Don't take that promotion

Having the courage to follow your path - by Courtney G.

The offer of a promotion (when working your way up in an organisation) typically comes after slogging your guts out for many months or even years to demonstrate your worth. At which point, you embrace the promotion with open arms and no doubt think…ABOUT TIME! Sure, you may try and play hard ball to get a decent pay rise in lieu of the pound of flesh you have given to prove yourself, not to mention the many pounds still to be given, but all in all, you will accept the offer. 

Irrespective of the salary increase (though often with expectations of added hours), typically a promotion brings with it, a sense of accomplishment, an ego boost and the validation that you are valuable to your boss and the organisation. A promotion offer also comes with a perceived obligation to accept it… You may see it as the right thing to do, not to mention how much blood, sweat and tears you put into getting to this point.  Some would say you’d be mad not to take it. After all, how long will it be until you are presented with another opportunity like this to progress up the corporate ladder.

But what happens if after all this work you realise you don’t want the promotion?.... You don’t want to continue to sacrifice anymore of your personal time in order to continue to operate at the level required to do a good job. You are no longer keen to continue to be exposed to the stress involved with the additional responsibilities and working in an environment where you can't just hide from politics - if you don't play the game, you get played. Nor are you willing to sacrifice pursuing the things outside of work that make you happy, friendships, relationships, family and the time to enjoy existing and new hobbies.

This is the exact predicament I faced recently. Upon reflection, I knew in my heart of hearts my answer was a no brainer and yet I found myself questioning and having to re-assure myself of my decision. It is ingrained in us to an extent to continue to strive and do better and achieve higher roles in all aspects of life. But at what cost? If I can't sustain the effort needed to produce at the quality that I'm happy with, then in the long run, I may even impact the reputation that I have built up that got me the promotion offer.

I am the happiest I have been in a long time professionally in my current role and yet, I still felt guilty about not pursuing the higher role. I literally had to do a pros and cons of the promotion versus my existing role to substantiate for myself in black and white that my decision was the right decision. It’s ironic how things happen.

I was attending a course during the week and started talking to one of my fellow training participants. They were in a role similar to mine, however, in a different section of the organisation. The funny thing is the presence of this individual at our group's table certainly portrayed a more senior figure based on their body language alone. As we got talking about prior roles etc. they mentioned they were previously a Global Head of Risk and Legal and now they were in an advisor role.  As we were chatting, they revealed that being at the top is not all it's cracked up to be. By taking on a lower role, they were enjoying life a lot more and getting a broader perspective on what's important. Sure they acknowledged it was hard taking a big step down the career ladder but there have been other benefits. Afterall, as Mark Manson says in his book "The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck", nobody remembers what your role titles were, or how much you were getting paid, or how many people reported directly to you. But everyone remembers how you made them feel and what difference you made to their lives. And you can make difference to people if you look a life more holistically. I must admit I really appreciated their frankness and vulnerability to open up and share their story. 

This got me thinking on two points:

• It’s best to choose the decision that’s right for you and to consider that climbing the corporate ladder may not actually make you happy given what needs to be sacrificed.
• You should not judge a person based on their title. My colleague now at my level had previously been equivalent to the Chief Risk Officer. It is also a reminder to treat everyone’s input based on the facts and substance not purely the influence they have because of their position title.

After a somewhat unsettling week trying to bargain with myself that staying in the role that makes me happy is actually the right thing to do, I feel pretty proud to have had the courage to take the somewhat “alternate” corporate ladder route. I can see that I have gained the maturity in the last six months to not give a f*ck (thanks Mark Manson) what anyone else thinks and for a change care about what is important to me..... And who knows, given how much I enjoy my current role, perhaps better promotional opportunity will come along that allows me to keep doing what I enjoy while rewarding me for the hard work I've put in.

Lessons Learnt.

• It takes real courage to choose the path that will bring you happiness. More likely than not this will not be the traditional or expected path.
• Don’t judge a person’s capability by their position title. Their title may not always reflect the breadth and depth of their actual experience.
• Accept that it's OK to prioritise your happiness and the environments in which you work best, even if that means not climbing up the corporate ladder any higher or indeed climbing down it to prioritise other aspects of your life and sky rocket your happiness.
• The richness of your career is not predicated by the “title” you have. It is important to look at the overall benefits of a role e.g exposure to role models, what you can learn, the team environment and the flexibility to pursue the things you love outside of work.
• The power of influence is not reserved for those with leadership titles. You can influence at any level in an organisation.

Credit: Blog photo by Sunset Girl on Unsplash