Why do good people get overlooked for promotion?

braver leadership logo and text why do good people get overlooked for promotion

Getting overlooked for promotion hurts.

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Seeing people around you, who’ve not worked as hard, aren’t necessarily more skilled or capable get what you haven’t is hard to forget when LinkedIn is screaming about other people’s success every five minutes.

You’ve done the job. You’ve stayed humble. You’ve delivered.

And yet... around you, promotions are going to other people. Again.

As you shift through your twenties, you’re aware of how others are wondering if you’ve not made it by now, maybe you never will.

But here’s the interesting thing.

It’s not because you’re not good enough. It’s not because they’re better.

It’s because visibility — not just ability — is what moves careers forward now.

And people can’t see you as a leader, they won’t choose you as one.

Why Visibility Still Feels “Wrong” (Even When You Know Better)

Many of us grow up with beliefs around visibility, hard work and service. I can’t trace my values back to anything specific, whether family or church. But I know and sense that serving others lies deep inside me.

And sometimes that narrative of serving others steps up into serve others before yourself.

As you grow up you just acquire these values and that’s what makes you an individual. Ye occasionally these values start to become rules. Not written down anywhere but given a certain situation you just intuitively behave a certain way.

You were probably raised on the idea that if you just work hard, someone will notice. That hard work gets rewarded. That staying quiet and being dependable is what will eventually get you recognised.

At school and in the early part of your career this likely served you well.

But in today’s workplace? It leaves brilliant people invisible. Standing in the shadows. Not being credited for their ideas and their work. Even seen as those that stand still.

Leaders are time-poor. Decisions happen behind closed doors. Promotions are based on trust, perception, and future-fit — not just output.

Visibility isn’t about ego. It’s about making your leadership easy to see.

Because if they can’t see it, they can’t bet on it.

Meet frustrated Alex

To help bring this to life let’s consider Alex. Alex, I should add here isn’t a real person, but a mix of a few different people I’ve helped through coaching over the years.

Thoroughly likeable. Alex was the kind of person everyone leaned on and actually enjoyed feeling wanted and useful. High performer. Solid. Reliable. Smart.

At Alex’s firm, promotions for associates came round once a year and it was well understood if you failed to make two rounds of promotions, your career was terminal. And of course, Alex didn’t make the cut.

To make matters worse, two peers moved up. Peers Alex had to help on many an occasion to get a report over the line and yet a whole year wasted, or felt like it. These peers were absolutely louder, ones that would speak up more than Alex but not with any better ideas.

Alex was left asking:

“Why are they getting rewarded for talking? I’ve delivered more. What am I missing?”

Here’s what Alex was missing: visibility that told a story of leadership — not just reliability.

Those peers weren’t better. They were simply easier to imagine in the next role.

And that’s the real game.

3 Visibility Moves That Don’t Feel Cringe (But Work)

You don’t have to be loud. You don’t have to fake confidence. You just have to stop blending in. Even a die-hard introvert can manage this.

Here are three ways to do this.

1. Speak Strategically in Meetings

When you go into meetings, you’re probably going in filled with tasks and updates. Like a faithful labrador you show up when called, bring the newspaper, get a pat on the head and then disappear under the table.

You need to go into meetings thinking and acting as a leader. Beyond the tasks in hand. Speaking strategically and selectively. Not to perform or to summon a bright light from above to shine upon you. But to show and evidence foresight.

Not to perform — but to show foresight.

As you go in with your updates and contribution consider one new element:

• A strategic question

• A connection to broader goals

• A low-risk solution to a known problem

One comment per meeting. That’s it. It builds faster than you think. The more you get people to have that ‘huh!’ moment that makes them think and builds on the collective knowledge, the more you’ll be seen as that leader.

2. Frame Your Work Like a Leader

Yes I know your mentor probably taught you to have task updates, know where everything is, be able to explain the critical path of your projects, how every risk and issue is under control.

That’s just stuff. Leaders are too time-poor to absorb it anyway. After the first ten seconds they’re overwhelmed by stuff. How many times I’ve coached project managers who later have difficult moments with sponsors who are angry or frustrated by discovering something about the project the project manager feels they told them.

It was in my report, said no rising leader, ever.

When giving updates, skip the activity list. Show the impact.

Try this:

• What decision did this enable?

• What risk did it remove?

• How did it move the business forward?

Don’t just say what you did. Say why it matters. It’ll show you’re aware of and linking what you do to strategic goals. And just now whilst you’re thinking, I don’t know what those strategic goals are, the clues are all around you. Whether that’s through investor updates, team meetings, every organisation has its structure to give you clues on strategic thinking.

You won’t get this right even half the time. But you will get corrected and guided. And instead of seeing that as a bad thing, think of it as another piece of evidence you’ve been provided with and use it.

3. Create Micro-Moments of Visibility

This one’s for the introverts who are worried this means pretending to be someone you’re not. Loud people will be loud. But we can all spot a bore from a mile away. You don’t need a stage to become visible. A TED talk might be on your wish list but there are other, more practical and in the moment ways to be visible.

You need:

• A sharp update email

• A thought in a cross-team meeting

• A shout-out that highlights collaboration

Small signals, repeated consistently, shape your leadership brand. Consistency is the key.

You want to be the person people remark about – they always seem to link what they’re doing with where we’re heading.

What Gets in the Way (And Why It’s Not “Politics”)

Office politics strikes fear in everyone’s hearts. And it’s tempting to blame your lack of career progress on politics. But let’s look at what the office politics really involve. Aside from a few bad actors it usually comes down to Trust. Do I trust you, more than them, to get what I need done?

Many of us have hang-ups with office politics. We resent needing to play a game. We hate having to pre-pre-pre brief multiple stakeholders that behave like children when they feel left out of the loop.

Maybe wish it weren’t so but it is. And either you accept this or step off the track and make way for someone else. Reframe the whole thing as a game of trust.

Do I trust the person? Do I trust the idea. Do I trust the capability. Do I trust myself?

The last one is super weird. Part of the leadership equation involves the extent to which the senior stakeholder trusts themselves with stewarding the concept through to completion. Once you know that, you also know part of politics is supporting that person through their own anxieties. More on that another day.

But back to you.

Here’s what you might be thinking:

• “I don’t want to look self-promoting.”

• “Politics isn’t my thing.”

• “Good work should speak for itself.”

That’s the old script talking.

Strategic visibility isn’t manipulation. It’s leadership — taking responsibility for how you show up and who you’re becoming.

You’re not bragging. You’re making it easy for others to believe in you.

That’s service.

BRAVER™ Leadership: V is for Visible Actions

To help rising leaders manage their early career with structure and purpose I developed the BRAVER framework, tired of watching people struggle with out-dated ideas provided by well-meaning mentors whose early careers were from another era.

In the BRAVER™ framework, V stands for Visible Actions.

You don’t earn your next role by accident. You build toward it with:

• Clarity

• Strategic intent

• Trusted, repeatable signals

The leaders who rise aren’t necessarily the loudest.

They’re the ones who make leadership look like the next natural step. They have clearly outgrown their space.

Today’s Reflection

In the next 24 hours, pick one small action:

• Share one impact insight in a meeting

• Reframe your next update around business value

• Send a short, smart note that shows leadership thinking

One moment. One shift. One move closer.

Leadership isn't loud. It's visible.

📍 Ready to Build the Career You Deserve?

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Lead bravely. Rise quickly.

You don’t have to wait to be discovered. You just have to be seen.