How to promote with sanity in 5 simple steps: 1) Recognize the individual(s) that deserve promotion based on a set of criteria, data points and achievements 2) Ensure that the promotion will challenge them and set them up for success 3) Change their title and compensation 4) Give them a nice letter that lists their accomplishments and reasons for promotion, congratulate them in person, and thank them for their contributions 5) Announce and celebrate the promotion with their peers and colleagues Do NOT do these things: - Say "You have to be in role x months or years before you are eligible for promotion" - Ask "Why should we promote this person now" - Write long-winded documents justifying the promotion - Go through multiple promotion panels with individuals that may not even know the people being promoted - Inject other bureaucracy, politics and nonsense in the promotion I've promoted a Sr. Director and 2 Principal Architects in this fashion in the past 3 months. Each promotion took a couple of days at most. It's not impossible if you let go of your ego, your politics, your "we've always done it this way" mentality, and you just put your people first. Take care of your best people, or another company will. #leadership #management #commonsense #howto #dayone …see more