Workplace Multiplier by Tola Akinsulire

April 29, 2025

Welcome to the Workplace Multiplier newsletter. Published Monday to Friday, equipping you to achieve your professional goals faster and without burnout or overwhelm by leveraging The Triple Win Method.

Your boss isn't thinking about your promotion (but this will help)

Howdy ,

One of the biggest responsibilities you have at work, aside from doing your work, is your responsibility to your career.

Yes, it’s not the responsibility of your boss to get you to the next promotion - it’s your job.

No matter how good a boss you have, they can’t be thinking about your career success for 8 hours a day.

That’s your job.

So, today, I’m going to put a few pebbles in your sling bag so you can have a go at the Goliath called career success.

Focus on Results, Not Just Efforts

It’s no use being good at your job if you are not good at the right thing.

It’s always amusing when I speak with people who are so excited about what they’re doing, and yet they don’t seem to be noticed for the next level.

Part of the problem is that they are fixated on efforts rather than results. This is one of the shocks that people get when they move to Western climes and go, “This work is killing.”

Naah, it wasn’t killing as much as you thought you could get by with doing the bare minimum.

You are paid for results, not efforts.

Even the minimum wage tells a story. They have a minimum pay rate per hour, not a minimum pay rate per month.

That way, they let you know - “Don’t do in 10 hours what you can do in 5 hours.”

A Strategic Approach to Career Advancement

This is not original thinking, so I will not dance on it. Let’s go into something more strategic.

You get noticed faster for promotion and the next pay rise if you can focus your time and abilities on result-based activities at work.

Not efforts but results.

Let me give you a simple three-step plan to keep your attention on focusing on results.

Three Steps to Results-Focused Success

1 - Set Clear, Measurable Targets - Agree with your boss on a clear set of measurable targets at the beginning of an appraisal period. Don’t be fluffy - be definite. This will ensure you don’t have arguments on what constitutes success during the period under review.

2 - Align with Organizational Direction - Ensure the targets align with the organisation’s current direction. Don’t live in a silo. If you are focused on something that matters to other people, other people will speak for you across the company.

3 - Report Progress Frequently - Report your progress frequently. Don’t wait until the end of an appraisal period to bring the receipts. I recommend doing it weekly and monthly. Why? Weekly reporting allows you to adjust your execution, and monthly reporting allows you to show milestone results. It also allows you to edit your targets. You may need to take out or add a new one to it. Things change at work, and you need to adjust your focus accordingly.

There is so much more I could run you with, but I’ll keep it to these foundational trio.

And if you want to make an additional investment of time in adding a bit more structure to the foundation, at the end of this email, I’ll leave a playlist of 9 short YouTube videos (each about -10 minutes) I did a while back for your learning pleasure.

Back to our foundational trio.

Adapting to Workplace Changes

It’s important to always remember that things change in the workplace. You can’t assume that you have the final playbook. You have to keep adjusting and re-aligning your sail to the direction of the wind.

This trio will help you do that.

They will ensure you are relevant not only to your boss but also to other decision makers in the company.

I have a friend who found out later that it wasn’t his boss who was recommending him for promotion at the performance review committee. Rather, it was the other department heads whom he had delivered results relevant to their areas that would put his promotion forward.

Yes, life can be interesting. It’s better to place your bets on more than one horse. Five will get you ten that one will come through.

Taking Active Control of Your Career

You can’t be a passive player in your career success.

You own the vertical, now run the horizontal

As always, keep winning at work and in life

Tola Akinsulire

Your Strategic Workplace Mentor 

You can watch the 9 short YouTube videos here

 Like this?

Please pay it forward by sharing it with someone who could benefit from it. They will thank you for it.

Want to get in on some of the lessons I have picked up in my career? Get my eBook "21 Lessons I Learned in My Career - A Primer to Help You Become Better at Work". Get it here

Do you work in a new country, or does your work involve working with people outside your country? Get my acclaimed book "Winning Beyond Borders: Achieving Success at Work in a New Country". Get it here

Was this forwarded to you? Sign up so you don't miss any edition. Click here to sign up.