The Role of "Expectation" in Advancement at Work

When you pick up books or read articles on how to "get that big promotion" at work, the articles and expert advice tends to focus on how to communicate, dress, carry yourself and how to perform on the job in ways to attract the notice of influential supervisors. All of these are very important things to pay attention to when trying to advance yourself and take advantage of promotional opportunities in the workplace. What can hold you back, however, is something else-your own expectations around your performance, your gender, race, class, etc., and expectations you may hold regarding what you can possibly achieve.

You may not even realize the expectations you are carrying around regarding how far you will advance at work. Sure, there are stories about those individuals who are "surprised" by how well they do and find themselves in positions they never really imagined, but for most of us, it takes focus and determination to advance on the job (and sometimes even that and our stellar work performance is not enough.) Whether or not we actually expect to get promoted and whether or not we can visualize ourselves performing at a higher level can have an impact on what we achieve.

A company or industry culture can contribute to those expectations. If, for example, an individual works in an industry where males historically get paid more than females and those same males tend to get the promotions and advancement opportunities, it might be reasonable to find that females just don't expect to get the advancement nod. If an employee looks at the management team and sees no women, no minorities and no one under a certain age, the expectation can be quite reasonable that only people who are of a certain gender, age, and ethnicity will get promoted.

We do not have to give in to these inherent expectations, however, especially if they are ones that we have invented or are carrying around for personal reasons. It is a general assumption that when it comes to life, we tend to get what we expect to get and that where we end up on the company ladder may very well reflect how far up we thought we could actually get. If you think your own personal expectations are holding you back, take a good look at what you actually expect to happen. A shift in thinking may be what it takes to finally land that promotion and get your career moving again.