Think You’re Ready for a Promotion? Read this first.
You’ve been working hard. Delivering results. Taking on extra projects. Maybe your boss is moving on. Maybe that next big role has just opened up. Or maybe it just feels like it’s time.
But here’s the reality: doing a good job unfortunately isn’t always enough to land a promotion.
We talk to CFOs, CEOs, founders, and investors every day, and they’re honest about what separates the people who move up from those who get stuck. The barriers aren’t always about technical skills. More often, it’s about how you show up, how you’re perceived, and how much impact you really have beyond the spreadsheet.
If you’re hitting a ceiling, here are the roadblocks that might be holding you back — and what to do about them.
1. Commercial Acumen: Connecting Finance to Growth
Technical skills get you in the door. Commercial acumen gets you promoted.
Leaders want to know: can you connect the numbers to the levers that drive growth? Can you translate variance analysis into action? Can you link sales cycles, customer dynamics, and pricing strategy back to the financial story?
Think of it this way: any finance professional can report the past. The ones who get promoted are those who influence the future.
Commercial acumen is about seeing finance as more than reporting. It’s about positioning yourself as a growth partner – someone who makes decisions sharper and with critical consideration, not just tidier.
2. Visibility: Hoping Quietly Isn’t a Strategy
How can you get promoted if nobody knows you want it?
Too many people assume that hard work alone will get noticed. The reality? Promotions often happen behind closed doors, long before a role is even considered to be advertised. If you’re not on the radar of decision-makers, you’ve already missed the conversation of internal promotion.
Visibility doesn’t mean bragging. It means building internal networks, voicing your career ambitions to your boss, and seeking out projects that get you in front of those decision-markers. It means showing up at cross-functional meetings, giving opinions, and not just sticking to your lane.
If you’re invisible, you’re unpromotable. Step up and get yourself noticed.
3. Confidence: Always Back Yourself
If you don’t believe in yourself, why should anyone else? It may sound like such a cliché but it’s so true.
Confidence is one of the most common traits leaders look for when considering promotions. But let’s be clear: it’s not about arrogance, swagger, or loud opinions in meetings. True confidence is about conviction. It’s about owning your ideas, being able to explain your reasoning clearly, and backing yourself to handle challenges.
The people who move up aren’t necessarily the most qualified in the room – they’re the ones who can step into ambiguity without freezing, who are comfortable making a tough call, and who carry themselves in a way that reassures others they can be trusted with more responsibility.
Practical steps? Start speaking up in meetings. Don’t just share figures – share insights, provide value, consider the impact those figures will have on the future of the company. Volunteer to present at team updates or board meetings. The more you practise putting yourself in visible, high-pressure moments, the more confidence becomes natural.
4. Storytelling: From Data to Decisions
Here’s the truth: nobody wants to sit through 35 slides of meaningless charts.
Data without context doesn’t drive action. Leaders promote those people who can take a complex financial picture and turn it into a story that matters and makes sense to everyone in the business, not just those within your department.
Storytelling in finance means presenting more than “the what.” It’s about explaining “the why” and “the so what.” Instead of saying “Revenue is down,” tell the story: “Revenue has dipped because customer churn spiked in Q2 – and unless we address retention, Q4 growth targets will slip.”
It’s providing a narrative. It’s framing. And it’s the difference between being seen as a data cruncher or a strategic leader.
5. Stakeholder Engagement: Influence Beyond the Numbers
Promotions aren’t just about whether you can close the books on time. Senior roles are about influence. Can you bring people with you? Can you command a room, not just a spreadsheet?
This is where stakeholder engagement comes in. If your updates sound like “EBITDA is down 4% this quarter,” you’ll lose people. If you explain, “Margin is tightening because of increased supplier costs – but here are three options to respond,” you’ve shifted from reporting to influencing. It’s not enough to point out the fire – you need to show how you’ll put it out. That’s the difference that gets you noticed.
The difference is huge. Strong stakeholder engagement means commercial leaders invite you into conversations early. It means HR asks your opinion on headcount plans, and operations trusts your call on investment trade-offs. Without it, you’ll always be seen as back-office support, not leadership material.
6. Transformation Mindset: Comfort Zones Don’t Get Promotions
Businesses don’t promote people to keep things ticking. They promote people who push things forward.
That’s why a transformation mindset is so critical. If you’re not actively looking for ways to improve, you’re signalling that you’re comfortable – and comfort zones are career growth killers.
The people who step up are the ones who challenge old processes, streamline workflows, and introduce new tools. They don’t wait to be asked – they spot inefficiencies and fix them.
Think about it: if leadership sees you as someone who makes the business sharper, faster, and leaner, why wouldn’t they want you in a bigger role?
Final Thought: Promotions Don’t Just Happen
If you’re hitting a ceiling, it might not be because companies are being too picky or because your technical skills aren’t strong enough. More often, it’s about how you’re showing up.
Promotions go to people who are confident, visible, influential, forward-thinking, and commercially minded.
The good news? These are skills you can build. Start working on them today, and you’ll not only improve your promotion chances – you’ll become the kind of leader businesses fight to keep.
At We Do Group, we help finance professionals step into bigger roles – and we help businesses hire the leaders they need. Whether you’re chasing that promotion or looking to bring in someone who can make an impact, we know what it takes to get there.
