Would YOU recommend YOU for promotion?

SGM Matthew Quick — Sat, 29 Mar 2014 23:41:25 -0400

Often times, we have an inflated sense of who we really are and it helps to self-assess ourselves once in a while.

Honestly, if you were the supervisor of you (or someone exactly like you), would YOU recommend YOU for a promotion? Why or why not?

If you'd rather not respond, that's OK too...try to use this as a self-assessment and think of how you can do better?

Response by MAJ Samuel Weber made Mar 29 at 2014 11:48 PM

MAJ Samuel Weber — Sat, 29 Mar 2014 23:48:07 -0400

This is a trick question?! Of course you would promote you if you had someone like yourself working for you (wow that is confusing). That's like saying you wouldn't vote for yourself if you ran for office. But since I was just promoted, I guess I would have to hold off until I'm eligible for Major, since the officer corps has a lengthy TIG requirement (4.5 years for BZ and 6 years for PZ) LOL.

Response by Col Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 29 at 2014 11:49 PM

Col Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 29 Mar 2014 23:49:11 -0400

MSG Quick, great question, another way I like to look at performance is to look at it through the eyes of the owner of a small business; would you pay out of your own pocket for x or for x person's performance? Again, excellent question, very thought provoking!

Response by SFC Benjamin Harrison made Mar 29 at 2014 11:51 PM

SFC Benjamin Harrison — Sat, 29 Mar 2014 23:51:32 -0400

This is a superb question. A year ago i would say definitely NO, as I felt I was not ready for the responsibility. Today, I feel I am ready to be a SFC and I would select myself for promotion based on my merits. This does not mean my ego is inflated, quite the contrary, I believe that the challenges I have met and overcome have merely proved to me that I am just as a good an NCO as the next SSG(P), and have earned the "Promote Now" SR Rater bullet on my NCOER.

At the same time, I also believe that I will be looked over for promotion this year as it is my first look and there are other SSG's who are better qualified than I. So perhaps next year I will make the cut in the eyes of those sitting on the SFC Board.

Response by SFC Aaron Calmes made Mar 30 at 2014 12:43 AM

SFC Aaron Calmes — Sun, 30 Mar 2014 00:43:07 -0400

At my current rank, absolutely. When I was an E-5 and E-6, different story. It's not that I wasn't ready to be promoted but I wasn't confident I could do the next level. I was really lucky to have very knowledgeable and good leaders and at the time I thought there was no way I could be as good of a SSG and SFC that they were. It took them telling me that I was more than ready for the rank and I was going to be put in the position whether I liked it or not. "You're gonna do it so you might as well drop a packet and get paid for it" is what I was told by my commander.

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Dec 30 at 2019 5:02 PM

SFC Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 30 Dec 2019 17:02:10 -0500

Begrudgingly- I would. But that’s because as a hound SGT I was a part of an NCO meeting that discussed who should and shouldn’t be recommended for the SGT board.

It turned into an NCODP where the platoon sergeant said something that really resonated with me.

“For all of you in here with stripes on your chest, there was somebody who said ‘no’.”

At the time, I had just battled through the NCO political landscape to get to the board. And there were definitely some “no” recommendations. But someone took a chance on me and supported my potential.

With that said, you’ve got to be unable and unwilling to get, “That’s a no for me, dog.” (Randy Jackson voice)