I sincerely wanted to know what in my performance needed improvement, so I could work on those areas for future opportunities.

Dear Promoted: Wonderful advice. The ability to ask for and incorporate constructive feedback is crucial to success at every point in a career. Moreover, a no, while disappointing, can often be an opportunity to learn, reframe or re-evaluate one’s goals.

While this administrator did not, in my opinion, have the same courage back to me, she did later recommend me for a promotion that was over the folks promoted earlier. And I accepted that gratefully.