If you get promoted — don't celebrate. Evaluate.

Most people treat promotions like gifts. They say yes immediately, afraid the offer might disappear. Then six months later they’re drowning in a role they never properly understood, working for someone they wouldn’t have chosen, wondering what went wrong.

I’ve been promoted four times in my career. None of those promotions had all the boxes checked. Some went well. Some nearly broke me. The difference wasn’t luck — it was how consciously I walked in.

What I Learned to Audit

Over those four transitions, I started recognizing what actually mattered before saying yes.

1. Your direct leader. If your new boss isn’t someone you’d choose to work for, everything downstream will rot. A weak leader above you means unclear expectations, inconsistent support, and political noise you’ll have to absorb instead of doing actual work. In one of my promotions, I knew the leader wasn’t great, I just underestimated how much that would cost me. Before you say yes, honestly assess whether this person gets to the root of problems, takes ownership, communicates clearly, and grows people rather than just managing them. (Here’s a ‘framework’ I use to evaluate leaders.)

2. Reversibility. Can you step back if it doesn’t work? Some promotions are experiments. Some are traps. The difference is whether returning to your previous role is culturally acceptable or career suicide. If stepping back isn’t an option, raise the bar dramatically before saying yes.

3. What you lose. Promotions always cost something. When I moved from individual contributor to manager, I lost the craft I’d spent years building. Technical skills rust fast when you stop using them daily. Know exactly what you’re trading away: autonomy, momentum, expertise, focus, evenings, sanity. Price it consciously.

4. Clear expectations. Don’t let anyone hand you a foggy job description and then grade you on a secret rubric. In one of my roles, expectations were defined so abstractly, more vision than reality, that I couldn’t tell whether I was succeeding or failing until it was too late. Nail down what success actually means, even if the metrics are soft.

5. Your own gaps. Map the expectations you clearly meet and the ones you obviously don’t. No delusion, no optimism theatre. If you can’t be radically critical with yourself before taking the role, the role will do it for you later, and much less gently.

6. Learning upside. Would you voluntarily work with these people even without the title? Is there someone you can genuinely learn from, or are you walking into a vacuum? Promotions without a learning curve are just slow-motion stagnation with a nicer name.

What I Eventually Understood

Here’s what took me four promotions to internalize.

You don’t need all boxes checked to say yes. What you need is conscious awareness of which boxes are unchecked, and a plan for how you’ll survive those gaps.

In my best promotion, I had no idea what I didn’t know, but the role was reversible, and I was surrounded by people who could teach me. The gaps were real, but the safety net was too.

In my hardest one, I knew the leader wasn’t good and the expectations were chaotic. But I went in with a time limit I’d set for myself, a mental contract that this was an experiment with an expiration date. That framing probably saved me from burning out completely.

If you’re relying entirely on the organization to make the promotion work, leader quality becomes the single most important factor. A good leader helps you navigate unclear expectations, fills skill gaps, and creates the conditions where you can actually succeed. Without that, you’re solving every problem alone.

What This Means in Practice

If you’re considering a promotion, run this audit honestly. Not to talk yourself out of it, but to enter with open eyes. Know where you’ll struggle. Know what support you’ll need. Know your exit conditions.

If you’re the one promoting someone, use this as a diagnostic. Are you setting them up to succeed, or handing them a title and hoping for the best?

Promotions aren’t rewards. They’re role changes with real costs.

Evaluate before you celebrate.