I became an Amazon VP in part because my leadership career started fast. I was promoted 3 times in my first three years. Here is what happened:

I joined a startup straight out of school as a software engineer. Though I was an engineer, what the team I was working on really needed was a Technical Program Manager (TPM). So, I started doing TPM work, driving the projects that needed to get done.

Within six months, they removed the friendly but ineffective Product Manager from his role and had me drive the project instead. For those who know Star Trek, I call this a “Klingon Promotion” because I took over for someone who had been removed.

A year later, the startup formalized titles and levels. By that time, I was leading a small team of three. Even though I had less than two years of experience, they called me a Lead Engineer, a title at least two up from the entry level roles.

Some of the people I was leading were older and more experienced than I was, but since I was the one driving the project and organizing the work, I was the Lead Engineer.

As my team grew, I began doing managerial work, so I was promoted again to a manager role and title. In less than three years with the company, I was promoted three times and my compensation rose 89%.

This fast start put me five to 10 years ahead of many peers, who first became managers after 8 or more years of experience. The keys to this fast start were:

I worked at a growing company. This pace of promotions would have been impossible to achieve if I had been at a company that was growing more slowly.

I did the work that needed to be done. When I first joined as an engineer, I could have seen the chaos and thought, “Someone should handle that, but it isn’t my job.” This would have been easy, but it would not have helped my career.

I wasn’t shy about my impact. If I led an initiative or drove a project, I made sure that was known. I would talk about my team’s success and highlight their wins, which also reflected well on me. I didn’t wait for my work to be noticed.

This early momentum compounded to drive me to executive by my 40s.

If you want to generate career momentum to go far, or to help your team accelerate faster, RSVP for these 2 free classes to join live (and get the recording):

1/ Be Visible, Get Executive Sponsorship, & Build Key EQ Skills: maven.com/p/fd868e/be-v…

2/ Get Rapid Early Career Growth (3 key actions): maven.com/p/4c5e2d/get-…

And if those classes resonate, enroll in Jason P. Yoong (my COO, former Amazon and Dentsu) upcoming course "Get Promoted Faster: For Early Career ICs & Managers" where I am a special guest instructor. If you are a senior leader, enroll your team to help them up-skill and add more value to your org: maven.com/ethan-evans/e…