How to be on the fast track?

[Anonymous]

What do you have to do at work to be on the fast track? I want to move up!

[Anonymous]

Try working harder and smarter than others and express an interest in taking on more responsibility.

[Anonymous]

Be tall and white.

[Anonymous]

Development programs. Fight and schmooze to get in one

[Anonymous]

At my employer, the only people whose careers get fast tracked are people from the field that were leaders and moved over to corporate, or people who went through the internal leadership development program.

Everyone else gets slow tracked. You can make progress but it is much slower going than the fast trackers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Try working harder and smarter than others and express an interest in taking on more responsibility.

Haha, yeah that's the way. The hardest workers and smartest don't always get fast tracked b/c they are unwilling to do the a$$ kissing and throat cutting involved in "fast track" lol.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:At my employer, the only people whose careers get fast tracked are people from the field that were leaders and moved over to corporate, or people who went through the internal leadership development program.

Everyone else gets slow tracked. You can make progress but it is much slower going than the fast trackers.

At mine, those are impossible. You either have to get hired into it and those slots only go to kids from the right schools. We may hire from JMU, but not our leadership track. Mid career you need to be a top performed and either have a patron or fufil multiple diversity check marks

[Anonymous]

Make friends with your boss’s “boss”. You move up because of your connections. Meritocracy is a cute concept but not one I’ve seen play out in 20 years.

[Anonymous]

Most people work at about 50-75% of their ability. People are lazy. So ... that's good news. In my experience you really only have to do a bit more than that to be the best.

Make sure your actual work, substance-wise, is as good as it can be. But also just be a good employee -- this is often what is missing (even in the professions): be on time, respond to all communications before COB, treat everyone with respect, behave properly during meetings (don't talk to hear yourself talk!), don't blow through your leave, deliver projects on time -- or early if you can, if you are going to be late with something communicate with supervisors asap, etc., etc.

All of this seems obvious, but can actually be quite hard to find people who can walk and talk. Do that, and you are ahead.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Most people work at about 50-75% of their ability. People are lazy. So ... that's good news. In my experience you really only have to do a bit more than that to be the best.

Make sure your actual work, substance-wise, is as good as it can be. But also just be a good employee -- this is often what is missing (even in the professions): be on time, respond to all communications before COB, treat everyone with respect, behave properly during meetings (don't talk to hear yourself talk!), don't blow through your leave, deliver projects on time -- or early if you can, if you are going to be late with something communicate with supervisors asap, etc., etc.

All of this seems obvious, but can actually be quite hard to find people who can walk and talk. Do that, and you are ahead.

Everyone in my org does that, that’s basic professionalism. But it’s the talk white dude who plays golf with the boys who is getting the promotions. Something I see a pretty young woman taken under an executor’s wing to, don’t thing there’s anything scandalous just people like hanging with people like them or pretty people do will advance to their level

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Try working harder and smarter than others and express an interest in taking on more responsibility.

Haha, yeah that's the way. The hardest workers and smartest don't always get fast tracked b/c they are unwilling to do the a$$ kissing and throat cutting involved in "fast track" lol.

You can be smart and work hard, be right a lot, be very good as ass kissing and be liked and yet still not on fast track.

Just go back to be tall and white.

[Anonymous]

None of the fast trackers I know were any smarter or hardworking than anyone else, except maybe some of the female minorities.

More typically they got fast tracked because of their alma mater, major and network, so leadership were more willing to groom them and take a chance on their potential, vs the unknown future performance of associates from lesser known programs and no personal network connections to vouch for them in front of leadership.