The Exact Framework for Volunteering Your Way to Promotion
How to identify the right opportunities, prepare your response, and execute for maximum visibility
Dear Future Leaders,
In the last post, I shared three stories about engineers who responded differently when leadership asked for volunteers.
Alex leapfrogged years of waiting by building a knowledge agent.
Sarah delayed her promotion by declining to present.
A whole team missed their shot by staying silent during a crisis.
Now, let me show you exactly how to position yourself to win when these opportunities arise…
How to spot opportunities worth your time
Not every volunteer request deserves your attention. Here’s my filter with five questions:
Does this come from skip-level or above?
Will multiple teams see my work?
Is it tied to revenue, compliance, or a major initiative?
Is the problem space ambiguous with no clear playbook?
Does it have a 6-12 week timeline?
If you can answer yes to at least three of those five, it’s worth considering.
Skip the volunteer requests from peers, administrative tasks, projects with unclear success metrics, and anything without a defined endpoint.
Once you’ve identified an opportunity worth pursuing, the next challenge is how you respond in the moment.
What to say in the moment
Most engineers either stay silent or immediately say yes without thinking. Both cost you.
Here’s the three-part response that works: