WHO GOT PROMOTED ME OR MY WORK ?

Scene 1 – SAP Labs, March 2000 – I got my first promotion – from a developer to a “senior” developer. You have no idea how senior it made me feel… or, maybe you do. First promotion – just like pehla pyaar (First love). And when I saw the monetary component that it brought along, I felt like hugging my manager… (Of course I didn’t, you buggers!!)


Scene 2 – Philips, March 2005 – I got ‘another’ promotion – to a team lead. Only this time, some people didn’t seem too happy with my progress. My boss, then, had to cut through a lot of resistance (read crap) to get me my ‘well-deserved’ promotion. So what if the monetary component was not so exciting or even worth bragging about. A promotion in troubled times is like a new crush after a breakup…(mere dil mein yun hi rehna, tum pyaar pyaar banke…)


Scene 3 – Motorola, March 2010 – I got my ‘final’ promotion (No, I didn’t become the CEO, dummy!) – that was the last promotion I earned before I decided to not let ‘others’ decide my promotion and bid adieu to the job industry in 2012. This one had no monetary increment (obviously :() as it was a bad time for the company (Was it, really? I heard a lot of people at the top made a lot of money – but those must be rumours, right brethren?)

“Anyways, maybe one of you has just earned a promotion (at least that’s how they pronounce it. Whether you were born promoted, or you achieved a promotion or you had promotion thrust upon you – I’m sure Shakespeare knows!!) So, CONGRATULATIONS !!“

Here are a few thoughts that you could ponder upon –

  1. WHO got promoted – YOU or YOUR WORK : A good friend recently told me that with 15+ years of workex he recently got promoted – along with south india, he will now handle western region as well. WOW! The only missing link – there is no increment in the remuneration. Reason – his company is going through troubled times (Reminds me of the song “Bridge over troubled water” by Simon & Garfunkel.
  2. What is your BIGGEST JOY in the promotion? Is it more responsibility (read ‘more time for the office and hence less for the family and self’)? Is it more money that you will now take home? Is it that it brings you a step closer to the top? If yes, whats your vision of life at the top?
  3. Were you WANTING/EXPECTING this promotion? Or like in troubled times, it would only increase your insecurity (Of course, I didn’t get those feelings in the first 10 years of job life. But something changes after that milestone).
  4.  A JOB CHANGE is also a PROMOTION. Well, mostly so. I hope the job change did not mean changing of office location/city/country which was undesirable. You can re-read the above article with a job change perspective.
  5. FINALLY, is it time for INTROSPECTION? Before the celebrations drown the bleak inner voice, maybe its time to allot a time to reflect, to understand the long term implications of the change, to be able to access both the pros and the cons, maybe the hidden ones specially, maybe you wanna look at some seniors and ask if they are living a life that inspires you.

For me, my first promotion prompted me to seek options beyond a job; my ‘another’ promotion at Philips made me more eager to build a tunnel out of that not-so-friendly an environment; by the time my last promotion at Motorola happened, I was ready to throw in the towel because the tunnel had been built.

Things just done happen in life – they happen for a reason. They bring along messages from the universe. They have pearls of wisdom hidden in them. I just hope you are not TOO BUSY to pay heed and listen to that voice – one that knows where the ‘real and everlasting happiness’ will come from.

“ONCE AGAIN, I’M HAPPY FOR YOU. I JUST HOPE YOU WILL CHOOSE TO PROMOTE YOURSELF TO THE NEXT LEVEL OF THINKING AND BEING. GOD BLESS!!“