> Visibility and self-promotion is how you get ahead in the workplace. Staying quiet and focussing on good work because "it'll speak for itself" is naive and in general the result is only to be taken advantage of.
It really depends.
Self-promotion really helps with internal promotion. But it seems like the best way for entry-mid level employees to progress their careers is external promotion aka taking a better job with another company.
For more senior workers, the political game is probably necessary to participate in, simply because it's more and more part of the job inherently. And there are fewer openings in other companies to jump into.
Adding additional info for very large corporates. The mid-career employer jump that sets you up for director (or equivalent) and above is absolutely critical for advancement. You’ll need to build a base of support cross functionally and get tracked for executive rank/comp package from there. Once your executive track, it’s almost entirely a political game.
You’ll also need to be ready to move again once you get into the executive ranks. Typically true exec headhunters will become willing to talk to you at this point and you’ll have another significant comp rescope opportunity in your late 30s to mid 40s.
I’m in that stage now and this was a really good set of insights here (admittedly that I don’t quite fully understand). Open to DM? My email in profile.
It really depends.
Self-promotion really helps with internal promotion. But it seems like the best way for entry-mid level employees to progress their careers is external promotion aka taking a better job with another company.
For more senior workers, the political game is probably necessary to participate in, simply because it's more and more part of the job inherently. And there are fewer openings in other companies to jump into.