How do I navigate a possible pending promotion? My manager is leaving. My employer wants to promote from within. I'm "the only candidate for the job" (my manager's words), but I'm worried that I might botch the opportunity.
I have worked for two years for the Austrian branch of a small software consulting company headquartered in Germany. In that time, I've managed a team of developers working on a relatively large and complicated project for an important and difficult customer. All things considered, the project has been pretty successful.
My current manager is officially leaving the company at the end of May (he has been hired away by my customer). He informed me of his intention to leave us in mid April and let me know at that time that he would recommend to upper management that I be promoted to take his place.
The COO visited our office later in April to discuss the company's future plans for Austria. I was suffering from a pretty severe bout of allergies, had hardly slept the entire week, and was probably running at 60%. I informed the COO of this, and he seemed pretty sympathetic. The COO told me that HQ wanted to expand our branch, and that they considered me to be the primary candidate for the position of branch manager. He also told me that my native English skills, professional appearance and communication skills (I’m no longer a typical IT geek) were all important factors in their consideration. I have 10 years of experience in software, with a few years in project management, so my professional qualifications should be adequate.
I informed the COO that I was very interested in the position and saw it as an attractive, challenging opportunity for personal development. He was very friendly, and I felt like the meeting went reasonably well, but I'm not sure whether I managed to impress him. I felt like I rambled a bit and was less focused than I would have been, had I been running at 100%.
Now I'm feeling paralyzed. I suspect that a couple of my co-workers are also vying for the position, actively selling themselves and their ideas for the future. I haven't had any contact with the COO in a week and half. I don't really know how to proceed here. Do I simply wait it out or should I actively pursue the position -- and if so, how? I have ideas for the future of the company, but I don’t know if they fit with my employer’s plans. I’m pretty flexible, however, if they don’t. I don’t want them to think that I have no ideas or ambition, but I also want to avoid giving them the impression that I have inflexible ideas about how we should move ahead.
Should I try to open up some lines of communication with the COO? I will be phasing out of my current project over the next couple of months, and should be taking over the other projects that have been handled by my manager up until now. Should I push to get the information I need in order to take over the other projects? How do I balance the remaining work on my current project with the need to actively transition into the new position?
I've never been in this situation and am unsure how to proceed. An additional complication is that I'm uncomfortable writing professional correspondence in German. I can handle face-to-face and telephone conversations well, and I understand all of the email traffic, but I feel really uncertain about writing to the COO or other managers in German (they do speak English, but German is their first language).
Where else can I go / what else can I read to help me navigate this process in a hurry?
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That's the main reason not to worry about your competitors' moves, as well -- they're known quantities and not likely to change anyone's opinion with any pitch no matter how smooth. Another point is that big ideas and big change aren't typically the mandate when promoting from within; if headquarters' really wanted to shake things up or change direction they'd transfer a proven manager from another division or hire one from outside.
Good luck!
posted by MattD at 2:44 PM on May 6