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Career Growth Is Just Gossip With a Better PR Team
The real reason some people get promoted faster than you
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The first time I heard someone describe career growth as “gossip with a better PR team,” I laughed. Then I thought about it for a while.
What separates the person who climbs relentlessly upward from the one who stays put? What magic ingredient transforms one worker into management material while another remains, in corporate speak, “not quite ready”?
I’ve sat in enough performance reviews to know it isn’t always competence.
Picture the scene: ten people in a conference room, discussing candidates for promotion. Does anybody mention the flawless code, the impeccable spreadsheets, the way invoices get filed exactly three days before they’re due? Sometimes. But what they talk about more is impression. Presence. Cultural fit.
They talk, in other words, about reputation.
Your career growth depends, to a startling degree, on what other people say about you when you’re not in the room. The whispers and comments, the quick hallway conversations, the Slack messages exchanged during meetings.
Gossip, but professionally sanctioned.
This has been my life at various companies. I’ve watched competent people get passed over because they “don’t seem ambitious enough” and mediocre performers promoted because they “have leadership qualities.” Translation: Nobody remembers what they actually produce, but everybody remembers them.
The highlight reel beats the blooper reel beats no reel at all.
I remember a colleague — let’s call her Sarah — who spent three years delivering perfect work, meeting every deadline, and solving problems nobody else could tackle. She wasn’t promoted. The woman who sat next to her — let’s call her Jessica — spent those same three years making sure everyone knew about her contributions, building relationships with senior management, and talking about her “career trajectory” in every one-on-one meeting.
Guess who made manager first?
