The Secret To Getting Promoted

I walked into my performance review confident that a promotion was waiting for me.

After all, I’d done it all, late nights, long hours, always saying yes.

Instead, I got a polite “Well done, great job” and a tiny salary bump.

When I asked about a promotion, the response was simple:
“Just keep doing what you’re doing.”

That was my wake-up call.

Great work doesn’t automatically equal career growth.
Hard work alone doesn’t get you promoted.

Visibility, trust, and strategic influence do.

If you start paying attention to the people who move ahead fastest, you’ll notice something interesting. They aren’t always the most qualified in the room.

But they do know how to:

• Talk about their work in a credible way
  
  
• Make sure the right people notice
  
  
• Create opportunities instead of waiting for permission
  
  

Here’s the framework that changed everything for me and helped me secure six promotions in under ten years.

Master the Art of Being Known, Trusted, and Remembered

Promotion isn’t about doing more.
It’s about being intentional about how your value is seen.

1. Be KNOWN

This is about visibility: making your work hard to miss.

Being known doesn’t mean being loud. It means showing up where it matters most.

That might look like:

• Participating in town halls, offsites, or leadership meetings
  
  
• Seeking opportunities to present your work to senior leaders
  
  
• Volunteering for high-priority or cross-functional projects
  
  

If the people making promotion decisions don’t know your work, they can’t advocate for it.

2. Be TRUSTED

Trust builds when leaders consistently see your judgment, not just your output.

You build trust when you:

• Provide strategic updates so your boss is never caught off-guard
  
  
• Recap key decisions and ask thoughtful questions in meetings
  
  
• Tie your work to business outcomes: focusing on impact, not activity
  
  

When leaders trust your thinking, they start involving you in bigger conversations.

3. Be REMEMBERED

Opportunities go to the people who are top of mind.

To stay remembered:

• Tell stories about your work — narratives stick more than bullet points
  
  
• Seek sponsors who will advocate for you when you’re not in the room
  
  
• Contribute generously by sharing knowledge, mentoring others, and lifting your team
  
  

This isn’t about self-promotion. It’s about value alignment.

Final Thoughts

Getting promoted isn’t about taking on more work.
It’s about being intentional with how your value is communicated, trusted, and remembered.

Which of these strategies would you try first?
I’d love to hear from you.

For more practical tips and real conversations on career growth, join me on Instagram and send me a DM to say hi.

Rooting for you,
 Angel Kilian
Founder | Career inFocus