The Unwritten Rules: The Six Skills You Need to Get Promoted to the Executive Level

Chapter 1. Deciphering the Code

It happens almost every day in large organizations: an executive promotion is announced. And someone else from your company—not you—gets the job or a new executive is hired from the outside. The organization looks for winners and losers, and the rumor mill goes into high gear. Was the choice based on politics, or has the old-boy network reared its ugly head again? Your boss and human resource staff attempt to massage your ego. It's a matter of experience, they say, or "fit." "They were looking for someone with a little more" something. "Hang in there," they tell you. "Your time will come."

Perhaps you've experienced this situation personally. Unfortunately, in today's organizations, your career aspirations ...