommendation and I'm always
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  here for you, so hopefully you found this helpful.
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  But I just want you to know that you don't need another six
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  months. You just need to have tactics
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  and a strategy to make it happen.
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  And you were overqualified before they ever showed up.
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  And so go ahead and make it happen for yourself and don't
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  let it wait. Because The thing is, is that
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  every moment you wait, every week, every month, you were
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  compounding a loss, right? A loss of the skills, the
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  values, being able to showcase that for yourself from a
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  monetary perspective, you're losing what that increase would
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  have been for you, for your salary.
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  And all of that stuff is going to compound for future you,
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  right? Compound for future promotions,
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  compound for a future title increases, compound for future
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  roles, compound for your future retirement, compound for your
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  future salary, compound for all of those future investments
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  within your life. And so that's why I care about
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  this stuff so much. It's not just about have a shiny
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  title or get a promotion. It's about creating options for
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  yourself, having the optionality.
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  Because for me, when I was a sample coordinator way back when
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  and I was making $45,000 a year, going to making a quarter of a
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  million a year. The reason why I did that wasn't
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  because I needed to have a fancy title like sure, that had
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  importance and weight at points and times.
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  But the real reason why was because I wanted to create
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  financial freedom for myself. And I wanted to be able to
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  create financial safety for myself.
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  And so that was going to be able to happen for me by being able
• 14:08
  to make more money, by being able to move up.
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  And once I did that and I was able to be smart and invest and
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  save, I got to build a business where now I work with who I want
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  to work with, when I want to work with them, from where I
• 14:21
  want to work with, you know. So just knowing that I'm having
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  that power and that freedom, that flexibility came from
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  creating those options for myself and my corporate career.
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  And I want that for you too. So we're in a system, we're
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  working in a system. So make the system work for you.
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  All right, Hopefully you got some little gems out of here and
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  I will see you next week. Have a good one.