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Levelling up when you don't know how to.

The framework you need to take charge of your skill growth.

Have you ever had a performance review that's gone something like this:

Your manager: You've done a great job this year. Everyone really likes working with you, and you do your job well!

You: Awesome! If I'm doing so well, that must mean I'm getting promoted, right?

Your manager: Well, no. You're not ready for that yet.

You: ???

Yeah, it's a bit more common than you'd think.

The thing with these is, unless there's some business reason you can't get promoted, then you're probably missing some key skills, traits, or experience that your manager isn't able to articulate. And if your manager can't tell you what those are, then you have to figure them out for yourself.

✨ The 4 E's framework.

The 4 E's framework is something I wish I'd had earlier in my career for this exact reason. It's really simple, but it helps you pinpoint what specifically you're missing so that you can take action.

The 4 E's are Education, Experience, Exposure, and Environment.

You need to have all four to develop a new skill. So you don't just have to use this framework if you're gunning for a promotion – it's a useful way to check in whenever you're trying to develop something.

🎓 Education

Education is about your formal knowledge, theory, and training. This is what many people think of as the core part you need to develop a skill, so odds are you've already thought about this one.

🔥 Experience

Experience is just that – the time you've spent actively practicing this skill. This doesn't always come down to just sheer number of years you've spent, and you can deepen your experience without just waiting it out.

👀 Exposure

Exposure is about learning from others in the industry. It goes beyond just knowing what the skill looks like when it's practiced in your organisation, and explores the possibilities, applications, and innovations in the outside world.

🌴 Environment

And environment is about being in a place with the right conditions to develop your skill. This is about really assessing the culture of your team and company – are the conditions right for you to really develop this skill?

🤔 What's next?

Now that you know what the 4 E's are, you can start to apply them:

  1. Think about the skill you want to develop / title you want to reach.

  2. Consider each of the 4 E's and list out what you've done or are doing for each one.

  3. Notice what's missing. Are there any sections that are particularly empty? Is there anything you're doing that you think isn't quite achieving what it's supposed to?

  4. Commit to a plan of how you're going to fill in your gaps. Do some research and talk to your peer network if you get stuck on how to move forward. Make a reasonable plan and set regular check-ins with yourself.

💪 Getting results.

Once you've got a plan in place, you can present it to your manager. If you're gunning for that promotion, you could run through something like this:

  • Reiterate your goal with your manager.

  • Explain that you recognise that you aren't there yet and have identified what you need to work on. (You can also ask them if there's anything else that you've missed – and this should encourage them to give honest feedback.)

  • Talk them through your plan and commit to giving them updates.

Try to make progress on your growth regularly enough to give updates outside of your formal review period. Your manager should be able to see that not only do you have the self-awareness to identify your own weaknesses, but you are capable of owning a development plan, and are able to reliably, regularly follow through.

🤩 Get the template.

If you want some more support, you can get my Notion template on Lemon Squeezy for $3.99 AUD. It has prompts for each of the four areas to get you started, as well as some more templates to help you develop a plan of attack.

🥺 Want all the goodies?

Psst – Besties get access to all templates as part of a monthly subscription. You can get 30 days completely free.