But, unfortunately it’s not enough to get you a promotion. In fact, if you’re excelling at your current position, it might be a good reason to keep you where you are instead of promoting you. It’s quite the conundrum; if you’re great at your job, your company might never dream of putting you anywhere else.

So, if it isn’t excelling at your work, then what makes someone “promotable”?

Quite a bit of research has been done on promotability.  We’ve also discussed different strategies to move your way up.  Although it’s difficult to conduct fact-based research on it, they have come to a few general conclusions on how to get promoted:

• An employee can develop skills for higher-level jobs if they are regularly faced with “challenging” work. “Challenging” work is defined as work where the current rules and routines won’t suffice in getting the job done, forcing the employee to innovate new routines.
• An employee who does non-challenging work (mundane work where the current rules and routines are sufficient) never develops higher-level job skills, and thus may be less “promotable.”

So, how do we get promoted? Ironically, it sounds like we have to break a few rules.

What works for many people may not work for you. Luckily you have an extremely powerful ally – your partner. No, not the person who works with you or co-owns your business. I’m talking about your spouse/significant other/family member. Who do you share your life with?

Your partner can play a huge part in achieving work-life balance. Here are some ways to help each other make the most of your time:

Define balance

First you need to decide what a balanced life looks like. I can’t tell you that. It’s your call.

Basically, if it feels good it’s balance. Some people have no problem working 50 hours per week. It’s what they love to do. And that may be fine with your partner.

Some people hate working 10 hours in a job or profession. They have more than balance problems. They need to find a career that feeds their soul before they can worry about dedicating time to their family.

Involve your partner

A friend sums it up beautifully. “If she ain’t happy, you ain’t happy.” You need to make your partner happy. That person may not be a legal part of your business or profession, but you need to consider him or her part of the team. Don’t expect to make them work or invest money in your work. But they need to buy into what you’re doing.

And if they understand what you’re doing, they will be willing to cut you some slack when you can’t devote more time to them.

My fiancee is supportive of my time working because she was part of the decision making when I became a freelancer. And I continue to keep her informed of how things are going. Her counsel is valuable, and she understands the decisions I need to make. I also use my flexible schedule to help around the house when needed.

Decide what is truly needed

That question cuts to the core of balancing business and family requirements. It may be possible to pay someone else to do some of the more time consuming tasks like bookkeeping. At home, maybe your partner will welcome the idea of hiring someone to clean or do yard work. If the money isn’t there, then maybe you need to raise rates.

Also be skeptical of what may be considered important. Will your business or company fail if you don’t pick up the phone or answer e-mail at all hours? Many of those “important” tasks could be given less priority in favor of spending time with family.

Put your heads together

If you’re still having trouble fitting it all in, ask your partner. There are a few reasons this can lead to a great solution:

• Your partner may be willing to let you sacrifice some family time to do what you need to do. Again, this is can be a direct result of open communication.
• There’s a reason why you’re in this relationship. Your partner might have an idea or two that helps figure it out. I doubt you’re with a clone of yourself. So your partner’s perspective and unique talents may lead to a solution that you can’t see.

Decide when to turn it off

The dinner table in my house is a phone-free zone. No texts, e-mails, calls, updates, newspapers, video, TV or radio. It’s just us. There are other moments when I turn off all my devices. It’s a clear signal that I’m clearly available and dedicated to the family.

But there are other times when we’re together that I pull out the laptop to finish a column or write e-mails. It allows me to enjoy her company but get some work done. Usually she’s multitasking at the same time. But I also know when it’s time to turn the computer off so she has my full attention.

This is up to you and your family. Having time completely offline can really help you. Blending the two parts of your life can help free up offline time. It’s your call. Just make it together.

Work together – literally

Sometimes it’s advantageous for the two of you to work in the same business. Note that your mileage may vary. This could be the best or worst idea ever for your family.

Schedule a family business meeting

Here’s something that will help keep things running smoothly at home. Schedule a business meeting with your family every week. We try to do it over Monday dinner since that’s a constant time we’re together. And it’s a natural time to talk about the week ahead. We discuss what’s on all our schedules – which is important when you have a non-driving child in the house – and make sure there are no conflicts.

Why it matters

If you’re not achieving balance, you may not be able to take proper care of yourself – physically or mentally. This can lead to health issues that will prevent you from working and/or being with your family. Any unhappiness can make it hard for your family to be with you even when you make the time. So taking care of yourself is important to taking care of your work and family.

How do you maintain work-life balance?

Just like Pepsi and Starbucks, we each have a brand. It represents how people perceive us—who we are, what we stand for, what we do and how and why we do it. On the web, it can be distributed across a range of platforms, such as Twitter, Facebook and maybe our own website or blog. This puts the burden on you to make sure your online personal branding is up-to-date, accurate and presented to your satisfaction.

Here are a few ways you can manage and monitor your personal brand on the web:

Personal Digital Strategy

Before diving in and setting up a bunch of accounts, think through what you want to achieve on the web. Who do you want to communicate to or engage with? Are you looking to learn about a topic of interest? Do you want to gain customers or make business connections?

Then, consider how each platform could help you achieve your goals. Not every platform will necessarily apply, so don’t be dazzled by the array at your disposal. Only commit to developing as much of a presence as you can commit to maintaining. Sitting down and mapping out your strategy for managing your brand online may not take very long, but it will provide a helpful road map going forward.

Google Yourself

One of the most basic and most essential things you can do is to regularly Google your name (including variations, such as nicknames or potential misspellings) to see where you are being mentioned on the web and in what context. You can also set up Google Alerts for any variation of your name so you can see where it’s popping up. There are several tools available to cast a wider monitoring net.

Mhairi Petrovic of Out-Smarts made the good point in this Slideshare presentation that it is important to see yourself as others see you. To that end, log out of your services and view your profiles as others see them. Do they look how you expect them to look, both visually and in terms of messaging?

Privacy

As you conceive your personal digital strategy, the next step is to think through your personal privacy policy. What information do you want to protect? Some things to consider:

• Stay on top of changes in Facebook privacy settings, keeping in mind that anything you list as an interest on Facebook is publicly visible by default, even to non-friends.
• On Twitter, if you choose to protect your tweets, you may be missing out on a lot of conversation and opportunity; create a separate, protected account if you want to engage on Twitter in a more personal and less brand-minded manner.
• On LinkedIn, how much of your activity (e.g. recommendations, tweaks to your profile) do you want made public, if you are concerned about how other people might read into that?

Cross-Posting

As you manage your digital outposts, it is important to be aware of how these services interact. Many of these services allow you to send updates to the others, but by doing so, you may unintentionally create a lot of noise and redundancy. Check your settings and adjust appropriately. Some examples of this are:

• Piping your Twitter updates into LinkedIn
• Sharing your YouTube activity on Twitter, Facebook, Google Buzz/Reader
• Cross-posting Facebook updates to Twitter, or vice versa

Maintain a Hub

You may do an excellent job managing your presence on Flickr, YouTube, Twitter and LinkedIn, but two facts remain:

• These are still distinct, unconnected sites — linking from one to the others only goes so far
• Despite your best efforts, you will never be able to absolutely control how these sites use and present your information

For these reasons, it is important to own your own digital brand with a website. Your website is your online hub, where all of your digital outposts should point to and come home to roost. It is the one space on the web that you can completely control. If you decide to get a website, consider your domain name very carefully. It is also advisable to reserve – even if you don’t have a plan to use them – your desired names across a range of social networks via a tool like namechk.com.

Online and Offline Alignment

The challenge of having our brand distributed across a range of services and platforms is that there is no way to update all of them at once. Since in all likelihood you will set up one platform to link to all or most of your others, it is important to have your information and presentation be up-to-date and consistent across the board. This includes details about your current employer, contact information and goals. This can also extend to your professional portrait, and even your color scheme.

In addition, any non-digital material you have – memorable business cards, a portfolio, even a downloadable PDF on your website – should also remain up to date and aligned with your digital collateral. Make a checklist of online and offline materials to review whenever you have a change in your professional life.

Search Engine Optimization

A successful brand is one that is useful and relevant. Search engine optimization (SEO) is the practice of tailoring your website content to rank highly in search engines. One way of elevating your personal brand is to elevate your content, whether it’s your blog posts or static pages on your website. If people find your information useful, your personal brand gets a boost. For a good introduction to SEO, visit SEOMoz.

Be a Professional

This is both the simplest bit of advice and perhaps the most critical. Sure, it’s the web and it’s fun, but if you are using it toward professional ends, be mindful of what you say and who you associate with – just as you would in the real working world.

What have you done to manage your personal brand online?

There seem to be two schools of thought on this topic:

• Do an excellent job on exactly what the client is looking for;
• Do a good job on the project, and provide additional value as a bonus.

I got to thinking about this after reading about optimizing your freelance career, especially the reference to “undepromise and overdeliver.”

Do people try and compensate for a perceived shortcoming – maybe they are concerned about their grammar or the originality of their concepts – by adding in additional value?  Does a client look at the job and think, “Well, the concept is ok, but we’ve got three pages of web copy that we weren’t expecting – hooray!” or “Wow – brilliant concept, I know we didn’t ask for more, but it would have been nice to get a few more pages of copy”?

Have you found that it is better to deliver “excellence” to your customers and nothing else, or provide” acceptable” with bonus material?

Many countries there give employees 5 or 6 weeks off per year.  The argument for more time off is usually supported by the fact that everyone needs time to:

1. Rest
2. Be with family
3. Enjoy a hobby (or whatever activity makes one happy – skiing, surfing, etc.)

Those who support less time off have argued that with too much time off, people cannot concentrate once they’re back in the office.

So, are you for more or less time off for vacation?  How much time do you need to recharge your batteries?

There’s an obvious correlation between higher-level jobs and better dress, but perhaps it’s a classic “chicken or the egg” conundrum: Which comes first? Are people promoted or hired due – in part – to their professional appearance, or do their high-level jobs enable (or require) them to dress better? Maybe the only reason that executives dress well is because they have to.

I was skeptical. I know a sweater from a suit, but I didn’t think clothing had much influence on the way you’re perceived, respected, promoted or paid. There are plenty of wildly successful people who don’t dress particularly well. For every suit-wearing Donald Trump there’s a Steve Jobs wearing a black turtleneck with bluejeans. They’re both successful in their own ways, suggesting that dress doesn’t matter much.

So, to determine if dress really matters, I dressed very poorly for one week, and then I conspicuously overdressed for a second one.

The “bad duds” consisted mostly of poorly-patterned shirts, threadbare slacks with small holes, mismatching colors, and ill-fitting garments. My absolute worst was a hideous button-down shirt – tight at the shoulders, billowy at the waist and patterned like diagonal, faded graph paper. Don’t ask me where I got it. Combined with a pair of khaki pants that would make MC Hammer jealous, I had a perfect outfit for dressing poorly at work.

The better clothing is newer, more expensive, more stylish, more formal, and a much better fit in all cases. The best outfit I could put together is an expensive suit tailored perfectly for… the friend that loaned it to me. Fortunately, we’re the same height, weight and body type. I’m not one to care much about style, but I must admit, I feel good in the suit. It has a silk-like fabric, with nearly-invisible stripes that join perfectly at each seam. I never got to see the price tag, which is probably for the best.

A more precise, more controlled experiment would be much longer; I’m sure appearance-related changes – if they truly exist – take more than a few weeks to develop. It wasn’t a perfect test by any means, but I was observing carefully for appearance-driven differences.

The Week of Geek – Week 1

Dressed carefully in my worst, I looked haggard, and people took notice. I was called a “goofball” and a “propeller-head” separately, both times in front of several other coworkers. In terms of work, It was suggested that I do not write any of the marketing copy for a website I had just built, as in “if you let the geeks do the marketing, who knows how it will turn out!?”

I suspect words like “goofball,” “propeller-head,” and “geek” have as much do with my personality as it did with my clothing, but those seemingly-harmless comments somehow led to the notion that I wasn’t able to write effectively or connect with customers. In a roundabout way, my abilities were inferred from a quick look at my appearance, and I was pigeonholed as a “code geek” who communicates better with a computer server than a fellow human. In their defense, I was intentionally dressing the part, but appearance – apparently – can have a strong, albeit indirect effect on perceived abilities.

A few close coworkers made some friendly jokes about my wardrobe. They weren’t in on the experiment; were they laughing with me or at me?

Finishing With Flair – Week 2

Week 2 felt notably different. Somehow I felt more relaxed in more formal dress. I looked good, I felt good, and I worked more productively. My coworkers did notice the sudden change in appearance, and their lighthearted teasing turned to genuine complements. Whether it was the clothing itself or the compliments, I took myself more seriously. Maybe they did too.

During week 2 I was invited to attend several executive-level meetings about up-and-coming projects. I had never been invited to these before. Coincidence?

Conclusions:

• Good or Bad, People Notice: When my dress went from normal to bad, bad to fantastic, and fantastic back to normal, every change was noticed. It seems you can impress just as easily as you can underwhelm, and people unknowingly make inferences about your skills from your appearance.
• Looking Good Feels Great and Works: Even if dressing better had no other effects at all, it made me feel good, It improved my attitude, and in turn increased my productivity and work quality. It’s probably the after-effects of dressing well that can elevate your status, not the clothing itself.
• Importance Varies: My appearance, whether dapper or dismal, didn’t have a tremendous impact on my work. But, had the same “fashion statements” been made by a director or a “C level” executive, they would have been saying “I take this seriously” or “I don’t care” much more loudly than I ever could.

Two weeks is just a glimpse into the effects; given more time, looking sharp (or looking shoddy) could have a much larger impact. Dressing well won’t single-handedly improve your status at work, but according to my makeshift experiment, it does have some subtle, indirect benefits.

Why?

Doesn’t a LinkedIn profile tell you everything you need to know? Aren’t these pages relics of an old way of hiring that is becoming obsolete?  Can’t social networks serve the purpose that resumes and cover letters did?

Barbara Hart, a hiring consultant who runs Hire Well, says maybe – but insists on getting a cover letter and resume from every job candidate who wants to go through her. Here’s why:

• Too Much Information: LinkedIn is the social network for business people but it still has information she doesn’t need. In fact some of what it reveals cannot be legally considered for hiring.
• Hard to Compare: Social media profiles aren’t standard enough to compare candidates. Resumes and cover letters are boring in that way. But boring and standard allow comparison between candidates.
• Not All Employers Are That Savvy: It may be 2010, but some human resource departments just still want to do it the way they always have done it. They’re the ones with the job that you want. Do you really want to tell them they’re doing it wrong?
• Not Print-Friendly: Have you tried to print your LinkedIn profile? Human resources wants to print or copy your resume and pass it around to hiring managers. Even if you save it as an electronic document and e-mail it, it’s print ready for them.

When it comes down to it, who’s life are you trying to make easier? Yours or the hiring manager? Trust me, hiring managers like employees who are trying to make their lives easier.

What happens however when you find your career advancement has stalled – or gone backwards?

Sometimes your career can go backwards through no fault of your own.  Your company has a major restructure (or two or three) and suddenly you find your role is not what it used to be.  Somewhere along the line, though your position title reads the same, your responsibilities have been significantly downgraded.  Though your workload may have actually increased, you find yourself filling your day with a variety of mundane tasks.

Suddenly it dawns on you that you cannot remember the last time you learned something new in your current position.  It’s official – you’re stuck in a rut.

So what are your career options?

Stay with your existing company

• Apply for better positions within the same company. Are you ready to take the next step?  Keep your eye on the internal job vacancies.  Also keep your ear out for talk around the office about people changing positions.
• Look at making a sideways move if it benefits you. Investigate the job position as much as possible to give you some idea of what is required. Don’t underestimate a sideways move, in some cases these may be exactly what you are looking for.
• Have a talk to your current manager – perhaps he or she is not aware of what you are capable of.  Discuss taking on more responsibility.  Try to ensure this does not involve being given more of the same.  The objective of this course of action is to work on some new projects to expand your skill set.
• Seek out a reliable mentor within your company.  Guidance, advice and mentoring can be invaluable from a trusted company professional.
• Perhaps your hobby or a social group outside of work could provide you with some stimulus.  This has a twofold advantage if the skills you learn from your hobby can be translated back into your work.

Investigate Training Opportunities

• Though company budgets are tighter, resulting in reduced funds for training, look for training opportunities.  The key is to select the training or course that will offer you the most benefit.  Do thorough research as to what is available.  If possible speak to others in your company that may have completed the same program.  Be clear as to the objective for completing the training; what you will get out of it and how it will benefit you and the company.  To clarify your objectives, put them in writing.  You may need to submit a written request to have the training approved, so be prepared.
• Look into the opportunity for cross training with other internal employees.  This is an excellent opportunity to be trained by your peers and learn new skills. There are often opportunities to fill a position while others are on leave.  This may result in extra pay – at least over the short term.  If your company is not already actively cross training, suggest it to your manager.
• Look for secondments into different divisions.  If you work for a government department you will be familiar with secondments.  Secondments are a cornerstone of many Government operations.  Apply for secondments which are beneficial to your progress.  Being scared of stretching yourself will only see you stuck further in your rut.

Leaving your existing company

• Apply for positions at a new company.  With the economy struggling in many countries, this may not be an easy proposition.  Be aware that your new job search may take some time.  Secure a new position before leaving your old one if possible.
• Be prepared to have some money set aside for the transition to a new employer.  Timeframes between your last pay and your first one at the new company need to be taken into consideration. Bills need to be paid in the interim.

Continue to Network

• Regardless of whether you stay with your existing employer or move, you should continue to grow your network.  Continue to build your list of contacts and strengthen your existing work relationships.
• Though it may appear tempting, don’t burn bridges.  Having a rant in your exist interview may seem appealing but you don’t want to sabotage opportunities for work down the track.  Always remain professional. You never know who might turn out to be your next customer or client.

A Moment of Reflection

It may be worth taking a moment to examine the steps you took in your career up to this point.  Are there some instances where you could have made a better decision?  Did you see any warning signs along the way?  This exercise is not to wallow in the past.  This is about helping you to be more in tune with your wants and needs to allow you to make better decisions in the future.

Staying Put

In some economic climates, with redundancies taking place, the truth is you may need to sit tight in your current role.  Staying put however, does not mean you have to be idle.  Keep your eye out for internal opportunities. Keep your CV polished and up to date at all times, so you can be ready to pounce without delay on a good opportunity.

Be patient and continue to do your best work.  Remember to keep your eye firmly fixed on where you want to go.

Does a resume truly reflect what you have accomplished in your previous jobs?  Are the skills listed on your resume a reflection of what you actually know, or are they just what you have heard of?

“Resume: a written exaggeration of only the good things a person has done in the past, as well as a wish list of the qualities a person would like to have.” – Bo Bennett

Maybe today is the day to burn your resume.

Okay…before you break out your matches, let’s just make sure you have a few things in place to achieve this goal.  You have many tools available to you that can help you present a better example of who you are, what you know how to do, and most importantly, why you are worth what you want to be paid.

LinkedIn

If you are a professional of any kind you should must have a LinkedIn profile (as we’ve mentioned here recently).  This profile is not the same as your Facebook or Twitter profile.  This is the place to show the professionalism, experience, and accomplishments that you have had in your past.  This is where you can keep in contact with others in your current industry, or the industry that you want to be in, to engage in relevant conversations, building networks, and making a name for yourself.

At a bare minimum, your LinkedIn profile needs to be completed fully.  Your profile should have accurate descriptions of your responsibilities, a few solid examples of projects that you were a part of, and a minimum of three professional references.

Online Portfolio

You don’t need to be an artist or a writer to have a portfolio.  If you work in an office, do a white paper on a few projects that you are proud to have worked on.  If you are self employed, get a few testimonials from your clients.  If you are in administration, provide some examples of how you have saved your company money through your own initiatives.  I bet you do at least one project a week that you are proud of.  Take a moment to find a way to share that with your future employers.

There are many ways to share your portfolio online.  If you already have a blog or website, add a page to host your portfolio.  You can create a Wordpress.com account, and post them there.  Tumblr and Posterous are even easier ways.  Then go get a domain to point to your portfolio.  Which is more professional –”www.mybestportfolio.com” or “mybestportfolio.wordpress.com”?  For $12, it shouldn’t be a tough decision.

Online Community Sites

If you are serious about your profession, whether it’s the one that you are currently in, or the one that you want to be in, be an active member in the forums that are discussing it.  Make sure your profile has all of your current information, including how to contact you.  I’m amazed at how many people leave comments on WorkAwesome, but haven’t bothered to complete their profile.  This is a lost opportunity to attract visits to their website or portfolio.  If you are contributing positive information, in the form of posts or comments, chances are the other readers are going to have a look at your profile to see if you have other shared interests.  If an employer noticed that you are in the same city, and then clicked on your link to find examples from your portfolio, what do you think your chances of working with them might be?  And all because you were a contributing member in an online community.

Social Networking

If you don’t know anyone at the company you want to work for, you aren’t trying hard enough.  With a minimum of effort you can find out who the key players are in any industry, and you will probably find you are at most two degrees of separation from them.  Find some of the folks in the company and chat with them about what’s great, and not-so-great, about working there.  Find out what the expectations are from the team that you would actually be working with.  Are they the people that you want to spend more than 40 hours per week with?  Are you the type of person that they want to work with?

Employers

This list isn’t just for job hunters – it’s for employee hunters, too.  If you are looking to find good people, go where the good people are.   Stop asking for people to submit resumes.  Ask them for their portfolio.  Hold events like this summer schmooze to find the right person for the job – not just the best of the ones that applied.  Jason Fried, cofounder of 37signals, has some excellent thoughts on hiring procedures.

“I don’t expect to go hungry if I decide to leave the University.   Resume: Linux looks pretty good in many places.”                                                                                                                                                 – Linus Torvalds

Given the ability to research and dig into the background of potential employees, a bit of time should be spent making sure the positive information is what comes up first.  Followed by your spring break at Daytona Beach photos on Facebook. You wouldn’t want to blow your crack at the dream job for lack of due diligence.

What is LinkedIn?

“LinkedIn allows you to create a profile that summarizes your professional expertise and accomplishments. You can then form enduring connections by inviting trusted contacts to join LinkedIn and connect to you. Your network consists of your connections, your connections’ connections, and the people they know, linking you to a vast number of qualified professionals and experts.”

- LinkedIn’s About page

You’re going to use LinkedIn to land the job you really want so make sure you put forth not only the energy, but qualifications that are pertinent.  Nothing really outside of what you’re looking for should be in your profile.

LinkedIn provides you with a measuring stick to get your profile to where it needs to be to get the best results (i.e. adding connections, a photo, bio, work history, etc.) and once you’ve filled that stick then you need to keep nurturing it.  There are several third-party apps that work well with the service, and if you line everything up right you end up with zero communication loss between you and your profile.

The service is all about connecting with, collaborating with and commending others.  There’s a lot that goes into it – more that can be (should be) covered on a weekend read.  But, since it is the weekend there’s no time like the present to get a profile started or reinvigorate the one you’ve already established.  Go to it.