"Academic studies show that promotions are still largely a reward for past performance, and that organizations continue to assume the attributes that have made someone successful so far will continue to make them successful in the future (even if their responsibilities change)," reads a recent Harvard Business Review article. 

The two authors, Josh Bersin and Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic, believe that organizations should ask three distinct questions when considering promoting someone into a leadership role:

1. "Does the candidate have the skills to be a high-performing contributor or the skills to be an effective leader?" The authors express how performance level is measured by someone's ability, likability, and drive. And leadership is something that "demands a broader range of character traits" such as integrity. They explain how experts can tend to have fixed mindsets because of their years of experience and that leaders need to be able to remain open and adapt, despite their experience.
2. "Can I really trust this candidate’s individual performance measures?" According to, Bersin and Chamorro-Premuzic, measuring someone's performance is a subjective and is "vulnerable to bias, politics, and an employee's ability to manage up." A leader needs to be able to set aside personal belief towards those under them and do their best to operate in a responsive way.
3. "Am I looking forward or backward?" The secret is in hiring for the future instead of rewarding for what has been done in the past. When organizations look ahead and see what skills are needed for the bigger picture, they are able to make more informed decisions about promotions.