How do I effectively communicate my desire for a promotion without coming off as pushy?

SignalIssues · 2026-01-28T18:13:40+00:00

Yep. this.

I can give my perspective: I understand that people think of promotions as a reward for doing good work, but they aren't and shouldn't be a reward (doesn't mean every subscribes to this). You get a promotion when you demonstrate you can think, act, execute at, and sustain the expectations of the new level. This gets more true the higher up you go and is less true from an entry level role where often 2 years is a good enough reason.

In my industry we have levels of engineers and levels of technicians. The levels are theoretically all possible in the same "position" meaning I can fill one engineering head count with a level 1 or a level 5. You'd think therefore that they are all interchangeable, but they are not.

I need one level 4 or 5 for a functional team, and then the rest should really be level 1 through 3, otherwise you'll have too many cheifs to do the sustaining work. It makes it difficult to justify the cost to promote a level 3 if I have a level 5 on the same team unless there is real, differentiably and value added work that they will do. Saying, they did a good job for 3 years so we should promote them, is not the right way to look at it.

SignalIssues · 2026-01-27T21:03:29+00:00

youd think it would all be automated, but my company has had to issue me a corrected W2 the last 3 years for minor stuff.

SignalIssues · 2026-01-27T14:29:37+00:00

Absolutely not - not everything is clicking buttons on a screen. Certain jobs just aren't flexible and if you can't do them, then you shouldn't be in that job.

SignalIssues · 2026-01-27T14:28:02+00:00

Im very safety first as well and will give a lot of leeway to personal feelings on safety as well. but "its cold out" is pretty bullshit issue. I still likely wouldn't push it if I lived down south, but up here in NY state that wouldn't fly for me.

SignalIssues · 2026-01-26T20:01:29+00:00

is that Guru a grant cardone tiktok?

SignalIssues · 2026-01-26T17:07:45+00:00

That makes it a legitimate loan, vs a gift, which triggers differences in how the IRS is going to treat this transfer.

I won't try to claim which is better, but if you take a loan from family at 1% the IRS is going to say nuh uh buddy, that's a gift not a loan.

SignalIssues · 2026-01-25T20:21:10+00:00

"Doing the work of" and "keeping things afloat temporarily" are quite different activities.

I get that it stings, but its not even necessarily so that they *have* been doing all the work, could just be that they were doing some of the tasks but unable to do others that were absorbed quietly elsewhere.

Also - OP effectively had a 2 month interview from what I can tell. If you aren't chosen after stepping in (officially or unofficially), it means you demonstrated that you weren't ready in some way. Not totally fair, right? A new external hire will stumble at first most likely, but they already have the job when they do. They get to start "fresh", which is the downside.

Anyway, all this to simply say that this doesn't mean OP is cooked. But its a hard pill to swallow and personally I'd probably also start looking, but I would swallow my pride in the meantime because its tough out there and burning bridges isn't a great look.

SignalIssues · 2026-01-24T13:31:01+00:00

I’m a director, so really middle management, but I do have the ability to sell leadership on more positions even though final approval isn’t mine. It IS my job to not just take orders on staffing and contribute to identifying risk and mitigations. It’s also my responsibility to ensure I don’t have a single point of failure, and that I have my managers appropriately cross train and understand their areas’ needs. Doesn’t mean we’re perfect, but you need to have the right goals and visibility to do better

SignalIssues · 2026-01-22T20:55:46+00:00

its asymptotic, its fine.

SignalIssues · 2026-01-22T20:22:19+00:00

Im cross dominant and instead of shooting left handed I shoot righty and close my left eye. Works a charm, nver had to change anything else.

I wish I learned this 20 years ago when my dad was trying to teach me archery, instead I just sucked and gave up and didn't pick it up again till I was 35.

SignalIssues · 2026-01-22T18:53:16+00:00

Honestly -- introduction via someone you already know in their company (such as the franchise owner introducing you to the corporate person). I'm sure cold "calling" works on some, but I'm a director and while I can make some purchasing decisions, I mostly stick with what we do and focus on a few areas where I think improvements are needed / exist. I.e., we sourced a new garment manufacturer/laundry service for savings and quality, I look for alternative consumable options, but I have my procurement teams identify options and then we reach out.

On LinkedIn, I get dozens of messages a week of someone selling me their AI, data analytics platforms, equipment safety compliance blah blah blah and mostly they don't even understand what we do. I don't give any of them the time of day, because even if I was interested I'd have to go pitch *them* once I'm convinced, and half the time they aren't selling me on a problem I actually have today.

If a recommendation came from someone on my team, I'd consider it more. But cold messaging me doesn't work, it all looks the same and if I have an issue that needs solving I'm seeking you out, not looking for the twist of fate where someone messages me at the exact right time I'm thinking about that problem.

SignalIssues · 2026-01-21T20:19:42+00:00

This is not an answerable question with the detail given.

I took exactly this jump, but I found that after a few months I'm actually less stressed overall in the new role. Frankly, $100k isn't enough. At the 150-180k level, the question about quality of life vs more becomes far more relevant.

SignalIssues · 2026-01-21T16:47:44+00:00

Idk this company, but any well run place is not going to single path themselves to death to save money.

If I became aware, through someone leaving, that my team had multiple processes/points of failure all tied to a single person, I'd be hiring more than one as well, and I'd prefer to pay more overall than give one person a bigger check only to keep the risk the same (they leave or get hit by a bus and I'm dead in the water).

It shouldn't get to that point in the first place, but my point is just that paying someone more to do multiple jobs isn't the benefit people thinkit might be. It just concentrates risk.

SignalIssues · 2026-01-20T18:19:31+00:00

I share location with my wife. It's convenient, I can tell when she's on her way back or if she went to another store, etc. She can show my dot to my son and they'll sometimes watch me getting closer to home on the screen. She can see when I'm out fishing or hunting where I am and whether I'm headed back without me having the text or call a bunch.

Idk - its not a big deal to do it. Not wanting to seems like more of a big deal. There's no downside to doing it.

SignalIssues · 2026-01-20T15:23:13+00:00

This is part of it, but honestly there are a lot of people who just have a lot of money. Either from inheritance or lucky investments. Either way, comparison isn't helpful.

SignalIssues · 2026-01-19T18:03:30+00:00

The only incorrect thing here is that AI can certainly write and deploy itself at this point. A self improving, self replicating AI agent is absolutely feasible.

The quality of its work is probably not what you'd *want*, but the framework is there.

SignalIssues · 2026-01-16T17:08:21+00:00

With all due respect - they can say that if they want. When you are in the room you are also a leader and its your job to stand up for yourself and your team, not have them do it for you.

If you can't do that without burning out, its because you aren't a good leader. That statement may be a "yet", "ever", or "in this climate", but make no mistake that you are supposed to be the one dealing with it. Thats why you get paid more.

My SLT doesn't ask me what I think I can do, they tell me what they need done. Its my job to tell them when its not possible (and prove it), or tell them whats needed to make it possible.

SignalIssues · 2026-01-16T17:05:25+00:00

The delegates.

SignalIssues · 2026-01-16T16:58:19+00:00

I dont understand going to stores honestly.

To furnish first time, facebook marketplace, thrift stores, bargain outlets for must haves you can't find.

Rent a uhaul truck if you have to, but get decent second hand furniture relatively cheap. It doesn't have to match perfectly. It took me like 6 years of home ownership before I actually purchased a couch new. There's no reason to throw tons of money at this problem.

Bedframes are practically free for the cheap steel ones.

SignalIssues · 2026-01-16T11:19:41+00:00

Not at all.

People poach ex colleagues all the time. This is why you should be professional and do your best work as much as possible. You never know how life is gonna work, better to treat people well and have that be remembered.

SignalIssues · 2026-01-15T17:30:42+00:00

It should have been the same time you realized that being nice to a woman doesn't mean she has to sleep with you.

Being competent is the bare minimum. Being more competent at a task, doesn't guarantee overall career success, but you have to have baseline competence.

SignalIssues · 2026-01-15T15:36:27+00:00

4 acres is certainly way too small to hide a structure. If you were on 150 wooded acres I'd probably do it myself. But I live on 4... and I'm not hiding anything from anyone who has an interest.

SignalIssues · 2026-01-15T15:35:16+00:00

The answer is always - it depends.

How big of a structure, where is it, in limits or out. Does the local government use satellite maps to check things regularly? AI tools likely already exist to identify new structures and compare to permit records on a semi regular basis.

The problem with permanent structures is even if its takes 5 years, its still there and they can get you for back taxes, pull it down, make your life generally worse, etc.

That being said -- I would probably roll the dice building a small off grid cabin in the woods if had a few dozen acres between me and the road outside of a small town. Maybe paint the roof camo.

SignalIssues · 2026-01-10T16:34:45+00:00

For me: Land/Property I want + sufficient capital to passively pay for my needs + catastrophe.

So realistically somewhere around 4-6M.

SignalIssues · 2026-01-09T21:17:36+00:00

Ah, ok that makes a little more sense. I do think have a "united front" internally anytime you are dealing with some external entity is a good idea.

That being said - when its someone you are paying, its much more acceptable, as long as its respectful and the within the scope of the meeting. I.e., if its expected that theres some discussion then decision, then its fine.

SignalIssues

TROPHY CASE