I’ve noticed a pattern lately. Many people are quickly promoted and moved to another part of the business. This has happened time and time again.

Project leads have these things in common:

1. They have frequently been in charge of other strategic projects at the company
2. Have been in their current job around 1-2 years
3. Are business objective vs technically focused
4. Strong personalities with significant influence
5. If they’re not C or VP-level, they have the coverage of someone who is
6. Adept at cutting through red-tape and making things happen quickly
7. Not risk-adverse
8. Get promoted into a new position around 6 months after roll-out

Is it that surprising?

I’m not sure it is. These are the same personality attributes many leaders have. The promotions themselves have made sense, too. Either the person is given a higher title and asked to continue the same work in other parts of the business, or they’re pulled off social software completely and applied to another challenging project.