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You're being rewarded for ownership… and punished for it at the same time.

 

 

Do you know the difference between Ownership and Leadership?

 

Imagine a group setting up camp.

 

The leader points and establishes intent. Tents should go in that area. The cooking space belongs over there. Water access matters. Safety matters. Time matters. Then the leader steps back and lets the team work.

 

The owners move into the mechanics. They pitch the tents securely. They build the fire ring correctly. They store food so animals cannot get to it. They check the knots, test the setup, and make sure the plan becomes reality.

 

If the leader starts hammering every stake, the campsite might still come together, but scale disappears. Direction collapses into labor.

 

If the owners try to set direction without alignment, effort scatters.

 

Both roles are essential. They are simply different jobs.

 

 

Some people build careers by getting really good at placing tents.

 

They know how to pick up the gear, move fast, secure the lines, and make sure nothing collapses overnight. Give them a spot and they will turn it into something solid and dependable. Organizations love these people. They are reliable. They are trusted. They are promoted.

 

 

But, there's a moment in many careers that feels confusing, frustrating, and strangely personal. Progress slows down. Recognition changes. Opportunities that once came easily start requiring a different kind of effort. It is tempting to interpret this as politics or favoritism or bad luck.

 

Success is no longer measured by how well you pitch the tent; it is measured by whether you chose the right terrain in the first place. Wind exposure. Water access. Safety. Distance. Tradeoffs. The questions get bigger and the answers determine whether everyone else succeeds.

 

Many talented professionals keep perfecting their tent placement long after the company has started looking for terrain selection.  The expectations have shifted, but no one announced the new rules. The behaviors that created momentum earlier are no longer the ones that unlock the next level. This is the passage from ownership to leadership.

 

I've explored the idea back in Episode 101 (https://managingacareer.com/101) that leadership isn't assigned rather it's something that you take. Consider this the companion discussion. Same landscape; different capability. Ownership and leadership overlap, but they are not interchangeable. Mixing them up is one of the most expensive misunderstandings professionals make.

 

 

Early on, personal responsibility is the engine of advancement. You are handed something discrete; a task, a ticket, a deliverable, a defined step in a larger machine. Your mandate is straightforward; take it seriously and make sure it lands. Along the way you build a reputation for quality, speed, responsiveness, and consistency. People learn they can trust you.

 

As experience grows, the size of what sits on your plate expands. The assignment is no longer a task; it is an initiative. It is not a step; it is an outcome. You become accountable for a portion of the business, with real consequences attached. Yet the mental model remains familiar; success still depends on what you can personally drive across the finish line.

 

And here is the part that feels wonderful; excellence begets more responsibility. Deliver well and the organization responds by giving you additional scope. You are rewarded with bigger problems, greater visibility, more influence. The loop reinforces itself.

 

Until one day it breaks.

 

Because at higher altitudes the question quietly changes. The evaluation is no longer centered on what you can carry yourself; it turns toward what happens through other people because of you. When that shift arrives, many high performers keep trying to win with the strategy that built their reputation. They lean harder into ownership.

 

And that is where momentum stalls.

 

 

Ownership is addictive because it produces visible proof. You can list what you launched, repaired, rescued, or completed. There is comfort in the clarity. The work is concrete; the contribution is undeniable.  But personal control has a ceiling.

 

Eventually the enterprise does not need another person capable of single-handedly absorbing a massive responsibility. It needs someone who can create progress across many fronts simultaneously, often without touching most of the work directly. Value is measured less by personal output and more by multiplied output.

 

This is the inflection point where many strong careers plateau. Instead of adjusting, people redouble their effort. They volunteer for more. They stay later. They dive into details. They become the hero again and again.  Meanwhile, the definition of senior impact has already evolved.

 

Upstairs, the conversation sounds different. Executives are not primarily curious about your task list. They want to know what is advancing, accelerating, or improving because your presence changes the environment.  That is a completely different question.

 

 

Now we can reconnect this idea to leadership.

 

Leadership is not conferred by a title. It is not defined by how many people report to you. It is not the authority to approve or deny. Leadership is the capacity to influence results without personally performing every step required to achieve them.

 

You see leadership when people alter their approach because of how you shaped the conversation. You see it when choices become obvious because you clarified the tradeoffs. You see it when momentum increases because you eliminated obstacles others were tolerating. You see it when trouble never materializes because you surfaced the risk while there was still time.

 

Look closely at those examples and one absence becomes obvious; nowhere is the requirement that you did the work yourself.

 

Leadership is leverage. Ownership is control. Both are valuable; they simply pay dividends at different moments in a career.

 

 

 

Let's make it practical.

 

Execution is about delivering through your own effort. Enablement is about delivering through the coordinated effort of many. One prizes mastery; the other prizes reach.

 

When you take responsibility for a task, you are making a promise about your personal reliability. When you step into leadership, you are making a promise about the system around you. The work will happen; the right contributors will be involved; barriers will be handled.

 

Owning demonstrates that you can be trusted with an assignment. Leading demonstrates that you understand how impact scales.

 

And it is scale that earns the invitation upward.

 

 

None of this is easy.

 

First, the emotional reward changes. When you operate as an owner, you complete things. You close loops. You release. Achievement is immediate and visible. When you operate as a leader, the progress is often secondhand. It arrives later. Frequently it is delivered by someone else. The satisfaction becomes abstract.

 

Second, identity gets shaken. If your professional story has been built on being the dependable closer, stepping away from the center of execution can feel dangerous. It may even feel like diminishing your value.

 

In reality, you are increasing it; but it rarely feels that way in the moment.

 

Third, very few organizations explain the upgrade. People are elevated because they excelled at ownership, then evaluated on leadership behaviors that were never made explicit. So they revert to the strategy that has always worked. They grip tighter. They insert themselves more often. They try to prove their worth the old way.

 

Here is what senior decision makers are actually rewarding.

 

Advancement happens when uncertainty at higher levels decreases. Strong individual contributors reduce uncertainty in their immediate domain. Strong leaders reduce uncertainty across the system.

 

When executives debate expanding someone's scope, a simple thought experiment runs in the background; if this person were responsible for more, would my job become easier or more complicated?

 

Those who remain heavily centered on personal ownership tend to increase complexity. Communication funnels through them. Decisions wait for them. Progress depends on them.

 

Those who practice leadership create the opposite effect. They generate clarity. They align participants. They unlock motion that does not require their constant presence.

 

They make elevation feel safe.

 

 

This evolution does not occur in a single leap. And it does not require abandoning ownership altogether. What it demands is a deliberate rebalance.

 

Here are practical ways to begin.

 

Start by taking responsibility for defining the problem rather than automatically executing the solution. Slow the rush to action. Clarify what success actually means. Make tradeoffs visible. Name the risks while they are still manageable. Then allow others to carry the work forward while you remain accountable for direction.

 

Shift your investment toward people as much as deliverables. Measure your contribution by asking who leaves the interaction more capable than when they arrived. Provide guidance. Transfer real authority. Allow productive struggle, with a safety net. The return on your effort multiplies through their development.

 

Look for opportunities to simplify decisions. Often leadership appears in the document that sharpens priorities or the question that reframes a debate. When colleagues regularly say that your input helped them see the issue differently, influence is happening.

 

Release the need to be the rescuer. Repeated heroics send an unintended message; without you, the system fails. Higher levels prize environments that run well in your absence. Replaceability becomes a feature, not a threat.

 

Finally, update how you describe your value. When communicating upward, move beyond activity and toward consequence. Explain what moved faster, what confusion disappeared, what alignment formed, what danger was prevented. That vocabulary signals readiness for greater scope.

 

 

Ownership earns attention. Leadership earns trust. And trust is what opens the door to senior responsibility.

 

If progress feels stalled, ask a simple diagnostic. Are you spending your time placing more tents…or getting better at choosing the terrain? The answer will point directly to your next move.  One proves you are capable. The other proves you are ready for altitude.

 

 

If this helped you see your situation more clearly, pass it along to someone who is exceptional at delivering and ready to expand their influence. And if you want more conversations about the unwritten mechanics behind advancement, follow Managing A Career wherever you listen. New episodes explore the patterns that quietly shape who rises.

 

I was reading a post on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7423016998617473025/) by Jason Feifer (https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasonfeifer/), the Editor in Chief of Entrepreneur Magazine. In a recent article, Jason was interviewing Gary Vaynerchuk (https://www.linkedin.com/in/garyvaynerchuk/) about how marketing has changed, specifically through a redefinition of the mid funnel. The traditional idea of a funnel still exists, but where and how momentum is created has shifted.

 

In the post, Jason shared a story that stuck with me. Heinz once posted a simple image on Instagram about a fictional keg of ketchup. It wasn't clever. It wasn't polished. It wasn't even particularly strategic. It was, by most standards, a "stupid" idea.

 

But it caught.

 

The post went viral, and instead of ignoring that signal, Heinz leaned into it. They took what worked, refined it, and eventually turned that one throwaway idea into a full marketing campaign tied to the Super Bowl. A joke became a brand moment.

 

What really hit me was this; the exact same approach can unlock your own career growth.

 

I've talked about marketing yourself before, all the way back in Episode 018, Selling Yourself (https://managingacareer.com/18 ). At its core, marketing is about understanding the needs of your customer and aligning your product to those needs. In your career, the "customers" are the leaders who influence your advancement, and the "product" is you.

 

Traditionally, career growth follows a familiar funnel. You build awareness through visibility (Episode 081, Visibility - https://managingacareer.com/81 ), you demonstrate value over time, and eventually that narrows down to the "purchase" decision; a promotion, a bigger role, or expanded scope.

 

But this is where Gary's insight becomes so useful. The traditional funnel doesn't work the same way anymore. In the modern world, social has become the mid funnel. That means you don't have to start with a perfectly crafted brand or a fully formed strategy. You can start by testing ideas.

 

Simple ideas.

Rough ideas.

Even ideas that feel dumb or unfinished.

 

If an idea hits, you work it in the lower funnel; executing, refining, and proving it delivers results. Once it's proven, you expand it upward, where it becomes part of your reputation and your brand.

 

That's exactly what Heinz did with a silly idea about a keg of ketchup…and it's a playbook most professionals never realize they can use.

 

 

When it comes to their careers, most people have traditionally focused on the ends of the funnel; either the upper funnel or the lower funnel.

 

In the upper funnel, the goal is recognition. You bring big ideas to meetings. You look for moments to contribute something bold. You try to get your name and your thinking in front of leaders who matter. There's an element of performance here; a desire to stand out. At its worst, this looks like jumping up and down and shouting, "NOTICE ME!"

 

In the lower funnel, the belief is almost the opposite. You expect your work to speak for itself. You execute…and you execute well. You hit deadlines. You deliver quality. You take pride in being reliable and consistent, trusting that results will eventually turn into recognition.

 

In reality, both ends of the funnel matter. Living exclusively in the upper funnel without execution comes across as fluff and self-promotion. Living exclusively in the lower funnel without a personal brand (Episode 043, Personal Brand - https://managingacareer.com/43 ) feels invisible, no matter how good the work is.

 

But in a modern marketing world, it may be time to try something different.

 

Instead of starting at the top or grinding endlessly at the bottom, start in the middle.

 

Work the mid funnel first. Test ideas in low-risk ways. Put thoughts, perspectives, and small experiments into the world and watch how people respond. If something resonates…if it creates pull rather than push…then you scale it.

 

 

In marketing, Gary's point was simple. Organic social media is where you test ideas cheaply and quickly. You don't overthink them. You don't turn them into million-dollar campaigns. You post, you watch, you learn.

 

At work, your mid funnel works exactly the same way…it's just not called social media.

 

At work, it's the water cooler; real or virtual; where you run an idea by a peer.

At work, it's a small demo shown to a single stakeholder.

At work, it's an informal focus group that pokes holes in a broken process.

 

At work, the mid funnel is small experiments and low-risk initiatives you try before you ask for permission and before you allocate real resources.

 

Mid-funnel career moves aren't about being loud. They're about being observable.

 

For an individual contributor, this shift can look subtle but powerful.

 

Upper-funnel you says, "We should completely rethink how our team reports metrics."

Lower-funnel you says, "I'll just keep updating the same spreadsheet every week."

Mid-funnel you says something different; "I'm going to redesign one version of this report for one stakeholder and see if it helps them make decisions faster."

 

That's it. No announcement. No steering committee. No permission slip.

 

You test it. You watch how people react. You collect feedback. If it flops…nobody cares. If it works…now you have signal. And that signal is everything.

 

In Jason's post, the next step was moving into the lower funnel. When something works, you refine it, optimize it, and amplify it. This is where most people hesitate at work, because amplification feels like self-promotion.

 

Here's the reframe. You are not promoting yourself. You are promoting a proven result.

 

Lower-funnel career moves look like this; sharing outcomes, not intentions…documenting impact, not effort…making it easy for others to reuse what worked…letting managers and peers see the before and after.

 

This is where "I tried something" becomes "this created value."

 

If you redesigned that report, now you send a quick note to your manager; "I tried a small tweak with one stakeholder. It cut their review time in half. I think this could scale." That's lower funnel. You're not asking for praise. You're offering leverage.

 

Gary called the final step "sending it up to brand land." In career terms, this is when your work becomes part of how people talk about you…even when you're not in the room.

 

Upper-funnel career outcomes look like this; being asked to present your approach…being pulled into bigger initiatives…your idea becoming "the way we do things now"…leadership referencing your work as an example.

 

And here's the key insight. You don't start here. You earn your way here through mid-funnel testing and lower-funnel proof.

 

People who skip straight to the upper funnel sound strategic but feel ungrounded.

People who stay forever in the lower funnel feel reliable but forgettable.

People who master the mid funnel become unavoidable.

 

 

Now let's talk about leaders; managers, directors, and executives; because the mid funnel doesn't just get ignored by individuals. It often gets quietly killed by leadership.

 

Most leaders don't do this on purpose. They do it because they're trying to be efficient, decisive, and risk-aware. Ironically, those instincts are exactly what shut down the mid funnel.

 

Upper-funnel leadership sounds like this; "Bring me bold ideas. Think bigger. Be more strategic."

Lower-funnel leadership sounds like this; "Just execute. We don't have time to experiment. Stick to the plan."

 

Both sound reasonable. Together, they create a trap.

 

When leaders only reward fully formed ideas or perfectly executed work, they leave no room for testing. People learn quickly that half-baked ideas aren't welcome. Small experiments feel dangerous. Early signals never surface. So instead of learning cheaply, teams either stay silent or wait until something is "big enough" to justify the risk.

 

That's how innovation slows down without anyone realizing it.

 

Mid-funnel leadership looks different.

 

Mid-funnel leaders invite rough drafts. They ask, "What did you try?" before asking, "Did it work?" They create space for pilots, prototypes, and small bets that don't require a business case or a blessing from three layers up.

 

For a leader, working the mid funnel might look like this.

 

Instead of asking for a full rollout plan, you ask someone to test an idea with one customer or one team.

Instead of demanding certainty, you ask what they learned.

Instead of shutting something down because it's incomplete, you help shape it into something testable.

 

The signal this sends matters. It tells your team that learning is valued. It tells high performers they don't need permission to think. And it gives you better data to make better decisions.

 

Leaders who protect the mid funnel don't just get better ideas. They get better people. Because the people who know how to test, learn, and scale are the same people who grow into strong senior leaders themselves.

 

 

This mid-funnel approach works -- at any career level -- for one simple reason. It aligns with how decision-makers actually think.

 

Leaders don't want big risky bets from people they don't trust yet. They want small proof points that reduce uncertainty. Mid-funnel activity reduces risk. Lower-funnel amplification builds confidence. Upper-funnel exposure creates opportunity.

 

This is how promotions really happen. Not from one heroic moment…but from a pattern of tested ideas that scale.

 

The big lesson from Heinz wasn't the ketchup keg. It was the courage to test something small…notice the response…and then go big with confidence. Your career works the same way.

 

Stop waiting for the perfect idea. Start testing imperfect ones in the mid funnel.

 

If this episode helped you see your career differently, do me a favor. Go to your podcast app right now and add a review for my podcast. Your ratings and reviews signal to others the amount of value they can receive by subscribing.

 

"Be quick to decide…but slow to act." This isn't just a pithy saying you nod along to and forget; there's real weight behind it. It's a quiet strategy that shows up again and again in fast career growth and strong professional reputations. If you've ever watched someone get promoted and thought, That seemed sudden, there's a good chance this was part of the story. From the outside, it looks like an overnight decision; behind the scenes, it's anything but. They were making clear decisions early, then deliberately working the back-channels; socializing ideas, pressure-testing assumptions, and building confidence in the outcome before taking visible action. This week, we're taking a deeper look at how this strategy actually works…and how you can apply it at any stage of your career.

 

Most professionals make the mistake of reversing the adage. They sit with a decision; weighing possibilities, scanning for trouble spots, and searching for more data to increase confidence in the "right" answer. This approach feels responsible. Thoughtful, even. The intent is good; no one wants to make a bad call; especially one that's visible. So the decision gets pushed later and later; right up to the point where it can't be delayed any further.

 

Then something subtle but costly happens. Once the decision is finally made, the switch flips. Action has to be immediate because there's no runway left. The plan is announced in an email or unveiled in a meeting; fully formed and already in motion. Almost instantly, resistance shows up. Concerns are raised. Questions surface. The data gets analyzed and reanalyzed. Stakeholders ask why they weren't involved sooner. From the perspective of the decision-maker, this feels like friction or second-guessing. From everyone else's perspective, it feels abrupt. And even when the decision itself is solid, it's now at risk; not because it's wrong, but because people haven't had time to absorb it.

 

This resistance isn't politics in the way most people mean it. It's not sabotage, or ego, or a hidden agenda suddenly emerging at the worst possible time. It's a predictable organizational response to surprise. Humans don't resist decisions; they resist being surprised by decisions that affect them. When a fully formed plan appears without warning, people instinctively shift into evaluation mode. They ask questions not because they oppose the outcome, but because their brains are trying to close the gap between what just happened and how did we get here. The more consequential the decision, the stronger this reaction becomes. What feels like friction is often just the organization doing what it always does when it's caught flat-footed; slowing things down to regain a sense of understanding and control.

 

Back to the adage. "Be quick to decide, but slow to act." The first thing to internalize is that deciding is not the same as announcing. Many professionals conflate the two; assuming a decision only exists once it's public. In reality, the decision is simply the moment you stop debating and start moving forward. It's the point where second-guessing ends. Where hesitation fades. Where you stop asking should we and start asking how do we position this. Deciding early creates internal clarity; and that clarity is what allows everything that follows to be intentional rather than reactive.

 

Once that decision is made, action doesn't mean immediate implementation. There is a critical phase between the decision point and the execution point; and this phase is where careers quietly accelerate. Instead of rushing to roll something out, high performers use this time to socialize the decision with the people who have influence over whether it succeeds. They invite pressure. They ask for pushback. Not to abandon the idea, but to strengthen it. They win over influencers early. This signals competence. It signals leadership. It builds momentum before anything is formally announced. And when the decision finally reaches the wider group, it no longer feels abrupt; it feels inevitable. That's when things take off.

 

Before going further, there's one detour worth taking. Jeff Bezos popularized the idea of one-way door and two-way door decisions. One-way door decisions are difficult or impossible to reverse. Two-way door decisions are easier to unwind. Both types should be decided quickly; but one-way door decisions demand a longer, more deliberate socialization phase. This is where assumptions get challenged, risks get surfaced, and the decision gets reinforced. When a decision can't easily be undone, that strengthening process isn't optional; it's what makes the eventual action durable.

 

Let me offer a concrete formula you can use at any career level. It's deliberately simple; because complexity creates hesitation. Decide. Seed. Shape. Act.

 

First; Decide. This is internal work. No audience. No deck. No Slack message. You decide what you believe should happen and why. Not perfectly. Not with all the data. But clearly enough that you could explain your reasoning if someone asked. If you can't articulate the logic in two or three sentences; you haven't actually decided yet. You're still circling. Decision is the moment you stop debating and start orienting everything that follows.

 

Second; Seed. This is where buy-in quietly begins. You choose two or three people who are adjacent to the outcome. Not necessarily the formal decision-makers; often influencers matter more. You bring the idea up casually; one-on-one; low pressure. Your language matters here. You don't say, "Here's what I think we should do." You say, "I've been thinking about something and I'm curious how you see it." You're not selling. You're observing. You listen for reactions. You note hesitation. You ask follow-up questions. This isn't about convincing anyone; it's about mapping the terrain before you start moving across it.

 

Third; Shape. This is where the idea evolves; not to water it down; but to make it land. You incorporate language others used. You surface and address objections before they show up in a public forum. You refine the timing, the scope, or the framing. At this stage, people start saying things like, "Yeah, that makes sense," or, "I hadn't thought about it that way." When that happens; something important has shifted. The idea is no longer just yours; it's becoming shared.

 

Finally; Act. Now; and only now; do you formalize. Now you send the email. Now you propose the plan. Now you ask for the decision. And here's the tell that you've done this well; the meeting feels anticlimactic. People nod. The questions sound familiar. The outcome feels obvious. That's not luck. That's preparation.

 

This formula works at every career stage; it just shows up a little differently depending on where you sit. Early in your career, seeding might mean a conversation with a senior teammate or a manager you trust. You're learning how decisions ripple through a system before you trigger them. Mid-career, seeding tends to happen laterally. Peers matter more than titles at this stage; and alignment sideways prevents painful escalation problems later. If you manage a team, seeding is about emotional readiness. You decide direction quickly; but you give people time to process before expecting execution. Different roles; same rhythm.

 

Now let's talk about why this feels so uncomfortable. Being slow to act pushes directly against your ego. You don't get immediate credit. You don't feel productive in obvious ways. There's no visible progress you can easily point to. But here's the tradeoff. You gain credibility. You reduce resistance. You increase follow-through. Careers aren't accelerated by motion; they're accelerated by outcomes that stick. And outcomes that stick almost always feel slower on the front end.

 

Careers don't stall because people lack ideas. They stall because ideas arrive too fast and land too hard. Be quick to decide; because clarity is power. Be slow to act; because people need time to come with you.

 

If this episode helped you rethink how you push ideas forward; share it with someone who's smart; capable; and moving faster than their influence. Subscribe if you haven't already. Leave a review if this podcast has helped you navigate work more clearly. I'm Layne Robinson. And this is Managing A Career.

When it comes to AI, a lot of professionals are still telling themselves the same story; "I'll get around to learning it when I get the chance." That mindset made sense when AI felt like a curiosity…or a distant threat that might someday take everyone's jobs. But that phase is already over. AI is no longer a hypothetical technology sitting on the sidelines; it's being quietly woven into daily workflows, baked directly into the tools you already use, and increasingly embedded into what managers and companies expect from their employees. At this point, AI isn't going away. The real question isn't whether you'll work alongside it; the question is whether you'll treat it like an adversary…or learn how to turn it into a coworker, even a partner.

 

This isn't about becoming an AI expert or reinventing yourself as a technologist. It's about learning how to incorporate AI into the way you already work. The most useful way to think about AI is as someone you delegate to. You hand it the mundane, repetitive, and energy-draining tasks…the first drafts, the summaries, the pattern-spotting…so you can spend more time on work that actually creates value. When you stop seeing AI as a threat to your job and start treating it like a member of your team, something important happens. You gain leverage. And that leverage is what allows you to move faster, think more strategically, and quietly leap ahead of peers who are still hesitating.

 

Over the past year, companies have been quietly recalibrating roles. The expectation is shifting; humans are being asked to focus on judgment, problem-solving, and relationship-building…while AI handles more of the foundation work underneath. We've seen this pattern before. It happened when spreadsheets replaced manual accounting ledgers; when email replaced the fax machine; when cloud storage replaced file cabinets. No one lost their job because of the spreadsheet. They lost their job because they never learned how to use it. What we're watching now is simply the next version of that same cycle.

 

Here's the shift most people still haven't internalized. AI isn't replacing jobs wholesale; it's replacing tasks. And careers are usually built on task mastery. If the bottom half of your tasks can be automated, then the only way to stay competitive is to own the top half at a higher level. That's why treating AI as a coworker is so powerful. You become the supervisor; the editor; the critical thinker; the strategist. AI becomes the junior analyst, the assistant, the execution engine underneath you. And this is where promotions actually come from. Leaders notice the people who produce more, produce better, and produce strategically. Increasingly, AI is how you get there.

 

If you're early in your career, AI becomes a force multiplier. It allows you to deliver senior-level polish while you're still learning the job itself. The people who rise fastest in entry-level roles over the next few years won't be the ones trying to "prove themselves" by doing everything manually. They'll be the ones using AI to create leverage. Your real focus should be on understanding the why behind the work; then learning which tasks actually matter, when they matter, and how to guide AI to do the execution underneath you.

 

If you're mid-career, the expectation shifts toward breadth. Your company assumes you can operate outside your narrow lane…but that's often where burnout begins. AI gives you a way to expand without drowning. It can help you run competitive analyses, prepare presentations, review data, or draft communications so you can show cross-functional value. The classic mid-career stall comes from being overworked and under-leveraged. AI addresses that directly. You already understand the core of your role; AI helps you stretch into the edges without losing control.

 

If you're senior or managing a team, this may be the most important category of all. Leaders who learn to orchestrate both humans and AI will outperform those who don't. If your team is using AI but you personally aren't, you'll eventually lose credibility in how you model productivity, judgment, and decision-making. Senior leaders don't need to be the most technical person in the room…but they do need to demonstrate how human insight and automated support work together at scale.

 

Every career stage benefits from this shift. The risk only appears when someone ignores it and hopes it will blow over.

 

Once you recognize that the world is changing, the next step is obvious. You start looking for where AI can actually help you in your day-to-day work. A simple way to do this is to borrow the same filter leaders use when they delegate to junior team members.

 

Ask yourself three questions.

 

First; is this repetitive? If you've done a task three or more times this month, AI can probably handle eighty percent of it without much effort. Repetition is a strong signal that delegation makes sense.

 

Second; does this require real brainpower or just structure? Summaries, outlines, pattern detection, first drafts, and templated responses are tailor-made for AI. These tasks benefit more from organization than original thinking.

 

Third; is perfection required or is forward momentum enough? AI excels at creating a solid foundation that you can then refine with your judgment. It gets you out of "blank page" mode and into decision-making mode faster.

 

When you apply this filter, the list of tasks AI can handle becomes obvious. Drafting or revising emails and proposals. Creating first-pass presentations. Organizing information. Summarizing meetings or documents. Researching industry trends. Generating alternative solutions to a problem. Spotting risks or gaps in a plan.

 

And here's a simple rule of thumb. If you find yourself avoiding a task because it feels tedious, that's usually the perfect task to delegate to AI.

 

But those are also the tasks everyone is focusing on. If you really want to separate yourself from the pack, the shift isn't "I need to learn AI someday." It's committing to a small, repeatable experiment. One that runs every week.

 

Here's how it works. Every Monday, identify a single task you can delegate to AI. Keep it small. Keep it manageable. The only requirement is that it saves you time. Then, at the end of the week, document three things; what you delegated, how much time it saved, and how accurate or useful the output actually was.

 

This weekly experiment does two powerful things. First, it builds your personal "AI leverage muscle." You stop guessing and start learning where AI truly helps. Second, it creates evidence. Not opinions or enthusiasm…but proof that you're delivering more value than before.

 

Over time, look for natural moments to share those wins with your team. Not as hype, but as examples. You're not positioning yourself as "the AI person"; you're positioning yourself as someone who improves how work gets done. When promotion conversations arrive, you're no longer making vague claims about productivity. You're showing documented improvements. Leaders pay attention to employees who pilot new capabilities, measure the results, and scale what works. That signals initiative. It signals adaptability. It signals future potential. And it makes you very hard to ignore.

 

This is the real opportunity. AI doesn't just change how fast you work; it changes your role. Instead of asking, "How do I get all of this done?" you start asking a better question; "How do I direct the work so it meets the standard?" You become the quality controller. The human in the loop. The person whose judgment is irreplaceable.

 

In practice, that shift is simple. You tell AI what to do. You review the output with a critical eye. You refine the strategy. You add nuance, context, and experience. Then you deliver the final version with polish and intent.

 

This is how you move up the value chain. And the higher you sit on the value chain, the more protected your career becomes. The employees who stagnate over the next few years will be the ones who let AI turn into their competition. The employees who accelerate will be the ones who turn AI into an extension of their own capability.

 

You don't need to be perfect. You don't need to be advanced. You just need to be willing to experiment. The people who win during transitions like this aren't the most technical; they're the most curious. You're not behind; you're early. And that's the best place to be.

 

So start this week. Pick one task you normally avoid and delegate it to AI. Even if the first draft is messy, you'll save time and build momentum. Then make it systematic. Keep a simple list of tasks you outsource to AI and update it as you learn. Track the time savings. A basic spreadsheet; three columns; nothing fancy. Over a few months, you'll have undeniable evidence that you're working more effectively, not just harder.

 

Share one AI-assisted win with your manager. Not in a showy way; just a quick note that signals initiative and adaptability. And get in the habit of "critical review mode." Whenever AI produces something, ask yourself; what's missing? What do I know that it doesn't? How do I elevate this? That judgment is where your value lives.

 

Your goal isn't perfection. Your goal is to get slightly better each week.

 

If today's episode helped you rethink your relationship with AI, share it with one colleague who's trying to stay ahead in their career. People need this perspective; they just don't always know where to find it. And if you haven't already, subscribe to Managing A Career so you never miss the episodes designed to help you get promoted faster and with more confidence. Every share, every follow, every review helps this show reach more people who want to take control of their career.

I heard a quote on a recent episode of the Hidden Brain podcast that really hit me.  It was so powerful that I had to rewind the podcast just to hear it again. It was simple, almost obvious once you heard it; "Just because you're scared doesn't mean you do nothing." The line came from a story the guest was telling about his mother. The story had nothing to do with careers, promotions, or performance reviews…but the moment I heard it, I knew it applied perfectly to work.

 

 

Fear shows up any time you're trying to grow. Any time you're pushing beyond what's familiar. Any time you're aiming for more responsibility, more visibility, or more impact. And yet, in the workplace, we treat fear like a personal defect; something to hide, suppress, or wait out. As if confident people simply don't feel it.

 

So this episode is about fear; not as a flaw, and not as something to eliminate. It's about fear as a constant companion if you're doing anything that actually moves your career forward. And I want to be clear upfront; this is for everyone. If you're early in your career and scared to speak up. If you're mid‑career and worried you're becoming replaceable. If you're senior and afraid of making the wrong call in front of your team. Fear doesn't disappear with titles. It just changes shape.

 

Let's talk about what fear actually does to careers…and what happens when you stop letting it freeze you in place.

 

Early in your career, fear is loud. Sometimes almost debilitating. It shows up as self‑doubt and imposter syndrome; that constant internal narration asking questions like, "Am I actually qualified to be here?" "Am I about to ask a dumb question?" "If I mess this up, will people remember it forever?" I've talked about this before in Episode 83, Faking It, because this phase is nearly universal…even if no one around you admits it.

 

This kind of fear has a very specific effect on behavior. People stay small. They stay quiet. They wait to be invited instead of volunteering. They do exactly what's asked…and nothing more. There's an unspoken assumption running in the background; once I feel confident, then I'll raise my hand, speak up, or go after something bigger.

 

But confidence doesn't come first. Action does. Confidence is built after you do the uncomfortable thing, not before it. I go deeper on this dynamic in Episode 85, Confidence Builds Confidence, because it's one of the most misunderstood ideas in career growth. Waiting to feel ready is one of the most reliable ways to stall out early.

 

Most people don't realize this, but the people you admire at work…the ones who seem comfortable speaking up, offering opinions, or volunteering for stretch projects…they were scared too. The difference wasn't a lack of fear. The difference was that they didn't let fear decide their behavior. Fear tells you to stay invisible. Careers are built by people who feel fear…and choose visibility anyway.

 

If you've managed to quiet the fear of self‑doubt, you've probably advanced into the middle stages of your career. This is where fear gets more subtle…and far more dangerous. You've built credibility. You know your job. You're good at it. And that's exactly when fear shifts from "Should I even be here?" to "What if I fail?" or "What if I lose what I've already built?" This is the kind of fear that doesn't feel dramatic. It feels reasonable. And it's the kind that can keep people stuck for years.

 

At this stage, fear shows up in restraint. You don't apply for the role because you might not get it. You don't challenge a decision because you don't want to be labeled difficult. You don't ask for clarity on promotion criteria because what if the answer is uncomfortable? So instead, you optimize for safety. You become dependable. Reliable. Low‑risk.

 

Here's the hard truth; organizations don't promote people because they are safe. They promote people because they trust them with uncertainty. Mid‑career fear quietly convinces people to protect their current role instead of preparing for the next one…and the longer that pattern holds, the harder it becomes to break.

 

If you manage a team or sit in a senior role, fear doesn't disappear. It just gets dressed up as responsibility. You're scared of making the wrong call. Scared of losing credibility. Scared of admitting you don't have all the answers. Scared of pushing someone too hard…or not hard enough. So leaders hesitate. They delay feedback. They avoid hard conversations. They stick with familiar strategies long after those strategies have stopped working.

 

And here's the irony; the fear of doing harm often creates more harm than action ever would. Teams feel the hesitation. Problems linger. Decisions get deferred instead of made. Strong leaders aren't fearless. They're decisive despite fear.

 

This is where that quote comes back into play; "Just because you're scared doesn't mean you do nothing." That sentence reframes everything. It doesn't say fear is irrational. It doesn't say fear is a weakness. It simply says fear does not get veto power over your actions. Fear can ride in the car…it just doesn't get to drive.

 

Naming something reduces its power and now that we've named your fear, let's talk about how it actually blocks career growth. Not loudly. Not dramatically. Quietly. Fear keeps you waiting for permission. It keeps you over‑preparing instead of acting. It keeps you saying yes to work that keeps you busy…but not visible. It keeps you quiet in meetings and loud in your own head afterward.

 

And the most dangerous thing fear does is this; it convinces you that inaction is neutral. That doing nothing somehow keeps the scoreboard unchanged.

 

It doesn't. Doing nothing is a decision. And over time, it's a very loud one. When leaders look around the room and think about who's ready for more, they don't just look at output. They look at how you handle the unknown; whether you freeze when things are unclear, or whether you move forward in spite of the uncertainty. Fear tells you to wait for clarity. Careers are built by people who move before clarity exists.

 

Let's make this practical, because motivation without application doesn't change anything. Courage at work is rarely dramatic. It's not quitting your job on the spot or delivering a fiery speech. It's usually small, uncomfortable actions taken consistently. It's asking a question even though your voice shakes a little. It's offering an opinion without a disclaimer. It's asking for feedback you might not like. It's saying "I'd like to be considered for that" instead of hoping someone notices. Courage looks boring from the outside. From the inside, it feels terrifying.

 

One of the biggest mistakes people make is assuming courageous action should feel good. It usually doesn't. If it feels comfortable, it's probably familiar. And familiar rarely moves your career forward. The goal isn't to eliminate fear. The goal is to shorten the time between feeling fear and taking action anyway. That gap…that pause where you debate yourself…that's where careers stall or accelerate.

 

Let me offer a simple reframe that helps. Instead of asking "what if this goes wrong," ask "what happens if I keep doing exactly what I'm doing now?". That question is sobering. There's that classic adage that "the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." If you don't speak up, you remain invisible. If you don't ask, the answer stays no. If you don't stretch, you don't grow. If you don't change, neither will the results. Fear often exaggerates the downside of action and completely ignores the downside of inaction.

 

Managers, this part is especially for you. Your team is watching how you respond to fear; not what you say about it, but what you do when things are uncertain. If you avoid risk, they will too. If you punish mistakes, they'll stop trying. If you never admit uncertainty, they'll hide theirs. Creating a culture where people act despite fear doesn't mean chaos. It means psychological safety paired with accountability. Your job isn't to remove fear from the workplace. It's to model forward motion in its presence.

 

Fear can be a signal. Sometimes it's telling you to slow down. To think. To prepare. This isn't about reckless action. It's about refusing to let fear be the final decision‑maker. Thoughtful action beats frozen perfection every single time. Career growth isn't about eliminating fear. It's about deciding that fear doesn't get to decide your future. Just because you're scared doesn't mean you do nothing.

 

 

 

If fear has been the thing quietly holding you back, a career coach can help you work through it. If you're looking for that support, reach out through the Contact Form at https://ManagingACareer.com/contact. I'll set up an introductory session where we'll talk through your career goals and see if we're a good fit. If we click, we can schedule regular sessions to get your career moving; not just forward, but up.

 

If you've been listening to this podcast for any length of time, you know I like to pull ideas from real situations… not theory, not hypotheticals, but things people are actually living through at work. This week's episode came together exactly that way. I was scrolling LinkedIn and came across a post by Ethan Evans about an engineer who had been stuck in a mid‑level role for more than thirty years. Thirty years. Not because this person wasn't talented… not because they were lazy or disengaged… but because they focused exclusively on technical excellence and didn't care what their managers thought.

 

That post immediately took me back to Episode 75 of this podcast, where I talked about the transition from Junior to Senior roles. Ethan's story and that episode are really saying the same thing from different angles; careers stall when the rules for promotion change, but you keep playing the game the same old way. Today, we're going to connect those dots. We're going to talk about why excellence alone doesn't get you promoted… why that first major career transition is where a lot of people get stuck… and how to reframe your work so it actually translates into advancement. Whether you're early in your career, deep into it, or managing a team of people who want to grow, this episode is for you.

 

Let's start with something uncomfortable but important. Most people believe promotions are the reward for being really good at your job. That belief works… for a while. Early in your career, advancement is often driven by competence. You learn faster. You make fewer mistakes. You need less supervision. You can handle a heavier workload without things breaking. That's why those early promotions sometimes come quickly; Analyst I to Analyst II. Junior Engineer to Engineer. Associate to Senior Associate. It feels linear. Predictable. And then… it just stops.

 

That moment is what Episode 75 was really about. The transition from junior to senior is the first time your career asks something fundamentally different from you. Not more effort. Not longer hours. Not a bigger to‑do list. Something else entirely. And this is where Ethan's post fits perfectly. His point was simple but powerful; technical excellence alone does not create business value. Promotions, especially as you move up, are not awarded for effort or purity of craft. They're awarded for impact. That's not cynical… that's just how organizations work.

 

If you've been rewarded your entire career for being excellent at execution, it's logical to believe the way forward is to double down. Do better work. Take on more work. Be the person who fixes everything. Be the reliable one. But continuing down that path is a trap. It's how people accidentally build maintenance careers. Ethan used that phrase very intentionally. Doing maintenance work exclusively leads to a maintenance position; stable, valuable, necessary… but rarely fast-growing or far-reaching.

 

And maintenance work doesn't just mean keeping systems running or lights on. It shows up in every role. It's the analyst who produces flawless reports that nobody uses to make decisions. It's the marketer who executes campaigns perfectly without ever tying them to revenue. It's the project manager who keeps plans immaculate but never challenges whether the plan makes sense. All of this is high-quality output. All of it takes effort and skill. And almost all of it is invisible when promotion decisions are being made.

 

Now let's layer in the junior-to-senior transition. The biggest change at that point in your career is not scope; it's perspective. Senior roles require you to understand why the work exists, not just how to do it. They require you to connect your effort to outcomes that matter to the business. And that's where Ethan's three buckets become incredibly useful; revenue generation, cost reduction, and moat construction.

 

These aren't engineering concepts, or marketing concepts, or finance concepts. They're business concepts. They're the lenses leadership uses when deciding where to invest time, money, and attention. And the moment you start framing your work through those lenses, something shifts. You stop sounding like someone who executes tasks well and start sounding like someone who understands the business. That's the moment you begin thinking like someone who gets promoted.

 

Let's walk through each of these, but through a career lens rather than a technical one.

 

Revenue generation doesn't mean you personally sell something. It means your work creates the conditions for revenue to grow. Early in your career, that can look like asking better questions; who uses this output, how does it help them move faster, what decision does it enable? As you become more senior, it often means prioritizing work that expands capability rather than endlessly refining what already exists. And if you manage people, this shows up as translation. Helping your team understand how their work ties to revenue matters, because if they can't articulate that connection, you can't advocate for them effectively.

 

Cost reduction is often misunderstood. People hear that phrase and think layoffs or budget cuts. In reality, cost reduction is about efficiency; time, risk, rework, and complexity. Junior employees contribute here by eliminating friction, simplifying processes, and automating repetitive tasks. Senior employees contribute by redesigning systems, not just operating within them. Leaders contribute by making tradeoffs explicit and aligning effort to what actually matters. If your work reduces the effort required to achieve the same outcome, that's business value. But only if someone knows it happened.

 

Moat construction is the least obvious and the most senior-coded of the three. This is work that creates defensibility; knowledge that's hard to replicate, processes competitors don't have, capabilities that compound over time. Early in your career, this might look like developing deep expertise in a niche area that becomes strategically important. Later, it might look like standardizing best practices or mentoring others so the organization doesn't rely on a single hero. From a leadership perspective, moat construction often looks like culture, talent development, and institutional memory.

 

And here's the key insight that ties this back to Episode 75. When you move from junior to senior, you're expected to shift from producing outputs to shaping outcomes. That shift is invisible if you don't name it.

 

This is where so many careers stall. People are doing work that creates value, but they're not framing it in a way the organization recognizes. Or worse, they're doing work that feels valuable to them but doesn't map cleanly to revenue, cost, or moat. The engineer Ethan mentioned didn't get stuck because they lacked skill. They got stuck because they optimized for the wrong scoreboard. And organizations always promote against a scoreboard… whether they admit it or not.

 

Let's talk about force multiplication. In Episode 75, I described the shift from doing to influencing. This is another way of naming the same transition. When your impact is one-to-one, your ceiling is low. When your impact is one-to-many, your ceiling rises. Mentoring is force multiplication. Removing roadblocks is force multiplication. Clarifying priorities is force multiplication.

 

And every one of those maps directly to Ethan's framework. Mentoring reduces cost by increasing efficiency. Removing roadblocks accelerates revenue. Building better systems creates a moat. But again, none of this matters if you assume people will notice on their own.

 

So let's make this practical. If you're early in your career, your job is to stop measuring success by volume. More tasks completed is not the same as more value created. Start asking how your work fits into one of those three buckets. If you're mid-career, your job is to curate your workload. Saying yes to everything isn't generosity; it's a lack of strategy. Choose work that compounds. If you manage people, your job is translation. Help your team see how what they do connects to business outcomes, and advocate for them using the language leadership understands. And if you're already senior, your job is to design environments where excellence naturally turns into impact… rather than hoping people figure it out on their own.

 

There's one more piece that makes all of this either work or fail; language and visibility. Promotion decisions are made in rooms you're not in, by people who don't see your day-to-day effort. They rely on summaries, narratives, and secondhand explanations. If the only language available to describe your work is task-based, that's how your contribution gets evaluated. This isn't about self-promotion or politics; it's about making your impact legible. Managers can't advocate for what they can't explain upward. Leaders can't fund what they can't justify. If you don't name your outcomes, someone else will… and they'll usually name the most obvious, least strategic part of your work.

 

And it's worth saying this clearly; excellence still matters. Craft still matters. Quality still matters. But excellence without direction turns into maintenance, not momentum. The people who continue to grow aren't abandoning high standards; they're pairing those standards with perspective. They understand where to apply their effort so it compounds. They know which problems are worth solving and which ones just keep the lights on. That combination; excellence plus impact; is what advancement actually looks like in practice.

 

If this episode resonated, there's a good chance you're thinking of someone specific right now. A teammate. A former colleague. A friend who's smart, capable, and quietly frustrated because they've been stuck at the same level for years. Do them a favor. Share this episode with them. Not as criticism, but as a lens. Sometimes careers don't stall because people aren't good enough; they stall because no one ever explains that the rules changed. If you want to help someone move forward, this might be the conversation that finally clicks.

 

As we wrap up the year and head into the holiday season, many of you are taking a well‑deserved break—stepping back, recharging, and hopefully celebrating everything you've accomplished over the past twelve months. I'm doing the same. And even though I'm pausing new episodes for a bit, I still want to leave you with something meaningful to support your growth during this important stretch of the year.

 

Because for a lot of professionals, the end of the year isn't just about holidays and downtime. It's also the season of annual reviews, performance conversations, and honest career reflection. It's the moment when you're asked to look back at what you've delivered, look ahead at where you want to go, and—most importantly—absorb the feedback that will help you get there.

 

That's why today, I'm bringing back a practical and timely episode: Episode 74 – Acting on Feedback.

 

Feedback only becomes valuable when you actually do something with it. Whether your annual review left you energized or a little disappointed, the key to making next year better is the same: take the feedback you've received, understand it, and turn it into action.

 

And that's exactly what Episode 74 focuses on. This episode digs into the part of the process most people struggle with—not receiving feedback, but interpreting it, prioritizing it, and translating it into meaningful, targeted steps. Because here's the truth: feedback is almost never as simple as the words someone says out loud. There's always context, nuance, and intent behind it, and understanding that is what unlocks real growth.

 

I hope you enjoy revisiting Episode 74, and I hope it gives you clarity and confidence as you step into the new year. When I'm back from the holiday break, we'll dive into fresh topics, new strategies, and more tools to help you manage and accelerate your career.

 

 

In Episode 12, I discussed some strategies for soliciting effective feedback (https://www.managingacareer.com/12).  However, feedback is only as good as what you do with it.  This week, I'm going to take a look at how you can best act on the feedback that you receive.

 

 

The first step in acting on feedback is understanding what is driving the comment.  In the previous episode, I suggested that when receiving feedback, you should ask clarifying questions along the lines of "Can you explain that in more detail?" or "Tell me more."  The goal with this clarification is to turn high-level, generic comments into something more specific.

 

If you receive feedback that you need to "improve your communication skills", there could be several underlying causes and each one would be addressed differently.  If the source of the feedback is because you don't provide regular updates or hold back on negative news, you may need create a weekly report that you send to your superiors; you can hear more by reviewing Episode 44 (https://www.managingacareer.com/44).  However, if the source of the feedback is based on recent presentations, you may need to practice presenting more so that you become more comfortable or you might need to work on the content of your presentations (see Episode 56 - Presenting to Leaders https://www.managingacareer.com/56).  Without knowing the underlying reasoning for the specific comment, you may not work on correcting the right behaviors.

 

 

If you've received feedback, but are unable to coax additional details about what they mean, the next approach you can take is to reach out to other people that can comment on the same topic.  Continuing on the example above, if the feedback you received is about your communication skills, reach out to those that you have presented to or that you regularly provide status to.  Ask each of them specifically about the area in question.  Look for patterns in the feedback they provide and use that insight to target your improvement.

 

 

As you consider the different elements of feedback that you have received, how does that feedback align with your career trajectory as well as your personal career goals?  Prioritize anything that advances you over things that apply to your current level.  If you've created your IDP, these items should be represented on your Assessment and Next Role sections.  Review Episodes 36 through 40 for details on your IDP (https://www.managingacareer.com/36) and if you need an IDP template, drop me a note requesting one via the Contact form on the ManagingACareer.com website (https://www.managingacareer.com/contact/).

 

 

Now that you have a list of feedback to address, talk with your mentor or coach and develop an action plan.  They can help you identify training and activities that will help you develop the skills that you need.  Be sure to define goals and deadlines to ensure that you put appropriate focus on addressing the feedback.  Episode 47 covered some goal setting frameworks that you may find useful here (https://www.managingacareer.com/47).

 

As you reach the identified milestones, update your IDP and discuss your progress with your leader and anyone who participated in giving you feedback.  Request updated feedback based on your progress.

 

A career coach can help you identify activities to address feedback.  If you need a career coach, reach out to me via the  Contact Form at ManagingACareer.com (https://www.managingacareer.com/contact/).  I'll schedule an introductory session where we can talk about your career goals and determine if we would be a good fit for coaching.  If we are, we can arrange regular sessions to help you put your career on the fast track to advancement.

I hope you're finding a little space to breathe as we head into the final stretch of the year. This is the season when everything seems to converge at once—deadlines, holidays, planning for next year, and of course, the annual review cycle. And because I'm taking a few weeks off, I'm replaying some of my favorite past episodes that still feel incredibly relevant, especially right now. Today's episode is one of those.

 

Before we jump into it, I want to set the stage for why this particular topic—speaking with finesse—matters so much at this time of year. If you're like most professionals, you're probably preparing to give your manager input for your performance review. Maybe you're writing your self‑assessment, maybe you're gathering accomplishments, maybe you're thinking about how to position the work you've done so it reflects the impact you actually had.

 

And here's the thing: the way you talk about your work is just as important as the work itself.

Not because you need to "spin" anything. Not because you need to inflate your contributions. But because your manager can only advocate for what they understand—and they can only understand what you communicate clearly, confidently, and with the right framing.

 

That's where finesse comes in.

 

Finesse is one of those skills that separates people who do good work from people who are recognized for doing good work. It's the difference between saying, "I completed the project," and saying, "I delivered a cross‑functional project that removed a major bottleneck and positioned the team for faster execution next quarter." Both statements are true. One is simply more complete, more contextual, and more reflective of the real value you created.

 

This is especially important during annual review season because your manager is juggling a lot—multiple team members, multiple projects, multiple priorities. They're trying to remember what happened in February, what happened in June, what happened last week. They're trying to write reviews that are fair, accurate, and aligned with organizational expectations. And they're doing all of that while also preparing for their own review.

 

So when you give them input that is factual, contextual, and uplifting—not self‑promotional, but accurately framed—you're not just helping yourself. You're helping them do their job better.

 

And that's exactly what finesse is about.

 

So as you listen today, I encourage you to think about your own annual review input.

 

Where could you add more context?

Where could you frame your contributions in a way that better reflects the real impact you had?

Where could you apply just a little more finesse?

Because the truth is, your work deserves to be seen.

And finesse is one of the most powerful tools you have to make sure it is.

Alright—let's get into the replay; it's a perfect companion for anyone preparing for year‑end conversations. Enjoy.

 

The other day, I saw a post on LinkedIn by Wes Kao the co-Founder of the Maven learning platform.  Her post was a synopsis of an issue of her newsletter that really resonated with me (Link https://newsletter.weskao.com/p/the-unspoken-skill-of-finesse).  It was on the topic of Finesse in Communications.  You could also think of it as communicating like a leader.

 

In Wes' article, there was a situation where a customer had asked about the limits of a software system.  Several people were in a chat thread formulating a response.  The first person offered a factual number based on the highest limit observed in the system.  The second person clarified the limit with a lower number that had shown acceptable performance plus a plan to increase the performance for a higher limit.  The third person took the response from the second person and reframed it to have less of a negative connotation but still convey the same results.

 

Finesse is the ability to refine your message based on understanding the situation and the desired outcomes it is the ability to use good judgement in delicate situations.  None of the responses were wrong per se, but the first answer could have led to disappointment by the customer if they approached the technical limit and experienced the performance degradations.  The second answer provided additional context around the limits but may have caused the customer to look elsewhere for a solution that didn't have those limits.  The final answer with a more positive message invited the customer to be optimistic about the solution being able to scale to meet their needs.

 

For some, the ability to have finesse in their communications may come naturally.  But for others, like any skill, you can improve your abilities with focus and practice.  The more you practice, the easier it will be to know when to apply finesse and the more likely it will come to you without consciously thinking about it.

 

First, you need to recognize when situations require finesse to handle.  As you start practicing, look for situations where the outcome is not well defined or where there are people involved that you don't regularly interact with.  That isn't to say that other situations would not benefit from nuance and finesse, but when you are learning the skill, the situations with the most uncertainty will be the ones most obvious to you that using finesse will be appropriate to lead to a positive result.

 

Once you have identified a situation to practice your skills, think about your desired outcome and what aspects have the least clarity.  When you discuss them with others, pay attention to how the other people react to what you say and how you say it.  You aren't just looking for surface level reactions such as responding verbally -- whether in agreement or to counter your points.  Look at those micro-reactions such as that fleeting expression when your point hits home before they recompose and make their point.  These types of responses can give you clues as to how your approach has been received such as whether it is too direct or needs more context or whether it's too aggressive or too passive.  As the interaction proceeds, make adjustments and pay attention to how that changes how your arguments are received.

 

Finesse is not just about what you say and how you say it, but it's also about what you DON'T say.  In Episode 56 - Presenting to Leaders, I talked about how my background in an analytical field lends itself to providing every detail because they all matter when solving technical problems, but when presenting to an executive, I had to focus on stripping my message down to only the most relevant bits.  This is another part of exhibiting finesse in your communications.  Understanding when to include and when to exclude information to direct the situation towards the outcome you are pushing for.  This doesn't mean to lie through omission -- that leads to losing trust.  But understanding which details are important to your audience and which details are noise is part of framing your message clarity.

 

Because finesse is in large part driven by the PEOPLE, there are no hard and fast rules about how to handle each situation.  But what you CAN do is bring in someone who has a better handle on how to apply finesse such as Person Three from the example story.  Have them observe your approach and provide feedback on how you can do better.  You can also watch them when they are interacting with others and then have a review session afterwards where you can ask them about the different decisions they made about how to approach the conversation.

 

Go read Wes' full article on finesse which you can find linked in the show notes (https://newsletter.weskao.com/p/the-unspoken-skill-of-finesse).  There are additional insights and strategies that can help you perfect your finesse skills.  Improving your communication skills will help you advance your career no matter what level you are at and finesse is an important aspect of that.

 

If you would like to be alerted when I release new content, go to ManagingACareer.com/follow for the various platforms where I can be found.  Help me spread the word by sending that link to your friends and co-workers, too.

 

Hello everyone, and welcome back to the podcast. I hope you're enjoying the holiday season and taking some time to recharge. I'm doing the same this week—stepping back for a little rest—but I didn't want to leave you without an episode. So, I'm bringing back one of the most impactful conversations we've had on this show: Episode 73, Put Yourself In Their Shoes.

 

It's all about one of the most underrated skills you can develop for both your career and even everyday life: the ability to understand the motivations of the people around you.  It's not necessarily about agreeing with them; it's about seeing the world through their lens long enough to understand what's driving them. And when you do that, you unlock a whole new level of influence, collaboration, and trust.

 

This episode isn't just theory—it's a toolkit. And if you put it into practice, you'll find yourself building stronger networks, closing gaps in communication, and creating opportunities that might have felt out of reach before.  So, as you listen today, I encourage you to think about the people you interact with most—your coworkers, your boss, your clients, even your friends and family. Ask yourself: What might be motivating them? What pressures are they under? How could I adjust my approach if I saw things from their perspective?

 

I'll leave you with this thought before we dive in: empathy isn't just a soft skill. It's a power skill. It's the difference between pushing against resistance and moving with momentum. And this episode shows you how to harness it.

 

And now…..on to the episode.

 

 

When it comes to dealing with people, it can be difficult when they don't share the same opinion you do as to how to handle a specific situation and that can often lead to conflict or complications.  The fastest way to move past those differences and get back to moving forward is to put yourself in their shoes.

 

 

If you can understand people's thoughts and motivations it goes a long way towards formulating an argument that sways them to your side.  How well can you read them?  Some people will mask their true thoughts and feelings, especially when it comes to professional relationships.  To really understand them you might need to rely on your observational skills and not just listen to the words that they say.

 

 

Start with how they are speaking.  When someone is excited about something, even if they are trying to suppress it, they will speak slightly faster and with a higher pitch.  Conversely, if they are unsure, they will slow down and be more cautious as they speak.  Even their word choices can give you a clue as to their mindset.  Open language will indicate a higher level of trust.  Strong, clear language indicating confidence.  If you find that their words are not in alignment with their body language, it becomes even more important to observe them closely.

 

Visually, watch their body language and look for micro expressions that may clue you in to something that they aren't saying.  Whether they are smiling genuinely or politely says a lot.  Is their stance closed with their arms crossed or are they open and receptive or possibly even leaning in with excitement?  When you say something new, is there a flash of humor or anger in the corners of their eyes?  Some of these visual cues will be easier to spot, but the more nuanced actions can be more revealing.

 

 

In general, people are not malicious in their actions, but, the actions they take may come across that way.  For instance, I have seen multiple times where Person A feels like Person B is purposefully undermining the ability for Person A to perform work.  But, in reality, Person B is just focused on taking steps that they think will let them reach their personal goals that they never even considered how that could impact Person A.  Once Person A sat down and spoke with Person B and everyone's views were communicated, both people were able to be more productive and reach their goals quickly.

 

The easiest path to knowing someone's motivations is to come out and ask them.  But, sometimes, you don't have that type of relationship with them and it may take a little bit of detective work.  For example, how have their current projects been going recently?  If positively, their mood probably reflects that.  Though if they are experiencing project stress, they may be taking it out on everyone around them.  The "no" to your request may be coming from this type of stress more than anything else.  Looking for these types of factors can help you find the motivations of someone that you would not ask directly.

 

 

No matter how you gain the insight, how can you use this understanding to your advantage?

• When you understand someone, you can build a stronger relationship with them.  Stronger relationships lead to stronger networks.  And I can't stress enough how powerful a strong network can be.  (https://www.managingacareer.com/29)
• If someone's actions are not in alignment with what they say, you can look towards their secret motivations for guidance on how to bring them back to alignment.  Someone who accepts tasks but looks for ways to avoid them may be missing key knowledge or resources and does not want to admit that weakness.  Understanding this, you can provide the tasks as well as information on how to close the resource gap so that they can be successful without looking weak.
• If you are making a proposal to someone, you can tailor your pitch accordingly based on how they feel about the idea.  If someone is excited about the topic, play up the capabilities and benefits to get them more excited.  If someone is unsure, focus on the approach and risk mitigation plan so that they gain some certainty.

 

 

Building these people reading skills will take practice.  With all of your interactions, make notes about your observations and review those notes with your close coworkers and mentors; especially if they are involved in those same conversations.  They can help you refine your deductions.  Over time, this will come more naturally.

 

 

I would love to hear some stories of how this podcast has helped you in your pursuit of career advancement.  Go to the ManagingACareer.com website and leave a message via the Contact form (https://www.managingacareer.com/contact/) or click the button to leave a voicemail via your computer.  Tell me which episodes have had the biggest impact for you.  If I get enough feedback, I'll start including them in upcoming episodes.

We've all experienced it. You're at a training session or a professional meet-up or maybe you're wandering the expo hall at an industry conference. A bit of downtime leads to a quick exchange with the person next to you... five minutes of conversation, maybe ten if everyone's particularly chatty. You swap LinkedIn profiles or trade business cards or even promise to follow up later. Then nothing happens. The moment ends, the event ends, and the relationship ends right along with it. But it doesn't have to. Those tiny talking windows you slip through at conferences and workshops can evolve into long-lasting professional relationships. They can become the very foundation of a network that opens doors for years to come.

 

In this week's episode of the Managing A Career podcast, we're not going to sit in the realm of theory. We're diving into the practical side of networking... the real actions you can take to turn quick handshakes and fleeting conversations into relationships that matter. You've heard the message before; your network is one of the most valuable career tools you'll ever build. I've repeated that line myself more times than I can count, and I truly mean it because my own career growth has been shaped by the relationships I've nurtured along the way. Still, I know that for many people, forming connections that actually lead somewhere feels like a mystery. If that's you right now, this is the episode you'll want to pay attention to.

 

All success begins at the first interaction, so that's exactly where we'll start. When you're in those casual meet-and-greet conversations, there are ways to make sure they don't end as nothing more than polite small talk. This isn't about being the most charismatic person in the room or forcing yourself to be clever or funny. What you do need is intention. Are you truly engaging with the person across from you... listening to what excites them or noticing what makes them unique? Or are you mentally rehearsing your own story, waiting for your turn to talk? One of the most powerful habits you can develop is taking notes shortly after the interaction. It doesn't have to be formal; a line or two about who they are, what you discussed, and any details that stood out. Beyond that, be curious instead of performative. Ask one more question than feels natural. Reflect something back to them, so they know you heard them. Look for common ground you can reference later... a shared interest, a similar problem you're both trying to solve, even a moment you found funny. If you're at an event, snap a quick photo of their business card or connect on LinkedIn on the spot so you don't lose them in the post-event blur. These small behaviors lay the groundwork for something deeper before you've even walked away.

 

Once the event wraps up and everyone heads back to their offices or hotel rooms or inboxes, that's when the real work begins. Take the time to send a follow-up message to every single person you connected with... even the ones who don't feel useful to you right now. Networking is a long game. The intern today becomes the director in five years. That person who didn't align with your needs this quarter might be exactly the person you need the next time you are looking for a career pivot. So when you reach out, do more than fire off a polite "nice meeting you." Send a message that proves you were present. Remind them of something specific you discussed. Reference a detail only the two of you would remember. And then, most importantly, keep the door open. End with a question or an invitation for a future touchpoint; ask them to send you the article they mentioned or propose grabbing a coffee when schedules allow. The goal is not to close a deal, but to continue a dialogue.

 

If you send a message like:

Hey, it was great meeting you at the conference earlier today. I found your thoughts on the newest regulations to be very insightful.

It may feel sincere and you may even think it will lead to a connection.  But, in reality, it falls flat.  It doesn't give the other person any reason to respond beyond a polite, "It was great meeting you, too." It's a dead end, not a bridge.

 

In contrast, consider this approach:

Hey, it was great meeting you at the conference today. I found your thoughts on the newest regulations to be very insightful. I'd love to talk with you more about how our companies could implement those restrictions when they kick in next year. Maybe we can meet up for coffee next week and brainstorm some ideas.

 

This second message works because it does three critical things. First, it shows that you were actively listening during your conversation, recalling a detail specific to your discussion. Second, it offers a clear opportunity for the other person to add value, sharing their thoughts or expertise in a meaningful way. And third, it creates an actionable next step—an invitation to meet in person, which strengthens the connection far beyond a simple digital exchange. Even in a world where virtual meetings are commonplace, there's something inherently more memorable about sitting across a table from someone, sharing ideas and energy in real time. That physical presence builds trust, deepens rapport, and signals that you're serious about the relationship, not just about checking a networking box.

 

Ideally, your first follow-up sparks a conversation that lasts days, maybe weeks, or even months before naturally tapering off. That's completely normal—and it's still a win. Even a brief period of genuine back-and-forth is a solid foundation for a long-term professional relationship. If the conversation does take off, you're in a great place and can move on to nurturing it in smaller, periodic ways. But if your initial message doesn't get a response, don't be discouraged—try again. People get busy, priorities shift, and your outreach may have arrived at the wrong moment. In your second follow-up, go a step deeper. Reference the same topic from your first message, add new insights, or link to a relevant article or resource that might spark interest. The key is to keep the message open-ended, giving them an easy way to engage without feeling pressured. Persistence with thoughtfulness separates a fleeting contact from a meaningful connection.

 

Once you've opened a dialogue and the conversation begins flowing, your goal is simply to keep the channel warm. That doesn't mean weekly check-ins or constant messaging—that would feel forced for you and overwhelming for them. Instead, maintain a casual but intentional rhythm. Every so often, send something useful or thoughtful; a link to an article you both would appreciate, a quick congratulations when they earn a new role or complete a project, or even a short note reacting to something they posted online. When the opportunity arises, add even more value by connecting them with someone else in your network, especially if there's a clear benefit for both sides. And while digital communication helps bridge the distance, remember that in-person interactions still leave the strongest impression. A simple coffee or lunch invites deeper conversation and reinforces that you're invested in the relationship, not just the contact.

 

Up to this point, everything we've covered has been rooted in giving—and that's intentional. Yes, the ultimate benefit of a strong network is that you have people to lean on when you need help or opportunity, but no one wants to feel like they're being mined for favors. If the relationship is one-sided, if you only show up when you need something, people pull away. Reciprocity matters. However, once you've built the relationship, stayed connected, and proven that you're someone who gives as readily as you receive, it becomes absolutely appropriate to ask for something. The key isn't if you ask—it's how. A good request is easy to say yes to and difficult to dismiss. Early networking communications should be open and conversational, but when you ask for help, you need to be specific and directional. Don't say, "Let me know if you hear about any openings." That's vague, energy-draining, and puts all the work on them. Instead, make the request clear: "I'm exploring opportunities and would appreciate an introduction to the hiring manager." A specific ask tells them exactly what you need and how they can help, which makes it more likely they'll follow through.

 

Now that you know the recipe for building a strong, reliable network, it's time to put it into action. Theory is valuable, but your network grows only through behavior. So think back—who have you met recently that you would genuinely like to stay connected with? Reach out today and form that first touchpoint. And who in your existing network has gone quiet over the past few months? A simple check-in could be all it takes to reignite the relationship. Then take one more step: treat your network like the career asset it is. Scan through your contacts and begin documenting details—what they're interested in, the roles they hold, the projects they're proud of, even small personal notes they've shared. Create your own relationship memory bank. You may not need this information right now, but someday you'll know exactly who to call... and they'll remember you as someone who showed up long before you needed something.

 

Building a powerful network doesn't happen by accident—it starts with small, intentional steps and grows through consistent effort. Now that you know the strategies to turn fleeting conversations into lasting career connections, it's time to put them into practice. If you found this episode helpful, don't keep it to yourself—subscribe to the Managing A Career podcast so you never miss another actionable insight, and share it with a friend or colleague who's serious about growing their career. The right connections at the right time can change everything, and the more people you help, the stronger your own network becomes.

I was talking with someone last week who's been in the same role for years. Smart person; dependable; someone who always gets things across the finish line. Their question hit me hard because I've heard it so many times before: "Why do people who seem less competent than me keep getting promoted?" My answer was simple… and frustrating… and completely true. Advancement isn't about competence; it's about story. The people moving up aren't always better at the work; they're better at talking about the work. They've learned how to turn their accomplishments into a narrative leaders immediately care about. And that's what we're diving into today; how to use real storytelling—not a string of corporate buzzwords—to finally break through to the next level.

 

Doing vs. Impacting

 

If you've been in your role for four, five, maybe even seven years and you keep getting passed over for promotions, there's usually one core issue at play: you're great at doing, but you haven't learned how to talk about impacting. The difference is huge. Doing is about tasks; impacting is about outcomes. Doing sounds like "I built the dashboard." Impacting sounds like "Our team can now make faster decisions because we have real-time visibility into customer behavior." And here's the truth; your leaders don't care about the volume of items on your to-do list. They care about what changed because you were in the room. So when you walk into a meeting with your boss, or present to senior leadership, or sit down for your annual review... and you start listing tasks one after another... you've already lost them. You're giving them a story about your effort when what they need is a story about your impact.

 

A Real Example: Jaime's Story

 

Let me give you an example. I was working with a coaching client—let's call them Jaime—who was trying to move from a senior role into a true leadership position. They'd been in their job for years; absolutely knew their stuff. But every time they described their work, it came out like this: "I analyzed the sales data, identified trends across regions, created visualizations for the executive team, and presented my findings at the monthly business review."

 

On paper, that sounds solid… thorough… professional. Except no one remembers it; and worse, no one sees it as strategic. What Jaime shared was a sequence of activities. It was a recipe; not a story. And leaders don't promote people for following recipes. During our coaching session, we rewrote that same narrative so it actually meant something: "We were losing ground in key territories and no one could figure out why. I dug into the data and found that our product was completely out of sync with competitor positioning in that region. After aligning with leadership, we shifted our approach. Within two quarters, we recovered our market share."

 

Same work; completely different story.

 

The Structure of a Compelling Story

 

So what's the real difference between those two versions? Structure. Every good story follows a familiar shape. There's a situation or a problem; there's tension or conflict; there's action that leads to change; and finally, there's a resolution that closes the loop. When you're talking to leaders about your work, you need to use that same structure… not because you're trying to be dramatic, but because this is how the brain processes information. We remember stories; we forget lists.

 

Let's break down the structure.

 

First, set up the problem. What was at stake? Why did it matter? Leaders need context before they can appreciate your solution. The problem can't just be "we needed to do this task." It has to threaten a goal, create risk, or block progress. In Jaime's case, the first version had no problem—it was just a list of tasks. The second version began with the real problem: lost market share. That's something a leader actually cares about.

 

Second, show the tension. What made this hard? What was unclear? What obstacles did you face? Many people stumble here, thinking that admitting difficulty makes them look weak. It doesn't. It makes the story compelling and makes your solution look smarter. Jaime's tension was simple: "no one could figure out why." That tells leaders this wasn't obvious; it required insight.

 

Third, describe what you did. But don't list every step—that's just a repeat of the task list. Focus on the key move, the insight that unlocked the solution. Leaders don't need the play-by-play; they need to understand your thinking. Jaime said, "I dug into the data and found our product was completely out of sync with competitors." That's the key move. They didn't detail every analysis; they highlighted the insight that mattered.

 

Fourth, land on the outcome. What changed? What's different now because of your work? This is where you show impact, not activity. "We shifted our approach. Within two quarters, we recovered that market share." That's impact. That's what leaders remember.

 

Using Data Effectively

 

Now, let's talk about data. If you work with numbers, you probably think data speaks for itself. It doesn't. Data is only powerful when it's part of a story; otherwise, it's just noise. Here's what I mean. Imagine you're presenting a project to senior leadership. You could show a slide filled with metrics—response times, error rates, customer satisfaction scores, whatever. They'll nod politely… and forget it five minutes later.

 

Or you could tell the story like this: "Six months ago, our customer support team was drowning. Average response time was 48 hours, and our NPS had dropped 15 points. Customers were leaving, and the team was burned out. We needed a fix, but we didn't have budget for more headcount. So I investigated the bottlenecks. Sixty percent of tickets were questions that could have been answered with better documentation. We built a knowledge base, trained the team on routing customers to it, and within three months, response time dropped to 12 hours and NPS recovered to last year's levels. The team isn't drowning anymore… and we didn't hire a single person."

 

Notice what happened? The numbers—48 hours, 15 points, 60%, 12 hours—are still there. But now they're woven into a story about a problem that mattered, a smart solution, and a real outcome. That's how you use data to tell a story: the numbers prove it's real, but the story is what makes them matter.

 

Even when you know the framework, it's easy to stumble. One common mistake is overloading your story with tasks or metrics—don't confuse a list of activities with impact. Another is skipping the problem or tension; if leaders can't see why your work mattered, they won't care about what you did. A third is making the story all about you; leadership is interested in outcomes, not ego. And finally, overcomplicating the narrative with jargon or unnecessary detail can bury the impact. Keep it simple, clear, and focused on meaningful change. When you avoid these pitfalls, your story actually lands—and leaders start seeing you as someone who delivers results that matter.

 

Practicing & Applying Storytelling

 

So, how do you actually get better at this? I know what you're thinking—this all sounds great in theory, but in the moment, whether you're in a meeting or writing an email to your boss, you default back to listing what you did. Here's what I want you to do: take the last three significant things you worked on. Write down how you'd normally describe them. Then rewrite each one using the structure we've been talking about: problem, tension, action, outcome. And connect each story to a business goal your leaders actually care about.

 

Do this as an exercise—not for a specific meeting or presentation. Just practice translating your work into strategic stories. Then—and this is key—start using this structure everywhere: in one-on-ones with your manager, in status updates, in presentations, even in your annual review. Make it your default way of talking about your work. At first, it'll feel unnatural. You might feel like you're overselling or being dramatic. You're not. You're just finally communicating in a way that helps leaders understand the value you're creating.

 

This isn't about spin. It isn't about exaggerating. It's about helping leaders see what you actually accomplished. Because when you just list tasks, you're making them do the work of connecting the dots—and they won't. They're too busy; they'll move on. But when you tell a story that shows the problem you solved and the impact you created, you're doing their job for them. You're making it easy for them to see your value. And that's what gets you promoted.

 

The people who move up aren't necessarily doing better work than you. They're just better at showing that the work they do matters. They've figured out how to turn their accomplishments into a story that leaders remember. Now you know how to do it too: Problem. Tension. Action. Outcome. Connected to a business goal……every time you communicate with someone in a position of influence.  THAT is how you change how people see you.

 

Ready to Take Your Storytelling Further?

 

If you're ready to take your storytelling—and your career—to the next level, I can help. Through one-on-one coaching, we'll work together to identify the impact moments in your work, craft compelling narratives that resonate with leaders, and build the confidence to communicate your value consistently. Whether it's preparing for a promotion, presenting to senior leadership, or simply becoming more visible in your organization, personalized guidance can accelerate your growth and make sure your contributions are seen and remembered. Reach out today, and let's turn your accomplishments into stories that open doors.

 

Stop listing tasks… start telling stories—and watch your career accelerate.

 

 

This is one of the toughest job markets we've seen in a long time. Every week, it feels like another company is announcing sweeping layoffs and tightening their roster. In Episode 53, I talked through what to do if you suddenly find yourself on the wrong side of those decisions. This week, though, I want to shift the focus. Let's talk about the moves you can make right now to put yourself in the strongest possible position to avoid being laid off. Nothing is guaranteed; no strategy is bulletproof; but the concepts we'll cover today can help you protect your role and make yourself a far less likely target.

 

Layoffs are almost never a spur-of-the-moment decision. There are usually warning signs; a missed revenue target here, a sudden market shift there. Maybe the stock price starts sliding and leadership begins looking for ways to calm investors or at least keep the board from panicking. That's when department heads get pulled into quiet rooms for closed-door conversations, budgets start tightening, projects get paused or quietly cancelled...and eventually...the layoffs and re-orgs begin.

 

Forewarned is forearmed. The people who seem "shocked" by layoff news are often the ones who weren't watching the right signals; meanwhile, the people who look prepared usually saw the signs long before the announcement. It starts with truly understanding how your company makes money. What are the real drivers of revenue; which products are gaining traction; which ones are quietly struggling? What has leadership been emphasizing in earnings calls or all-hands meetings? If you want even a chance at predicting when a company might be gearing up for layoffs, you have to track the overall health of the business. Companies rarely start cutting when everything is soaring...they cut when the storm clouds have been gathering for a while.

 

Once you understand the health of the company, the next step is figuring out exactly where your role fits into that picture. Every job supports the business model in some way, but not every job carries the same weight when leaders start sharpening their pencils. Ask yourself a few simple questions; does my work directly generate revenue, protect revenue, or reduce cost? Is my team tied to a product or initiative that the company is actively pushing...or one that hasn't gotten much attention lately? If you can't clearly articulate how your role contributes to the business, that's a sign you need to get curious fast. The people who survive reorganizations are usually the ones who can draw a straight line between their daily work and the company's financial engine.

 

Once you know where your role lives in the larger business model, you can start making a more honest assessment of your personal risk. Some roles sit close to the core; others sit on the outskirts where cuts tend to land first. Maybe your team owns a product that's losing traction...or maybe you're in a function leadership hasn't talked about in months. You're not predicting the future here; you're evaluating probabilities. And when you understand your risk profile, you can finally decide what to do next...whether that means doubling down on visibility, shifting your workload toward higher-value projects, or quietly preparing a Plan B.

 

So, you've studied the mechanics of the business and realized you're sitting at some level of risk; what should you do next? Start by getting honest about your standing inside the company. Are you visible...or invisible? Are you known for something specific...or just seen as another pair of hands? Can your personal brand keep your name on the "safe" list when leaders start deciding who stays and who goes? Once you've checked your internal footing, begin warming up your network. Think of it like Gary Vaynerchuk's jab-jab-jab-right-hook idea; your network responds best when you give-give-give before you take. If there's even a chance you might need help later, reconnect now in a way that helps them; offer value, share something useful, make the relationship stronger before you ever ask for anything. And finally, start looking for opportunities to position yourself closer to the money. You don't have to switch teams or chase a new project; you just need to communicate clearly how your work drives value and ties back to the core business. If you need a refresher on how to do that effectively, go back to Episode 44 on Reporting Status; it walks you through how to make sure the right people understand your impact.

 

Or maybe you've done the math and realized you're not facing much risk...at least not this time. That doesn't mean you get to relax. The simple fact that layoffs are happening should be a wake-up call; today's stability doesn't guarantee tomorrow's safety. Your current project will eventually wrap, and you won't be able to leverage it for continued safety. Use your awareness of the broader market to position your next project closer to the core business. Look for skill gaps you can close now so you have more options later. Strengthen relationships with the people who influence decisions. And keep refining your personal brand so that, when the next round of uncertainty comes, you're already seen as someone the company wants to keep.

 

Even if you're proactive about understanding your risk, there are specific moves that smart professionals make quietly—before anyone else even starts worrying. First, they make themselves highly visible, not by bragging, but by ensuring key stakeholders understand the value they bring and how it ties to the core business. Second, they diversify their skill set, learning capabilities that could be useful across multiple teams or business units. Third, they nurture relationships inside and outside the company; they aren't just networking when they need something, they're building trust over time. Fourth, they track the health of the business continuously, so they can anticipate shifts before the company goes public with decisions. And finally, they quietly prepare options; resumes are current, LinkedIn profiles are polished, and side projects or professional development initiatives are in motion. These are not panic moves; they're deliberate actions designed to keep their careers stable no matter what's happening around them.

 

At the end of the day, this isn't just about surviving layoffs; it's about taking control of your career trajectory. Paying attention to the signals, understanding your role, assessing your risk, and taking deliberate steps—whether your job feels secure or not—puts you in the driver's seat. Companies will go through cycles of growth and contraction, and the professionals who thrive aren't necessarily the luckiest—they're the ones who plan, prepare, and position themselves for opportunity. By being thoughtful, proactive, and strategic now, you're not just protecting your role; you're building a career that can weather uncertainty and continue to move forward.

 

 

Key Points and Implications

Key Concept

What It Means for You

Why It Matters

Understand company health

Track revenue drivers, product performance, and leadership priorities

Gives early warning signs of potential layoffs; allows proactive positioning

Know where your role fits

Identify whether your work generates, protects, or saves money

Roles tied closely to business-critical outcomes are less likely to be cut

Assess personal risk

Evaluate visibility, influence, and strategic alignment

Helps you make informed decisions about prioritizing your efforts or preparing a Plan B

Boost visibility and personal brand

Communicate value, align with core business objectives

People remembered for results and impact are more likely to stay in turbulent times

Warm up your network

Give value to colleagues, mentors, and contacts before asking for help

Networks respond better to proactive support, making future assistance more likely

Build transferable skills

Learn capabilities useful across teams and functions

Increases flexibility and keeps career options open, regardless of current role stability

Prepare quietly

Update resumes, LinkedIn, and side projects

Ensures readiness for unexpected change while maintaining professionalism and discretion

 

Actionable Strategies

1. Map Your Role to the Business
   Write down how your daily work connects to revenue, cost savings, or key company priorities. Highlight these connections in your status updates, reports, and conversations with leadership.
2. Increase Strategic Visibility
   Share achievements, insights, and progress tied to core business goals with decision makers. Regularly update them in concise, measurable ways—think Episode 44 on Reporting Status.
3. Invest in Skills for the Future
   Identify one or two skills that increase your versatility or market value. Dedicate time each week to develop them through online courses, internal projects, or mentorship.
4. Nurture Relationships Continuously
   Reach out to colleagues, leaders, and external mentors to offer help, share ideas, or provide feedback. Build goodwill now, so if you need support later, the foundation is already there.
5. Position Yourself Closer to Revenue
   Seek opportunities to work on high-impact projects that tie directly to business outcomes. Even small contributions that connect to core objectives increase your value in the eyes of leadership.
6. Monitor Company Signals
   Regularly review company updates, financial reports, and leadership communications. Watch for patterns—shifts in priorities, cancelled projects, or budget tightening—that may indicate upcoming changes.
7. Prepare Discreetly
   Keep your resume, LinkedIn, and professional portfolio up to date. Consider side projects or certifications that strengthen your career resilience without signaling panic internally.

 

 

Remember, navigating a tough job market isn't about luck; it's about preparation, awareness, and action. By understanding the company, knowing where your role fits, assessing your risk, and taking deliberate steps to increase your visibility, skills, and network, you put yourself in the strongest possible position. Even if layoffs never come your way, these moves accelerate your career and make you more indispensable in meaningful ways. The professionals who thrive aren't just reacting—they're planning, positioning, and building careers that can weather any storm.

 

If you found today's episode helpful, take a moment to share it with a colleague or friend who's navigating uncertainty in their career. And if you haven't already, subscribe to Managing A Career so you don't miss future episodes packed with practical strategies to protect your role and accelerate your growth. Leaving a rating or review is a small action that makes a big difference—it helps other professionals find the show and gives us the feedback we need to keep delivering value. Take what you've learned today, start applying these moves quietly, and stay ahead of the storm.

 

Today we're going to dig into a topic that confuses people at every level of the corporate ladder. You'll hear about it in calibration meetings, in talent reviews, in leadership offsites. Sometimes it's talked about openly; other times it's whispered about like some kind of secret scoring system. I'm talking about performance and potential.

 

Performance… sure; that part makes sense. What did you deliver; how well did you deliver it; how predictable and reliable is your output; did you solve the problems in front of you; did you create value for your team. But potential; that's the fuzzy part. Potential for what; and how do you influence a rating that sounds like it's based entirely on somebody's personal opinion.

 

Imagine being evaluated not just on the work you deliver today… but on a future version of you that may or may not exist. Most people in corporate jobs don't even know that their rating has two pieces. They think their "performance rating" is the whole story. But the real decisions about promotions and opportunities are often driven by the other number; the potential number. So the question we're asking today is simple: what is potential really measuring… and do you even want to maximize it?

 

A common tool used in end of year evaluations is the classic two‑axis grid; one axis for Performance and the other for Potential. It looks simple on paper. People are sorted from low to high on both scales, then placed into a tidy little box that supposedly determines their future. Those who land in the top right quadrant get the opportunities, the visibility, the fast track. Those in the bottom left… well, they often find themselves stalled out, sidelined, or in some cases quietly pushed out. The biggest issue is that these scales are vague and often applied inconsistently across teams. Two leaders can sit in the same talent review and have completely different interpretations of what "high potential" even means.

 

For some companies, potential means "how likely are they to produce at a high level in the next year." For others, it means "how close are they to their next promotion." Some organizations define potential as "shows leadership skills." Others look for "scalability"; meaning the ability to handle bigger, broader, and more ambiguous challenges. And a few go even further; blending curiosity, change-readiness, resilience under pressure, strong communication, and strategic thinking into one catch-all label. In other words; potential is often a company's way of asking "Do we see you becoming more valuable to us in the future than you are today?"

 

But because it's forward-looking, your ranking on this scale often comes down to something people don't like to admit… politics. Potential isn't a direct measurement of your abilities or your hard skills; it isn't even a pure reflection of your current performance. It's a perception game; a bet leaders make about how you'll behave in situations you haven't faced yet. It's assumption dressed up as science. But that doesn't mean you're powerless. Once you understand the ingredients that drive potential, you can learn how to shape the perception of your future self—and change the trajectory of your career.

 

Even though the definition of potential varies from company to company, there are several core elements that show up almost everywhere.

 

**Adaptability**. In today's fast-paced world, this one shows up near the top of almost every potential rubric. Change is constant… technological change, regulatory change, shifting priorities. I joked with my boss this week that we've moved beyond "dealing with ambiguity"; we're now just "living with ambiguity." High potential employees are the ones who don't freeze when the landscape shifts. They stay steady, recalibrate quickly, and keep moving.

 

**Leadership**. This doesn't always mean holding a formal title. Often it's about influence. Can you guide others? Do people seek your input? Do you demonstrate sound judgment? Leaders evaluating potential notice when someone consistently steps up, rallies a group, or helps drive decisions forward.

 

**Strategic awareness**. This shows up differently depending on where you sit. For individual contributors, it means understanding how your work aligns with broader goals… and making day-to-day choices that reflect that understanding. For front-line leaders, it's about setting priorities for your team that advance corporate objectives. And for senior leaders, high potential often translates to shaping those strategic directions in response to a shifting market.

 

**Communication skills**. People with high potential communicate clearly, succinctly, and in a way that resonates with their audience. They know when to expand and when to get straight to the point. Their communication builds momentum rather than creating confusion.

 

**Scalability**. This is the quiet filter behind most potential ratings. High potential employees are perceived as capable of taking on "more." More responsibility, more impact, more scope. Whether that looks like larger projects, more visible initiatives, or simply a broader portfolio of work, scalability signals that your capacity can grow with the organization's needs.

 

Now, ask yourself: do you really want to optimize for this? For some, the honest answer might not be a simple "yes." It could be "maybe," or even "no."

 

Chasing a high potential rating can change your behavior in ways that clash with your values or long-term goals. Suppose you thrive as an individual contributor; you love deep work, craftsmanship, technical excellence. But the company defines potential as "ability to lead people." Insisting you don't want that path may actually protect your career rather than hurt it. Or perhaps high potential at your company equates to larger projects or higher visibility, but your personal situation—caring for aging parents or young kids—makes that path impractical.

 

There's also a hidden risk in being labeled "high potential." The bar moves; expectations increase. Suddenly you're being measured against a future version of yourself rather than the present one. If you don't keep up, the fall can be demoralizing. Opting out isn't usually an option, since failing to demonstrate potential often brings negative consequences. The goal isn't to reject the system; the goal is to understand it and use it intentionally. So how do you make the most of a performance vs. potential model?

 

If you decide that you do want to optimize for potential, remember this: you cannot optimize for a category you haven't clearly defined. It starts with gaining clarity. Depending on your company; potential may be entirely behavioral, entirely political, or somewhere in between. Begin by asking your manager a few grounding questions… though don't be surprised if they struggle to answer. Try questions like: "How does our company define potential?" "What specific behaviors demonstrate high potential here?" "What would you need to see from me to confidently place me in that category?" "What would remove doubt about my readiness for the next level?" If your manager can't answer, it usually means the system is more political than procedural.

 

Next, observe the people who are consistently identified as high potential. Watch how they behave; how they speak; the kinds of problems they volunteer for; the way they frame decisions. This isn't about imitation… it's about understanding the signals your company rewards. And here's something that surprises a lot of people: you don't need to be the top performer to be labeled high potential. You just need to show that you learn quickly; you handle complexity; and you stay steady when things get messy.

 

Early in your career, your potential is often judged by how quickly you absorb information. Are you coachable? Do you ask thoughtful questions? Do you seek clarity instead of avoiding uncertainty? The faster you reach the level of understanding required to take on bigger tasks, the higher your potential rating climbs.

 

As you grow, the criteria start to shift. Depending on your company, this may mean demonstrating strategic thinking, showing calm under pressure, or taking on visible leadership moments. People who navigate complexity without spiraling; who frame problems in broader business terms; who help teams move forward—those individuals tend to rise in the potential rankings.

 

Later in your career, the measuring stick becomes scale and impact. Can you drive larger projects? Can you deliver outcomes that matter to the enterprise? Can you influence and persuade people who don't report to you? The scope of your contributions starts to matter as much as the quality.

 

And as a manager, your potential no longer sits entirely on your shoulders. It reflects in your team's performance and reputation. When you're well regarded, your team benefits. When you lose the trust of senior leaders, your team feels the consequences even if they're performing well.

 

Regardless of where you sit on the career ladder, potential is always about your future… or more accurately, your perceived future. If you want to shape that narrative, you need to make sure the key decision makers see the signals you want them to see—consistently and repeatedly.

 

At the end of the day, navigating the performance versus potential model isn't about gaming the system. It's about understanding the rules well enough to make intentional choices. Start by asking your manager directly how your company defines potential. Don't guess; get clarity so you know exactly what you're optimizing for. Then, look closely at the people who carry that high potential label. Pay attention to how they communicate; how they approach problems; how they position their decisions. You're not copying them—you're learning the principles your organization rewards.

 

One of the strongest signals you can send is your willingness to step into ambiguity. When you volunteer for messy, undefined projects, leaders take notice. Pair that with clear and concise communication—especially under pressure—and you'll demonstrate two of the most valued traits in nearly every rating system.

 

But before you chase the label, ask yourself whether you truly want it. If it aligns with your goals, pursue it with intention. If it doesn't, shape a career path that reflects your definition of success. The real power comes from choosing the future you want rather than inheriting one someone else imagines for you.

 

If today's episode helped you understand how performance and potential ratings really work… take a minute to leave a rating or a review. It helps others discover Managing A Career and gives social proof that this show is worth listening to. Share the episode with a colleague who's trying to navigate their own growth. And if you want more tools to get promoted faster, check out https://managingacareer.com.

 

Do you ever look around your company and notice how certain people always seem to rise together? The boss gets promoted... and like clockwork, a couple of people from their team move up right behind them. You start to wonder... are they just that good? Or are they someone's favorite?

 

Today, we're going to unpack that idea—not the shady version, but the strategic one. How do you find the right person to align with... the kind of person whose rising tide actually lifts your boat, too? Cronyism gets a bad reputation, but that's when it's paired with incompetence or favoritism without merit. The truth is, every successful career has an element of strategic alignment. It's about connecting yourself with the right leader, building trust through results, and positioning yourself as someone they want to bring along when they rise.

 

So today, I'd like to talk about how to identify whose coattails are worth riding... and how to make sure you've earned your place on that ride.

 

 

The Reality of Relationships in Corporate Advancement

 

I've long said that building a network is the single most important thing you can do for your career. Your skills will get you in the door, but your relationships determine how far you go once you're inside. Promotions, high-visibility projects, cross-functional opportunities—they rarely appear out of thin air. They come through people. Your network is the radar that picks up opportunities before they hit the job board.

 

There's an old quote from Seneca that I love: "Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity." The preparation part is obvious; we all know we have to deliver results, build credibility, and sharpen our skills. But opportunity? That's the piece most people overlook. Opportunity doesn't just fall in your lap—it's usually handed to you by someone who knows your name, trusts your work, and believes in your potential.

 

That's why I say the first step in becoming someone's "crony"—in the best sense of the word—is to build that relationship before you need it. Get on their radar by doing good work. Add value without asking for anything in return. Be the person they can depend on when things get hectic. When the time comes for them to move up or take on a new challenge, you'll already be positioned as part of their trusted circle.

 

In corporate life, advancement is rarely a solo sport. It's a team game—and if you're not intentionally building the right team around you, someone else is.

 

 

What "Strategic Alignment" Actually Looks Like

 

Let's start by defining a few terms. The word crony has become shorthand for favoritism, backroom deals, and people getting ahead for all the wrong reasons. But at its root, a crony is simply someone who's connected to power. That connection, in and of itself, isn't bad. It's how the connection is earned that determines whether you're a crony... or a strategically aligned professional.

 

Strategic alignment is what happens when your goals, values, and performance directly support the success of someone higher up in the organization. You're not just orbiting power; you're contributing to it. You're part of a symbiotic relationship where your wins make their job easier, their projects stronger, and their vision more achievable.

 

So how do you know which side of the line you're on? Ask yourself three simple questions:

 

Do you help this person win in a way that also helps the team?

Cronyism isolates—it creates winners and losers. Strategic alignment lifts everyone around you. If the person you're supporting becomes more effective because of your input, and the team benefits in the process, that's a healthy dynamic.

 

Do you bring something to the table they need—insight, relationships, execution?

The strongest professional relationships are built on mutual value. If you offer something that fills a gap or accelerates progress, you're not tagging along... you're indispensable to the mission.

 

Are you seen as loyal and competent?

Loyalty without competence is flattery. Competence without loyalty is risk. The combination is trust—and trust is the foundation of every meaningful professional alliance.

 

If the answer to all three is yes, you're not a crony—you're a trusted asset. You've built a relationship based on performance, reliability, and shared success. But if any of those answers are no... then yes, you might just be a crony. And cronies don't get invited to the next level; they get replaced when it's convenient.

 

Strategic alignment is about playing the long game. It's about being so valuable, so dependable, and so in sync with where your leader is heading that they can't imagine building the next chapter without you in it.

 

 

How to Identify the Right Person to Align With

 

Now that we've defined what strategic alignment looks like, the next question is... who should you align with? Not every rising star is worth following, and not every senior leader has the influence—or the inclination—to pull others up with them. The key is to find someone whose momentum, mindset, and management style create opportunity for you to grow alongside them.

 

Start by looking for people who are already on a fast track. Promotions leave a trail, and those who have moved up consistently are likely to continue that trend. High performers tend to attract new challenges, bigger projects, and broader scope. If you can earn a place in that person's circle early, their growth naturally creates lift for everyone who supports them well.

 

Next, look for someone who shares the credit and invests in developing others. You can tell a lot about a leader by the way they talk about their team. If they celebrate wins collectively, delegate meaningful work, and visibly coach others, that's a person who will recognize competence—and reward it. Those are the leaders who build inner circles, not closed circles.

 

You'll also want to watch for people who are part of the conversation, not outside of it. These are the individuals who have access, who get looped into strategic discussions, who are in rooms where decisions are made. You can spot them by the projects they're trusted with, the visibility they have across the organization, and how others defer to their input. Proximity to power isn't about politics—it's about access to the flow of information and opportunity.

 

And finally, make sure your values align. The higher someone climbs, the more their decisions reflect their core beliefs. If you're aligned with a leader whose ethics, management style, and goals match your own, you'll move forward with integrity and confidence. But if your values don't match, success will come with discomfort... and eventually, conflict.

 

One last word of caution: be careful not to attach yourself to someone who's approaching a terminal position. Every company has them—the senior leaders who've likely hit the ceiling of their upward mobility. They may be respected, even powerful, but they're no longer ascending. If their career has plateaued, so will yours if you tether too tightly.

 

The goal isn't to find anyone influential. It's to find the right person—someone who's still climbing, who builds others along the way, and whose rise opens doors you're ready to walk through.

 

 

How to Build a Genuine, Strategic Relationship

 

Finding the right person to align with is only half the equation. The real magic happens when you learn how to build that relationship in a way that's natural, professional, and mutually valuable. The approach looks a little different depending on where you are in your career, but the principles stay the same: earn trust through performance, create value before asking for it, and always keep the relationship grounded in results, not flattery.

 

Early Career: Earn Proximity Through Performance

 

When you're early in your career, your best strategy is to make yourself visible through excellence. Every project, every deliverable, every presentation is an opportunity to show that you're reliable and capable. Leaders notice people who make their lives easier. That might mean volunteering for a stretch assignment, being the one who spots potential problems before they escalate, or simply being the person who always delivers high-quality work on time.

 

At this stage, proximity is the goal. You want to earn a seat in the room—not by talking your way in, but by performing your way in. Reliability builds access, and access builds relationships.

 

As You Begin Your Ascent: Anticipate Needs and Add Value

 

Once you've established yourself, your focus should shift to strategic contribution. Don't just do what's asked—start seeing around corners. Learn your manager's priorities, their pressure points, and their success metrics. When you can anticipate what they need before they ask, you're no longer just an employee; you're a partner in execution.

 

At this level, small gestures can carry big weight. Send a concise summary after a meeting to clarify action items. Offer data or insights that make decision-making easier. Look for inefficiencies you can streamline. These small actions add up to a reputation of someone who thinks like a leader—and that's exactly the kind of person rising leaders want close by.

 

Senior Levels: Become a Strategic Sounding Board

 

By the time you reach senior levels, alignment shifts from execution to perspective. Leaders at this stage don't just need doers—they need thinkers who help them see blind spots, validate ideas, and shape direction. You can strengthen your relationship by becoming a trusted sounding board. That means you're not just agreeing with everything; you're respectfully challenging assumptions, offering alternative views, and contributing insights that make their strategies stronger.

 

Credibility becomes currency here. The more thoughtful and data-driven your input, the more likely you'll be invited into strategic discussions. This is how you evolve from being part of someone's team to being part of their inner circle.

 

Transitioning from Manager/Director to Executive: Build Alignment at the Organizational Level

 

When you're preparing to move into executive ranks, your relationship-building focus must scale beyond one person. You're no longer aligning with a leader—you're aligning with the leadership ecosystem. This means cross-functional collaboration, strategic visibility, and building trust horizontally as well as vertically.

 

Still, one key ally can make all the difference. Find an executive who embodies the leadership style you aspire to, and look for ways your growth can directly reinforce theirs. Support their initiatives, lead projects that expand their influence, and deliver outcomes that make their leadership more effective. At this stage, you're not just someone's protégé—you're part of their leadership legacy.

 

 

How to Avoid the Traps of Cronyism

 

Loyalty is one of the most powerful traits you can bring to a professional relationship... but it's also one of the most dangerous if you don't manage it wisely. The same loyalty that earns you trust early in your career can hold you back later if it keeps you tied to the wrong person or situation.

 

Let's be clear—loyalty matters. The people who advance together are often those who've proven they can depend on each other through pressure and change. That kind of professional trust isn't built overnight; it's earned through consistency, discretion, and shared wins over time. When your leader knows you've got their back, they're far more likely to bring you into opportunities, conversations, and rooms you wouldn't reach on your own.

 

But loyalty has limits. There will come a point where you may have to ask yourself whether the person you aligned with is still the right one to stay tethered to. Maybe their values have drifted. Maybe their leadership style has changed. Or maybe their career has plateaued—or even started to unravel—in a way that could drag you down with it.

 

When that happens, you can't let nostalgia or misplaced loyalty compromise your own trajectory. Staying loyal to someone who's no longer aligned with your principles or your potential isn't loyalty—it's stagnation.

 

If your values no longer match, that's your cue to respectfully create distance. Protect your reputation, maintain professionalism, and quietly redirect your energy toward relationships that reflect where you're headed, not where you've been. Similarly, if someone's progress has stalled—or worse, they've made choices that could tarnish your credibility—you have to make the hard call to step away.

 

The key is to do it with grace. Don't burn bridges, don't gossip, and don't make it personal. Just reposition yourself in a way that keeps you moving forward. True strategic alignment is never blind loyalty; it's a partnership built on mutual growth. And if that growth stops, it's okay to move on.

 

The best professionals know how to stay loyal and self-aware. They understand that integrity and momentum go hand in hand... and that sometimes, the most strategic move you can make is knowing when to cut ties.

 

 

 

So let's bring this full circle. Every organization has those people who seem to rise together... the boss gets promoted, and a few key players move right along with them. From the outside, it might look like favoritism; but from the inside, it's usually the result of trust, consistency, and shared success.

 

That's the essence of strategic alignment. It's not about currying favor—it's about creating real value for someone whose growth creates opportunity for you, too. It's about recognizing who's going places, showing up as someone who helps them get there, and earning your spot through performance and integrity.

 

When done right, this isn't cronyism—it's partnership. And it's one of the most powerful ways to accelerate your own career, provided you keep your eyes open, stay true to your values, and know when it's time to pivot.

 

Because in the end, the relationships you build are the single biggest differentiator between a career that stalls... and one that soars.

 

This week, I want you to take a closer look at your own network. Who are you aligned with right now? Are those relationships fueling your growth—or holding you back?

 

And while you're thinking about that, I'd love your help shaping future episodes of Managing A Career. Take a minute to complete a quick survey at https://managingacareer.com/survey . Your input helps make sure each episode stays relevant, actionable, and valuable for wherever you are in your professional journey.

 

If this episode gave you something to think about—or helped you see your relationships at work a little differently—share it with a friend or teammate who's also trying to move up. The more people who understand how to navigate these dynamics with integrity, the better our workplaces become.

There's a moment in every career when you realize... the rules have changed. What used to work doesn't work anymore. The strategies that once got you noticed, promoted, or rewarded suddenly stop moving the needle. You're working just as hard, maybe even harder, but the results don't follow. And that's when the question hits you: "Wait—did I miss something?"

 

You didn't miss anything. You just reached an inflection point — one of those quiet but defining moments where the path ahead demands a different version of you. Today, we're unpacking those critical career shifts; how to spot them early, how to pivot fast, and how to make sure you don't get trapped in the "almost promoted" zone. Whether you're still building your foundation, managing a team, or eyeing the next big move, this conversation will help you zoom out and see your career from a higher altitude — because those inflection points? They're where careers either stall... or take off.

 

What exactly do I mean by an "inflection point"? It's the moment your career trajectory starts to curve. It's subtle at first; everything seems fine on the surface. You're still performing, still getting solid feedback, still known as the person who delivers. But then, almost imperceptibly, the results start to taper off. The same tactics that once made you stand out don't seem to move the needle anymore. You're working just as hard — maybe harder — but the impact isn't landing like it used to.

 

Think back for a second. Maybe you were the person who always delivered fast, accurate work; who double-checked every detail and saved the day more than once. Early in your career, that's gold. It earns trust and opens doors. But as you move up, being the "doer" isn't what gets noticed anymore. What matters now is influence, not output. That's the curve.

 

The skill set that once made you exceptional starts to flatten out in value, while new skills — delegation, persuasion, visibility, strategic thinking — suddenly become the new currency. It's not that your old skills no longer matter; they've just become the price of entry at this new level. You're no longer being measured by effort. You're being measured by impact.

 

So how do you know when you've hit one of these career turning points — before it's too late? There are usually some telltale signs hiding in plain sight.

 

Maybe you're being praised and even rewarded, yet somehow still passed over for promotions. You keep hearing how great your work is, but advancement never follows. That's a signal. Praise without progress usually means the rules have shifted… and you haven't.

 

Or maybe you're working harder than ever — longer hours, bigger projects, stepping in to solve problems that aren't even yours — but the return on that effort is smaller than before. That's not burnout or bad luck; it's evidence that the old playbook has expired.

 

Another clue? You've started to feel invisible in meetings. You speak up, but your ideas don't land. You're left out of decisions you used to be part of. That's not about confidence; that's about context. Influence, not effort, has become the new performance metric.

 

And finally, there's the comfort trap. When your job starts running on autopilot — when you're hitting your targets, but nothing really stretches you — that sense of ease can feel good… but it's actually career quicksand. The moment you stop growing faster than your role, you start falling behind.

 

Each of these signs is a nudge to reassess. Not because you're doing anything wrong, but because the game just advanced to a new level while you were focused on mastering the last one.

 

If you can recognize when these stalls are happening, you can make the pivots that move you forward. You can go from stuck to promotable by making a few critical shifts in how you think and lead.

 

The first pivot is from performer to strategist. Instead of asking, "What do I need to do?", start asking, "Where should we be focusing?" The next level of leadership isn't looking for people who execute faster; they're looking for people who can see further. The shift is from doing work to defining work — from crossing items off your list to making sure the list itself drives business results.

 

The second pivot is about visibility. Early in your career, being seen working hard was important. But as you rise, it's not the effort people notice — it's the outcomes. Your credibility becomes your brand. Consistency, alignment with company priorities, and measurable results are what build trust with decision-makers. Being busy isn't impressive anymore. Being impactful is.

 

And the final pivot — the one that feels most counterintuitive for high performers — is to do less. The instinct is to take on more, to prove your value by sheer volume. But the next level isn't about how much you can personally carry; it's about how much you can enable others to deliver. True advancement comes from scale — through delegation, mentorship, and building systems that multiply your impact. You're not rewarded for doing everything yourself; you're rewarded for building capacity around you.

 

One of the biggest transitions in any career is moving from being a great individual contributor to someone who amplifies the impact of others. At the first level, you're rewarded for what you can personally do. At the next level, you're rewarded for what you can make happen through others. That's a massive shift — and it's exactly where a lot of people stumble.

 

Picture this: you're the star player on the team. You score the points, you know the plays, you've built a reputation for reliability. Then one day, you get promoted to manager. Overnight, your job stops being about playing and starts being about coaching. But nobody hands you a new rulebook. You can't "outwork" your way through this level — you have to outthink it. Success now is measured not by what you produce, but by how effectively you enable others to produce. That means shifting from control to influence, from execution to enablement, from doing to deciding. The faster you internalize that shift, the faster your career accelerates.

 

If we boiled it all down, career advancement comes from mastering what I call the promotion equation. At each level, the equation shifts slightly, but the pattern is the same: Performance gets you noticed; Perception gets you considered; Positioning gets you promoted. Most people stop at performance, assuming their work will speak for itself. But at higher levels, it doesn't. Your work needs a voice — and that voice is you. Make sure your manager sees that you're thinking about the next level. Ask for feedback not just on what you're doing, but how you're operating. If your boss's boss spent a week watching you, would they see someone ready to lead… or someone still playing last year's game? That's the lens to use.

 

Before we wrap up, let's take a moment to talk about a few warning signs that the rules of your career may have shifted — signs that you might have missed the change before it became obvious. One of the clearest indicators is if you find yourself more comfortable solving yesterday's problems than identifying tomorrow's. You're tackling tasks you already know how to handle, but you're not spending as much time thinking about what's coming next. That's a subtle signal that your role is evolving, and it's time to start thinking beyond the immediate to the bigger picture.

 

Another sign shows up in the feedback you receive. Early in your career, praise often centers around details — did you finish the task correctly, were your deliverables on point. At higher levels, feedback starts to shift toward direction: are you influencing outcomes, shaping priorities, and helping guide others? If you're still mostly hearing comments on the details, that's a clue that your impact isn't being measured in the currency that matters at the next level.

 

You may also notice that you're being looped in after decisions are already made, instead of before. It can feel frustrating, almost like your voice isn't valued, even though you're still contributing. That's a classic signal that your sphere of influence needs to expand. At the next level, your goal is to be at the table before the decisions happen — shaping the conversation, offering insight, and guiding direction rather than simply executing once the plan is set.

 

Finally, pay attention to how you feel at the end of your workday. You might be exhausted, stretched thin, and working hard, but not fulfilled in a meaningful way. That exhaustion without fulfillment is a sign that your current approach isn't fueling growth; it's burning energy without advancing your career trajectory. The good news is, noticing these signs isn't a setback — it's an invitation. You're not behind. You're ready for the next chapter, and the new playbook that comes with it.

 

So, you've heard the theory. Now it's time to put it into action. Here are three concrete steps you can take this week. First, make a list of the behaviors and habits that have made you successful at your current level. Then ask yourself, "Will these still matter one level up?" If the answer is no, start replacing them now — don't wait until it's too late.

 

Next, in your upcoming one-on-one, go beyond the usual performance check-in. Don't just ask how you're doing — ask what the next level looks like, and what gaps your manager sees in your readiness to get there. That single question demonstrates initiative, strategic self-awareness, and the kind of forward-thinking leadership that gets noticed.

 

Finally, stop measuring success by effort alone. Instead, define it by influence, outcomes, and how well you make others successful. And if you want a bonus step, find your inflection point mentor — someone one or two levels above you who has already made the leap. Study how they operate differently, and you'll pick up cues far faster than any workshop or training could teach you.

 

Career growth isn't a straight line. It's a series of curves — and each curve demands a new version of you. The people who get promoted fastest aren't always the smartest or the hardest working; they're the ones who notice the game has changed and adjust before anyone else does.

 

Thanks for listening to Managing A Career. If you got value from today's insights, leaving a quick rating or review is the easiest way to help others find the show. Your feedback not only supports the podcast, it signals to other professionals that these strategies actually work and helps grow a community of people striving to get ahead.  I've been your host, Layne Robinson.

They say if you make yourself indispensable, your job is safe. But what if being the person everyone depends on is quietly holding your career hostage?

 

The Paradox of Being Indispensable

You've probably heard someone say, "If you make yourself indispensable, you'll never lose your job." It sounds like solid advice, right? Be the person who keeps the lights on. The one who knows how everything works, fixes what's broken, and always swoops in to save the day. But here's the twist: the very strategy that protects your position might also be the one holding your career hostage. Today, we're unpacking the paradox of being indispensable : when it's your greatest strength… and when it quietly becomes career suicide.

 

Why Being Indispensable Feels So Good — and Why It's a Trap

Being indispensable feels good. It's validation. It's the company saying, "We need you." You become the go-to person…..the firefighter who can handle every emergency, the steady hand everyone trusts when things go sideways.  If you're early in your career, that feeling can be addictive. You get noticed. You get trusted. You're seen as reliable, capable, and essential. It feels like the fast track to success.

 

But here's the catch: being indispensable often locks you in place. I usually tell my team, "If you're the only one who can… you're the one who always will." Because if you're the only one who knows how something works, your boss can't promote you. They can't move you into something new. The moment you leave your seat, things fall apart (and no manager wants that).  You've become too valuable… but only right where you are. And that's when "job security" quietly turns into "career stagnation."

 

When Indispensability Becomes a Liability

If you're a senior employee or manager, you might recognize this dynamic in your own team. There's always that one person you can't afford to lose. They're the glue holding everything together — the expert who keeps projects running and makes problems disappear before anyone else even sees them.  But here's the uncomfortable truth: that same person can also be the reason no one else is learning how to do the job. And that's a risk; for them, for you, and for the business.

 

When one person carries all the knowledge, you're building a system that's one resignation away from collapse. You risk burnout and resentment from the person stuck in that role. And if they leave, you risk chaos.  That's why redundancy isn't waste….. It's protection. It's flexibility. It's freedom. The healthiest teams have overlap by design. They cross-train, they document, they share expertise.

 

And here's the irony: when you become indispensable, it doesn't make management feel safe. It makes them nervous. Because they know the system can't function without you. And that's not stability;  that's fragility.

 

Redefining What It Means to Be Indispensable

So, how do you do it right? Being "indispensable" isn't the problem….it's the definition that needs to evolve.  Early in your career, indispensability is about reliability. You earn trust by showing up, solving problems, and doing excellent work. That's how you build your reputation.

 

But as you grow, the meaning changes. True indispensability isn't about being the only one who can, it's about being the one who makes sure others can too. You multiply your value by documenting what you know, by delegating with intention, and by teaching others to succeed even when you're not in the room.  That's not losing control….that's gaining influence.  It's the difference between being the person who "does it all" and the person who "makes it possible." The first keeps you busy. The second builds your legacy.

 

Leaders: Don't Reinforce the Trap

As a leader, you might be unintentionally reinforcing this problem. Every team has that one rock star who seems to do it all;  the person who solves every problem because "time is of the essence." But here's the catch: by leaning on their indispensability, you're limiting their growth.

 

Even worse, you're holding back the rest of the team. By making one person the go-to for every challenge, you lock them into a role that's hard to step out of, while denying others the chance to shine. Over time, this can lead to burnout, frustration, and even people leaving; both for those rockstars AND those that are overlooked.

 

Great leaders don't just reward dependability; they design redundancy. They build systems where anyone could step in and perform well. That doesn't make your top performer less valuable, it makes the whole team stronger. Your job as a manager isn't to keep people busy; it's to keep them growing.

 

Job Security or Career Suicide? It Depends

So, is being indispensable job security or career suicide? The answer is, as always, "it depends." It depends on what kind of indispensable you are.

 

If you're the hero who holds everything together, it may feel like job security……for now. But eventually, that path leads to a dead end. If you're the builder who creates systems, trains others, and scales your impact, you're on the fast track to career acceleration. One makes you hard to fire. The other makes you impossible to ignore.

 

So, how do you break out of the old-style indispensable box and become truly impactful? Start by documenting everything. Any knowledge that lives only in your head?  Write it down and share it with your team. Next, get someone else involved. Show them how, then let them take the lead. Support them when needed, but delegate the task…..and then, speak up for something bigger.

 

Here's your reflection for the week: Are you protecting your current job… or preparing for your next one? If today's episode got you thinking differently about what it means to be "indispensable," share it with someone on your team…maybe the person who's always putting out fires, or the one you rely on the most.

 

And if you haven't already, go to https://managingacareer.com/follow to subscribe to Managing A Career wherever you listen to podcasts. Every episode is about helping you work smarter, lead better, and move faster toward that next promotion.  Until next time, I'm Layne Robinson, and this is Managing A Career.

 

How to Start a Side Hustle Without Sabotaging Your Career

A side hustle can feel like freedom — a chance to earn extra income, explore your creativity, and maybe even test-drive that business idea that's been living in your head for years. It's exciting, empowering, and sometimes even career-changing. But it can also be risky. The wrong move could damage your professional reputation, violate company policy, or simply stretch you too thin to perform well in your day job.

 

Today, we're diving into something that's become almost expected in the modern workplace: the side hustle.  Whether it's freelancing, consulting, selling online, or creating content, nearly half of all professionals now have one. But the real question is: should you? Let's explore why building a side hustle might be one of the smartest career decisions you can make… or one of the most dangerous.

 

Legal Considerations: Know Before You Start

Before we get into the whys and whatfors of a side hustle, let's talk about something far less exciting but absolutely essential — the legal stuff. Most of the risks fall into three big categories: non-compete clauses, confidentiality agreements, and intellectual property ownership.

 

Let's start with non-compete clauses. These can limit your ability to do similar work or serve similar clients — even on your own time. Some expire when you leave your employer, while others can follow you for months, or even years, afterward. Then there's confidentiality. If your job gives you access to inside information, proprietary data, or key contacts, using them in your side hustle isn't just unethical — it could be illegal.

 

And finally, there's intellectual property. If you're using company time, equipment, or resources to build your side hustle, your employer might legally own part — or all — of what you've created. The safest approach? Use your own tools, your own time, and your own money. And if you're unsure what you can and can't do, have a candid conversation with your manager or HR, and consider a quick consult with an employment lawyer. One hour of legal advice now can save you a career's worth of regret later.

 

Why Side Hustles Are Appealing

So, with the legal stuff out of the way, let's talk about what makes a side hustle so appealing. A side hustle can give you things your day job often doesn't: control over decisions — both creative and strategic, financial freedom, and personal growth. You get to experiment, try new ideas, and see the direct impact of your efforts — something that's often hard to find in larger corporate environments.

 

Then there's the financial side. An extra stream of income can ease financial pressure, help you build savings, or fund your next big move. Down the line, it could even replace your primary income entirely.  But here's what often gets overlooked: a side hustle can also make you better at your day job. Running something on your own forces you to learn new skills — marketing, negotiation, time management, customer service. You start thinking like an owner, not just an employee. And that mindset shift — from doing to owning — is exactly what separates good employees from promotable ones. So yes, there's a lot to gain.

 

The Catch: Risks of a Side Hustle

With all of those benefits, what's the catch? Having a side hustle isn't for everyone. First, it demands time — lots of it. If your plate is already full with work, family, or personal commitments, launching a side business can quickly push you toward burnout. Nights, weekends, and even vacations can disappear under deadlines and client needs.

 

Second, it can blur the lines between your personal and professional life. Maybe your employer frowns on consulting on the side, or coworkers begin to question your focus. And then there's the legal side — those non-compete clauses, confidentiality agreements, and conflict-of-interest policies we talked about earlier aren't just suggestions. For example, if you work in marketing and take freelance marketing clients, your company could see that as direct competition. Even if you're not poaching clients, it could still violate your contract.

 

Finally, there's reputational risk. If your side hustle doesn't align with your company's values or brand, it can raise questions about your judgment — especially if you hold a leadership position. So before you start, don't just ask, "What could I gain?" Ask, "What could I lose?"

 

How to Start a Side Hustle Safely

So, how do you actually start a side hustle without jeopardizing your main job? First, get clear on your goal. Why are you starting this side project? Are you aiming to make extra money, build skills, or create a potential escape route? Knowing your primary purpose will shape every decision you make.

 

Next, review your company policies. Pull out your employment agreement and look for keywords like non-compete, moonlighting, or conflict of interest. If anything is unclear, talk to HR or even get legal advice — it's always better to ask up front than apologize later. And if your side hustle could intersect with your company in any way, have a short, professional conversation with your manager. Transparency builds trust and reduces future headaches.

 

As you explore opportunities for your side hustle, focus on opportunities that are complementary to your role and your company — not competitive. The further your side hustle is from your company's core business, the less likely you are to run into trouble. Start simple; you don't need a flashy launch with a social media blitz. Test your idea, see if you even enjoy it, and consider leveraging your strengths or learning new growth-oriented skills. The best side hustles grow naturally, without forcing pressure or overcommitment.

 

And finally, protect your time. Your main job still pays the bills, and if your performance starts slipping, your side hustle could become a liability instead of an asset. Treat it like a project, not a full-time job — and build it carefully, step by step.

 

Long-Term Career Benefits of a Side Hustle

So, you've started a side hustle and it's gaining traction — now how can you use it to advance your career? Wearing all the hats in your side project teaches skills you can bring back to your day job. Building a small website might help you understand digital marketing. Handling customers could sharpen your communication or sales skills. Even if these skills aren't directly related to your current role, they can open doors for lateral moves or promotions within your company.

 

A successful side hustle also signals initiative. It tells your employer that you're resourceful, entrepreneurial, and capable of managing yourself — qualities that can lead to promotions, invitations to high-visibility projects, or even career pivots. Beyond that, your side project can expand your network, connecting you with people outside your usual circle: new industries, mentors, and opportunities. Remember, your network is one of the most powerful tools you have for career growth.

 

And let's be honest — this day and age, no job is permanent. A side hustle provides both a safety net and a sense of autonomy. Much like investing, having diversified sources of income puts you in a stronger position when one opportunity disappears. When done ethically, responsibly, and strategically, a side hustle doesn't just pad your wallet — it builds your career capital.

 

Closing Thoughts

A side hustle can be one of the best professional development tools you'll ever have — or the biggest career misstep you'll make. The difference comes down to how intentionally you approach it. If today's episode got you thinking about your own side hustle — or helped you avoid a costly mistake — share it with a friend or teammate. Maybe someone who's been talking about starting something on the side but isn't sure where to begin.

 

And if you haven't already, go to https://managingacareer.com/follow to subscribe to Managing A Career wherever you listen to podcasts. Your growth is your responsibility — and this show is here to make that journey easier, one step at a time.

Every leader has hit this crossroads at some point: a member of your team isn't hitting the mark. You've coached, you've encouraged, you've given feedback—maybe even tried a few creative workarounds—and yet, nothing seems to stick. So now comes the tough question: do you double down and keep investing in their growth, or do you make the hard—but necessary—decision to help them move on? Today, we're diving into one of the most uncomfortable yet crucial responsibilities in leadership: knowing when to coach up and when to coach out. And if you're not a manager, don't tune out just yet—understanding this process can give you a huge edge in your own career, helping you grow faster and avoid unexpected setbacks.

 

No one likes having the hard conversations, but as a leader, they are inevitable. When a team member isn't reaching their potential, it's your responsibility to coach them up. You've seen what they're capable of—you know their strengths and possibilities—but it often takes patience, creativity, and persistence to help them break through self-doubt, inexperience, or gaps in skill. This kind of investment can transform a good employee into a great one. But sometimes, despite your best efforts, coaching up isn't the right answer. That doesn't mean the person is a failure; it simply means there's a mismatch—between the role, the team's needs, or even the culture—and the best outcome might be helping them find a position better aligned with their goals and abilities. Neither conversation is easy, yet the mark of strong leadership is facing them head-on rather than avoiding the discomfort.

 

If you're a leader, your role is part coach, part mirror, and part compass. The mirror reflects reality—you show people where they're excelling and where they're struggling. The coach develops skills, offering feedback, resources, and encouragement. And the compass? It points the way forward, setting expectations and guiding direction. When it comes to coaching up, the first step is honesty. Don't sugarcoat feedback—people can't improve what they can't see. But honesty alone isn't enough. Without empathy, it feels like criticism. Pair your feedback with belief—belief that improvement is possible. Say things like, "I know this is a stretch, but I've seen you handle bigger challenges before," or, "You've got strong instincts here—let's work on building consistency."

Next, define what success looks like. Be explicit about timelines, metrics, and outcomes. Vague coaching produces vague results, and no one wins there. And finally, remove roadblocks. Sometimes, performance issues aren't about motivation—they're about missing tools, unclear priorities, or overwhelming workloads. A great coach doesn't just demand results—they create the conditions for success.

 

Now, let's tackle the harder side: coaching out. It's never fun. But keeping someone in a role where they're not thriving isn't compassion—it's avoidance. The truth is, the longer you delay an honest conversation, the more harm it causes. The employee loses confidence, the team loses morale, and your credibility as a leader takes a hit.

Coaching out doesn't have to be a blunt "you're fired" moment. It can sound like this: "We've tried several paths to help you succeed in this role, and I know how hard you've worked. But I also see that you might be better suited for something different—maybe in another department, or even outside this company." It's never about blame. It's about fit.

Some employees leave these conversations relieved; others may be surprised or frustrated. Either way, your responsibility is to preserve their dignity and provide support where possible—referrals, networking introductions, resume guidance. When you handle coaching out with integrity, you don't just protect the company's reputation—you enhance your own, building a reputation as a fair, trustworthy, and empathetic leader.

 

So how do you decide when to coach up and when to coach out? Think of it as a combination of potential, performance, and fit. Coach up when the employee shows capability, willingness to learn, and motivation—but just needs guidance, skills, or confidence to reach their potential. Provide clear feedback, set expectations, and remove obstacles so they can grow. Coach out when there's a persistent mismatch between the role and the person—when skills, mindset, or alignment with team culture aren't clicking despite your best efforts. Delaying the decision only prolongs frustration for everyone involved. By approaching these choices thoughtfully, you ensure your team stays productive, motivated, and engaged, and you reinforce your credibility as a leader who balances compassion with accountability.

 

Now let's shift perspectives. If you're an employee, here's a career accelerator you don't want to ignore: being coachable. That means listening with an open mind, resisting defensiveness, and treating feedback—even the tough kind—as an opportunity to grow. When you hear feedback, try asking questions like, "Can you give me an example of what that looks like?" or "What would great performance in this area look like to you?" Those questions signal maturity and a growth mindset.

Being coachable doesn't mean being a pushover. It means committing to learning, even when the feedback stings. Remember: your manager's job isn't to make you comfortable; it's to help you grow. And growth is often uncomfortable. So the next time your boss says, "We need to talk," don't assume the worst—it might be the best career opportunity you'll get all year.

 

And sometimes… the conversation takes a different turn. Maybe your leader sits you down and says, "This role just isn't the right fit for you." That moment can feel crushing—but it doesn't have to define you. Here's what's really happening: your leader is acknowledging that your strengths and the company's needs aren't fully aligned. That's not failure—it's information. What you do next determines whether this moment becomes a setback or a setup for something better.

Ask thoughtful questions: "Can you share what factors led to this decision?" "What do you think I do best?" "Do you have suggestions for where my skills might be a better fit?" Those conversations often open doors to new insights, referrals, or even internal transfers. Remember, being coached out isn't the end of your story—it's just a plot twist in the middle. And sometimes, it's exactly the push you need to find the opportunity that fits who you're becoming, not who you've been.

 

Whether you're coaching or being coached, the magic happens when honesty meets empathy and strategy. Honesty brings clarity. Empathy keeps humanity at the center. Strategy ensures that decisions move both the team and the individual forward. When one of these elements is missing, everything starts to unravel. Honesty without empathy feels cold. Empathy without strategy feels directionless. Strategy without honesty feels manipulative. But when you bring all three together—that's when real growth happens… for everyone involved.

 

Whether it's coaching up or coaching out, these conversations are some of the toughest dynamics in the workplace. But how you handle them can be the most defining factor in your career—or in the success of your team. Handled poorly, they breed resentment, fear, or self-doubt. Handled well, they build trust, clarity, and growth—for everyone involved. Leaders, don't shy away from these conversations; they shape the future of your team. Employees, don't fear them; they shape the future of your career. Growth happens when both sides engage openly, honestly, and with intention.

 

If today's episode helped you think differently about coaching—whether you're giving it or receiving it—share it with someone who needs to hear it. Maybe a manager struggling with feedback, or a colleague navigating a tough performance review. And if you haven't already, head to https://managingacareer.com/follow so you can subscribe to Managing A Career wherever you listen to podcasts. Your growth is your responsibility—and this show is here to make that journey easier, one episode at a time.

 

At the time of recording, the U.S. government is in the middle of a shutdown. Progress has stalled. Federal employees are stuck in limbo, staring down questions with no answers: *How long will this last? What happens to me? What changes when it finally lifts?* It's a moment of suspended animation—where uncertainty reigns and momentum evaporates. Sound familiar? It should. Because the same thing can happen in your career. Not with a headline or a press briefing, but with a quiet stall in progress, a creeping sense of doubt, and a calendar full of meetings that don't move the needle.

 

Right now, the headlines are packed with shutdowns and budget battles. But this episode isn't about politics—it's about something far more personal. Because shutdowns don't just happen in Washington. They happen in our work lives, too. Whether you're fresh out of school, mid-career and questioning your next move, or leading a team that's lost its spark, shutdowns show up when forward motion disappears. And if you don't spot them early, your growth can stall for months… sometimes years. So let's break down what a career shutdown actually looks like, why it happens, and how to restart the engine before you lose momentum for good.

 

A career shutdown doesn't mean you stop working. Far from it. You're still showing up, still checking boxes, still attending meetings that could've been emails. But the spark is gone. You're treading water, stuck in cruise control—doing the same tasks, facing the same challenges, with zero stretch and even less excitement. Maybe you're getting raises, but they're just enough to keep you from updating your résumé. Promotions? Not even a whisper. It's professional purgatory: you're employed, but you're not advancing.

 

Just like in Washington, a career shutdown doesn't happen overnight. It creeps in—slow, quiet, and disguised as "just a busy season." It's triggered by unresolved issues or a lack of leadership—sometimes from others, often from ourselves. Maybe it's indecision. You're unsure about your next step, so you wait. You tell yourself you'll figure it out later… but "later" becomes "next year." Or maybe you're over-relying on management, assuming your boss or company will chart your growth. Spoiler: no one is thinking about your development as much as you should be. Then there's avoidance. You know you should ask for feedback, clarify your goals, or push for that promotion—but it's uncomfortable, so you stall. Meanwhile, burnout builds. You've been running hard for so long your tank is empty. You're still in motion, but you're not moving forward. And at the root of it all? Complacency. You tell yourself, "Things are fine." You stop chasing, stop stretching, stop learning. And just like that, your momentum dies. Career shutdowns don't announce themselves—they sneak in, settle down, and stay until you decide to kick them out.

 

 

Let's start with those of you early in your career. You land that first "good job" and think, I made it. But that's exactly when shutdown risk spikes—because comfort is sneaky. You tell yourself you're gaining "experience," but if that experience isn't growing you, it's just keeping you busy.

 

Here's how to shutdown-proof your early career: Don't wait for assignments. Be proactive. Ask, "What's next? Where can I add value?" The ones who seek out responsibility are the ones who get noticed first. Focus on transferable skills—communication, writing, project management, presenting. Skills that make you valuable anywhere, not just in your current role. And find a mentor. Someone who gives honest feedback, keeps you accountable, and helps you see beyond your current lane. If you avoid stalling in your first five years, you'll outpace most of your peers. Momentum built early compounds fast.

 

Now, let's talk mid-career. You've built credibility, earned a solid salary, maybe even a leadership title. Your shutdown doesn't look like boredom—it looks like plateauing. You're doing well. You're respected. You're stable. But… nothing's really changing. And here's the danger: stability feels safe, but in today's world, stability without growth is decline in disguise.

 

So how do you stay in motion? Start by revisiting your goals. The ambitions that got you here won't take you where you want to go next. Don't coast on old goals—create new ones that stretch you. Expand laterally. Take on projects that expose you to new departments or business functions. Growth doesn't always mean promotion—sometimes it's about broadening your scope. And reinvest in your network. At this level, visibility often matters more than output. If no one knows your impact, it's like it didn't happen. Mid-career shutdowns are sneaky—because they feel like comfort. But comfort and growth rarely coexist.

And if you manage people? Your career growth is tied to theirs. When your team stalls, you stall. When they can't deliver results, your progress slows too. As a leader, avoiding shutdown means playing a different game.

 

Start by developing your people—not hoarding them. The more you help others grow, the more capacity you create to take on bigger challenges. Build influence beyond your team. Don't just lead your group—be someone whose perspective shapes decisions across the org. And watch out for manager autopilot. It's easy to fall into a routine of one-on-ones, reports, meetings, and metrics. But real leaders don't just manage the status quo—they push for innovation and change. If you're in leadership, your challenge isn't just preventing your own shutdown—it's making sure your entire team keeps moving forward too.

 

 

Maybe you're listening and thinking, Yeah… that's me. I'm in one of those shutdowns. Good news: stalled careers aren't permanent. But they don't restart on their own. They need intentional action.

 

Step one: reset expectations with your boss. Schedule a career conversation. Ask, "What does success look like over the next six months? What would it take to earn that next promotion?" Clarity creates accountability—and accountability drives progress.

 

Step two: rebuild your energy. Sometimes, what you need isn't a new job—it's a reset. Rest. Recharge. Re-engage. Burnout doesn't fix itself, and momentum needs fuel.

 

Step three: re-skill. Pick one new capability that creates leverage for your next role. Maybe it's AI, data storytelling, leadership development—whatever positions you for what's next. Growth starts with learning, and learning starts with choice.

 

Shutdowns don't fix themselves. They end when you take initiative. So if you're stuck, stalled, or just coasting—this is your sign. Restart the engine. Your career's waiting.

 

Career shutdowns happen to everyone. The real question is—will you catch it early enough to restart? You don't need a perfect moment, a new title, or someone else's permission. You can create your own momentum—starting today.

 

If this episode got you thinking, share it with a friend or colleague who might be stuck in their own "career shutdown." And if you haven't already, hit subscribe so you never miss an episode of *Managing A Career*. I'm Layne Robinson—thanks for listening. Now go out there and shutdown-proof your career.

Navigating the First Steps: From School to the Corporate World

Many of the topics I cover on this podcast are geared toward people who are further along in their careers—those aiming for that next big promotion or managing teams. But this week, I want to shift the spotlight to those of you who are just starting out. Maybe you're still in college and gearing up for an internship. Maybe you've recently graduated and are about to dive into your very first "real" job. If that's you, this episode is especially for you. And for those of you who've been in the workforce for a while, don't skip ahead—I've got a message for you at the end that I think will hit home.

 

Leaving school and stepping into the workforce is one of the biggest turning points in your life. The classroom gave you theories and frameworks, but the workplace is where those ideas get tested. Suddenly, it's not just about what you know—it's about your habits, your adaptability, and your resilience. This is where you start to connect the dots between education and execution, between who you think you are and how you actually show up when the pressure is on. So in this episode, let's break down what to expect—the highs, the lows, the lessons—and most importantly, how to make the most of this critical first chapter in your career.

 

The Highs

Let's start with the good stuff—the highs you can expect when you step into the workforce. One of the biggest highs is exposure to real work. Unlike assignments in school, the work you do now has tangible consequences. What you produce could directly influence a client deliverable, shape a manager's decision, or determine the success of an entire project. That kind of responsibility is both exciting and validating—it tells you, "I matter here."

 

Another high is the opportunity for mentorship. You're suddenly surrounded by professionals with years—sometimes decades—of experience. These aren't just abstract role models in a textbook; they're real people who can guide you, challenge you, and even open doors for you down the road. Sometimes a single conversation with a mentor during an internship or your early career can teach you more than an entire semester in the classroom.

 

And then there's the acceleration of your skills. In just a few weeks or months, you'll start to absorb lessons about professional expectations, communication norms, and problem-solving under pressure. You'll see firsthand what it takes to deliver under deadlines, adapt to shifting priorities, and contribute to a team's success. That rapid growth builds confidence, and before long, you'll notice you're not just keeping up—you're standing out from your peers.

 

The Lows

But, let's be real—it won't all be smooth sailing. Every job comes with its share of lows. At times, you'll find yourself doing repetitive or menial tasks. Maybe you're filing documents, taking notes in meetings, or entering data into a system. It might not feel glamorous, but it's not pointless. These small tasks are often the building blocks of bigger outcomes, and they give you a front-row seat to how organizations actually function.

 

You may also run into imposter syndrome. Surrounded by people who seem more polished, more confident, or more experienced, it's easy to wonder, Do I really belong here? The truth is, even the professionals who seem like they've got it all figured out once felt exactly the same. Everyone starts somewhere, and doubt is a normal part of growth.

 

And then there's feedback—the kind that stings. At some point, you'll make a mistake or deliver something that isn't up to standard. Someone may critique your work more directly than you're used to, and in the moment, it can feel personal. But here's the shift: feedback is rarely about you as a person. It's about raising the quality of your output. The sooner you learn to absorb constructive criticism and act on it, the faster you'll grow. In fact, feedback is one of the most valuable career accelerators you'll ever encounter.

 

Making the Most of Every Opportunity

Not every job will be perfect, but every job has something to teach you—if you pay attention. Notice which aspects of your work excite you and which feel like pure drudgery. Sometimes, it's the company's mission that resonates with your values, making even the most mundane tasks feel meaningful within the bigger picture. Other times, it's the people—the team you work with and the personal growth they enable—that keeps you motivated. And sometimes, it's simply the tasks themselves, which offer opportunities to develop skills that will serve you later.

 

If you can't find any of these sparks, it might be a signal to consider your next move. But don't leap blindly—research your next opportunity carefully to make sure you're not simply swapping one set of frustrations for another. Thoughtful reflection on what drives you now will help you make smarter choices for your career tomorrow.

 

Transitioning from School to Corporate Life

The jump from school to corporate life is one of the biggest adjustments you'll make. In school, deadlines were often flexible. Turn something in late, and maybe you lost a few points—but life went on. In the corporate world, deadlines are commitments. Your credibility hinges on whether you deliver on time, and consistently meeting deadlines quickly sets you apart as reliable and trustworthy.

 

Feedback works differently, too. In school, it came in the form of grades: you submitted an assignment, got a score, and moved on. In the workplace, feedback is constant, and it shapes how others perceive your growth. How you respond—whether you embrace it, adapt, and improve, or resist it—will have a direct impact on your career trajectory.

 

Performance in education was mostly individual. You studied, wrote papers, took exams—it was largely about what you could accomplish on your own. In corporate life, collaboration is often more important than solo effort. Success is measured not just by your personal output, but by how effectively you work with and through others to achieve results.

 

This transition can feel jarring at first, but if you reframe it, you'll see the workplace as just another classroom—one with higher stakes, but also far greater rewards.

 

A Word for Experienced Workers

Now, let's flip the perspective. If you've been in the corporate world for a while—maybe even managing newcomers—this part is for you. Think back to your first days on the job. Do you remember how uncertain you felt? How small tasks seemed massive? How feedback—good or bad—stuck with you? Those memories aren't just nostalgia; they're tools. They remind you what it's like to be new, and they can help you both improve your current performance and support those just starting out.

 

Reignite your beginner's mind. Early in your career, everything felt like a learning opportunity. Somewhere along the way, we stop asking "why" and just accept the way things are. Channeling that same curiosity can sharpen your edge and even help you innovate in your current role.

 

Check your assumptions. Recent graduates often ask questions that might seem basic—but those questions can uncover inefficiencies or outdated habits we've stopped questioning. Instead of dismissing them, see what you can learn.

 

And perhaps most importantly: pay it forward. Be approachable, generous with your feedback, and clear about expectations. A few minutes of explanation can save them hours of uncertainty, and your guidance can be transformative. Clarity is everything. Feedback is critical—give it often, give it kindly, and give it constructively. Inclusion builds confidence, too. Invite them to meetings, ask for their perspective, and treat their presence as meaningful. These small gestures can completely change the way they see themselves as professionals.

 

Helping newcomers succeed doesn't just benefit them—it benefits you, too. The way you teach, guide, and support reflects your leadership skills, and leadership is one of the strongest signals of promotion readiness.

 

Key Points and Their Implications

Topic

Key Insight

Implication for You

Highs of Early Career

Real work, mentorship, rapid skill growth

Engage fully—these opportunities accelerate learning and visibility.

Lows of Early Career

Repetitive tasks, imposter syndrome, critical feedback

Reframe challenges as lessons and build resilience.

Making the Most

Identify what excites you; reflect on values and growth

Motivation and clarity help you maximize any role or decide if it's time to move on.

School → Corporate Transition

Deadlines are commitments; feedback is constant; collaboration is key

Develop reliability, adaptability, and teamwork early to stand out.

Experienced Workers

Reignite beginner's mind; check assumptions; pay it forward

Supporting newcomers strengthens leadership skills and creates stronger teams.

 

Actionable Strategies You Can Start Today

1. Track Your Wins and Lessons
   Keep a simple journal of accomplishments, challenges, and feedback. Reflect weekly on what's working, what's tough, and what you're learning. This builds self-awareness and prepares you for future promotions.
2. Seek Mentorship Actively
   Don't wait for a mentor to find you. Reach out to someone whose career path you admire and ask for guidance. Even short conversations can provide insight and open doors.
3. Ask Better Questions
   Especially for early-career professionals, don't shy away from asking clarifying or "basic" questions. For experienced workers, encourage questions from your team—they often reveal opportunities for improvement or innovation.
4. Reframe Feedback
   View feedback as a growth tool, not a personal critique. Act on it quickly and consistently. The ability to take feedback and improve signals maturity and leadership potential.
5. Practice Inclusion and Clarity
   Whether you're new or seasoned, make collaboration intentional. Invite participation, explain processes clearly, and recognize contributions. This builds trust, confidence, and strong relationships.

 

Closing / Wrap-Up

Starting your career—or mentoring someone who is—comes with highs, lows, and plenty of lessons along the way. By paying attention, embracing feedback, and investing in relationships, you set yourself up for growth that goes far beyond your first job. And if you've been in the workforce for a while, taking the time to guide newcomers not only strengthens your team—it sharpens your leadership skills and positions you for your next promotion.

 

If you found this episode helpful, share it with a friend, colleague, or mentee who's just starting their journey. Let's spread the insights so more people can navigate the transition from school to work with confidence and clarity. And of course, make sure to subscribe so you never miss another strategy to help you manage your career.

Recently, headlines have been buzzing about the indefinite suspension of Jimmy Kimmel Live! following comments he made that some considered politically controversial. Now, most of us don't have a late-night talk show as our platform—but we do have jobs, reputations, and careers to protect. And the reality is, how we choose to express our opinions, especially on polarizing topics, can have very real consequences. Today, we're going to explore how you can hold on to your authentic voice at work without putting your career at risk—and what to do if your values and your workplace no longer align.

 

Most workplaces—especially those with public-facing roles—expect employees to balance their personal values and opinions with those of the brand, the stakeholders, any regulatory standards, and audience expectations. In industries like media, public service, or any position with visibility, the cost of speaking out can be especially high. In Jimmy Kimmel's case, the fallout wasn't just about his employer's decision; it involved political pressure, public backlash, and even affiliate networks stepping in to pull his content. The lesson here is that consequences don't always come from your direct manager—they can come from third parties who hold influence over your career. And when your values are deeply held, conflict with those external forces becomes almost inevitable. The harder, more personal question is: how much risk are you willing to accept, and at what cost—professionally, financially, or socially?

 

The first step in navigating this tension is recognizing the warning signs that your personal convictions may be on a collision course with workplace expectations. These signs can show up in different ways: maybe you find yourself constantly biting your tongue in meetings, avoiding topics you care deeply about, or feeling uneasy when leadership takes a stance that conflicts with your own beliefs. Sometimes it's more subtle—you notice a growing sense of isolation, frustration, or even cynicism about the work you're doing. Other times it's external, like colleagues hinting that your comments could "raise eyebrows" or managers steering you away from sensitive discussions. Left unchecked, these signals often build toward bigger conflicts that can damage both your reputation and your career trajectory.

 

Once you recognize the risks, the next step is learning how to balance authenticity with professionalism. A good starting point is understanding the official boundaries. Review your employer's code of conduct, commentary policy, and social media guidelines. If you're uncertain, ask confidentially about what's acceptable and what isn't. You may not always get precise answers—many policies are intentionally broad—but document what you ask and what you're told. Clarity in writing gives you something to lean on later if questions arise.

 

When discussing sensitive issues, focus on data, evidence, and organizational values rather than ideology. For example, framing a point as "Our mission includes fairness and transparency" often resonates more than stating purely personal beliefs. This doesn't make you immune from backlash, but it does anchor your perspective in shared ground. You can also test your message by running it past trusted colleagues, considering your audience, and preparing to clarify if needed.

 

Not every forum is equally safe for expressing views. Internal meetings, private memos, or small group conversations may allow more nuance, while public statements demand constant caution. A good rule of thumb: treat anything you say as permanent and potentially shareable. Ask yourself, "If this were broadcast on the evening news, would I stand by it?"

 

Another overlooked safeguard is your reputation. People extend more grace when they see you as competent, fair, and constructive. Building trust takes time, but it creates a buffer: colleagues are more likely to interpret your voice as thoughtful rather than combative. That means documenting your achievements, investing in relationships, and avoiding the perception of being the constant dissenter.

 

Finally, don't ignore the legal landscape. In some industries or jurisdictions, protections exist for speech, whistleblowing, or political expression. However, these safeguards are uneven, often narrow, and pursuing them can be costly. Before speaking out on highly controversial issues, consult HR, legal counsel, or trusted advisors. Weigh the costs and understand the limits before assuming protection.

 

Sometimes, no matter how careful you are, you'll find that your values and your company's expectations simply don't align. At that point, you face two choices: sacrifice your convictions and stay, or look for an organization that better reflects your beliefs. Neither path is easy, and both come with trade-offs—but clarity about what you stand for makes the decision more manageable.

 

Start by writing down the values you consider non-negotiable—integrity, equity, free speech, transparency, or whatever matters most to you. Then, make a second list of areas where you're willing to be flexible. This exercise not only helps you evaluate potential employers, it also gives you language to use in interviews about the kind of environment where you thrive.

 

When researching companies, don't stop at their mission statements. Compare their public promises with their actual behavior. Read culture reviews, browse employee testimonials, and analyze industry reports. Use LinkedIn and Glassdoor to get insider perspectives, but also go deeper—talk to current and former employees whenever possible. Companies often market themselves one way and behave another, and careful research reduces unpleasant surprises.

 

Beyond research, build relationships with people inside values-aligned organizations. Attend events, volunteer, or contribute to professional communities that reflect your priorities. These connections often open doors that job boards won't, and they give you an unfiltered look at how a company's culture actually operates.

 

When you're interviewing, don't shy away from values. If asked about culture or past challenges, share thoughtful examples of times you stood for something important. Show how you handled disagreement with professionalism and how you added value while staying principled. This both filters out poor fits and signals to potential employers that you are not combative, but intentional and thoughtful.

 

Of course, leaving a company over values has costs. You may sacrifice salary, seniority, or perks in the short term. That's why preparation matters. Build a financial cushion, lean on your support system, and have a Plan B in place. With those safeguards, you reduce stress and regain leverage, making it easier to choose the path that aligns with who you are.

 

So what can we actually learn from Jimmy Kimmel's situation—and how might it apply to your own career? First, recognize that Kimmel operates with advantages most professionals don't. He has an established platform, a loyal audience, and a reputation built over decades. That gives him more leeway than the average employee. For many of us, the margins are far narrower, and trying something similar could trigger far heavier consequences.

 

Second, notice how quickly the fallout escalated. The issue didn't stay contained between Kimmel and his employer—it spread outward to political figures, affiliate networks, and regulatory bodies. Once external stakeholders entered the picture, the stakes multiplied rapidly. In corporate life, the same can happen: comments made internally or online can attract scrutiny from clients, partners, or even the press.

 

Third, the narrative matters. Kimmel's remarks were interpreted (rightly or wrongly) as attributing political motives before all the facts were known. In a polarized climate, uncertainty can be weaponized, and the way you frame and qualify statements can make the difference between sparking dialogue and sparking outrage.

 

Finally, while consequences can be steep, there's another side: authenticity has its defenders. Many rallied around Kimmel's right to speak freely. For professionals, this highlights a paradox—standing by your convictions can invite risk, but it can also earn respect, strengthen your personal brand, and position you as principled. The key is to weigh whether the potential reputational upside is worth the professional cost.

 

Summary Table: Balancing Authenticity and Career Risk

Key Point

What It Means

Implication for You

Workplaces balance personal voice with brand/stakeholder needs

Your opinions can affect not just you, but your employer's image.

Express views thoughtfully; understand broader consequences.

Warning signs of misalignment

Constantly holding back, feeling isolated, or sensing tension around your views.

Recognize early signals before conflicts escalate.

Strategies for safe expression

Know policies, use data, appeal to shared values, choose forums wisely.

Speak authentically but with preparation and awareness.

Reputation as a safeguard

Being seen as competent, fair, and constructive gives more leeway.

Build trust and credibility to strengthen your voice.

When alignment isn't possible

You may need to choose between compromising or moving on.

Audit your values, research organizations, and explore transitions.

Lessons from Jimmy Kimmel

Even high-profile figures face blowback; narratives and framing matter.

Frame carefully, qualify statements, and weigh risks versus rewards.

Practical action steps

Values audit, small-scale conversations, reputation-building, research, planning.

Implement weekly/monthly steps to protect your voice and career.

 

Action Steps You Can Take Now

1. Conduct a values audit: List your top 3–5 values, rate how your role supports or undermines them, and identify areas you can influence versus structural limits.
2. Practice a small-scale principled conversation: Test your voice on a low-risk topic, tie it to shared goals, and observe the response.
3. Document and build your reputation: Do work reflecting both excellence and values. Volunteer for projects, share thought leadership, and cultivate a principled image.
4. Explore options for better alignment: Research companies, follow leaders, study public controversies, and conduct informational interviews.
5. Sketch a transition plan if needed: Define desired roles, organizations, salary range, and start positioning yourself gradually.

 

Being authentic—keeping your convictions and your voice—is deeply fulfilling. It builds integrity, self-respect, and sometimes even strengthens your reputation. But authenticity without strategy is risky. Too blunt, too public, too early, or unclear—consequences can be heavy. Jimmy Kimmel's experience reminds us that even those with large platforms and strong support can face backlash. The smartest move isn't silence—it's speaking with awareness, preparation, and alignment.

 

This week, challenge yourself:

• Pick one situation where a value is being tested and plan a constructive approach.
• Reach out to a mentor or peer for feedback: "Is my voice coming across as intended?"
• Research 2–3 organizations you respect and understand how they handle values conflicts.

 

If you found value in this episode, share it with someone who cares about authenticity at work, and leave a review wherever you get podcasts. Let's build a community of professionals who speak up wisely and shape careers that reflect who they truly are.

 

Thanks for listening. I'm Layne Robinson. Stay true. Stay intentional. Until next time.

Welcome back to Managing A Career, the podcast that helps you put yourself on the fast track for promotion. I'm your host, Layne Robinson.

 

Today's episode is all about a concept I'm calling the Career Speedrun. If you're into gaming, you probably know what a speedrun is: it's when players try to beat an entire game as fast as possible, skipping unnecessary parts, using shortcuts, and optimizing every move.

 

Now, when it comes to your career, you can't literally warp-jump from your first job straight to the corner office—but you can learn to recognize what slows you down, what accelerates your progress, and how to navigate the corporate world without wasting years wandering around levels that don't serve you.

 

Let's break down how to approach your career like a speedrun.

 

A career speedrun isn't about recklessly chasing promotions at the expense of everything else. Instead, it's about intentional acceleration.

 

It's asking: What do I actually want? How do I get there faster without burning out? And what shortcuts exist in the corporate world that most people don't notice?

 

The truth is, most careers stall because people spend years in roles that don't develop promotable skills, or they wait for someone else to "notice their hard work." That's like playing a game and waiting for the boss to beat himself. It doesn't work.

 

Let's borrow from gaming. Speedrunners have three rules:

1. Master the map. They know every corner of the game world.
2. Exploit shortcuts. They find the hidden jumps or backdoors.
3. Practice efficiency. Every move has a purpose.

 

Applied to your career, those rules look like this:

• Master the corporate map. Understand your industry, your company, and your internal politics better than others.
• Find career shortcuts. Things like stretch projects, high-visibility assignments, and mentorship can accelerate years of growth.
• Practice efficiency. Don't waste time on work that doesn't move you closer to leadership, skills, or influence.

 

The Corporate Map Framework

If you don't know the map, you can't run it efficiently. That means:

• Understanding formal structures—the org chart, reporting lines, and official processes.
• Understanding informal structures—the hidden influencers, gatekeepers, and decision-makers who don't appear on a chart but shape outcomes.
• Understanding industry context—where your company sits competitively and which skills are valued most in your sector.

Speedrunners don't guess where the finish line is. They know the terrain. In your career, the people who rise fastest are those who see the full landscape and navigate it deliberately.

 

Shortcut Identification Framework

In gaming, a shortcut might only shave a few minutes off your time. But in your career, the right shortcut can shave years off your path. Think about mentorship, for example—a great mentor can collapse your learning curve by sharing lessons you'd otherwise spend years figuring out. Sponsorship takes it even further. Unlike a mentor, a sponsor is the person who actively speaks your name in promotion meetings and advocates for your next step forward. Then there are cross-functional projects, which expand your visibility beyond your immediate team, giving leaders across the company a reason to know your work.

 

Your internal brand matters, too. When people are clear about your strengths, you're the first person they think of when new opportunities open up. Sometimes the shortcut is smart risk-taking—volunteering for the tough assignment that everyone else avoids, which can end up becoming the career moment that defines you. And finally, there's skill stacking—learning high-value, promotable skills earlier than your peers, which gives you leverage that compounds over time.

 

Most people take the long road, slowly building credibility step by step. But the speedrunner looks around and asks: Where's the warp pipe?

 

Efficiency Discipline Framework

Efficiency in a speedrun is about never wasting movement. Efficiency in a career is about never wasting effort.

Ask yourself three questions for every task on your plate:

1. Does this build promotable skills?
2. Does this increase my visibility?
3. Does this connect me with power or influence?

If the answer is no to all three, that task may need to be minimized, delegated, or re-framed.

Speedrunners don't spend hours in side quests that don't matter to the end goal. Neither should you.

 

 

Every career has levels. Let's walk through them with a speedrun mindset.

• Level 1: The Early Game (Junior Roles)
  Here, most people grind on learning the rules and focusing on those easy, low-level tasks. But the speedrunner?  They say: How do I prove value faster? That might mean volunteering for projects above your pay grade or learning skills that aren't officially in your job description.
• Level 2: The Mid-Game (Senior Roles)
  Here's where many people get stuck. They work hard but blend into the background. The speedrunner looks for leverage: How do I get visible to executives? How do I turn my results into influence?
• Level 3: The Boss Level (Leadership)
  At this stage, the speedrunner asks: How do I scale impact? It's no longer about what you personally do—it's about the team you build, the systems you improve, and the influence you wield across the organization.

Your career speed depends on how quickly you level up—not how long you camp out in one level.

 

 

Every speedrun has pitfalls, and careers are no different. One of the most common is burnout—pushing so hard and so fast that you run out of energy before you reach the next level. Speed is valuable, but not if it leaves you too exhausted to keep going.

 

Another hazard is shallow skill-building. Some people chase titles without ever developing the real substance behind them. On paper, the promotion looks impressive, but without the skills to back it up, the progress doesn't last.

 

There's also the danger of hollow titles and damaged networks. Moving too quickly without care for relationships can burn bridges, and once your reputation takes a hit, it's hard to recover. No one wants to be known as the person who climbed fast but left a trail of resentment behind.

 

The truth is, if you accelerate without sustainability, your run ends early. The smartest speedrunners know when to push forward and when to pace themselves. In your career, you want to finish the game—not crash halfway through.

 

 

Now that we've looked at your career speedrun, here are three strategies you can start using today to speed up your career trajectory:

1. Audit your work. Ask: "Which of my tasks directly tie to skills or visibility that lead to promotion?" If something doesn't, minimize it.
2. Find a shortcut. Identify one cross-functional project, mentor, or sponsor opportunity this quarter. Treat it like your warp pipe.
3. Re-map your levels. Write down what your "early game, mid-game, late game" look like. Where are you right now, and what's the fastest way to the next level?

 

That's it for today's episode on the Career Speedrun. Remember, you don't have to spend 20 years grinding the same level. With the right map, shortcuts, and efficiency, you can accelerate your career and reach your goals faster than you thought possible.

 

If this episode gave you a new perspective, share it with a friend or coworker who's ambitious about their career. And if you haven't already, subscribe to Managing A Career so you don't miss the next episode.

 

Until next time, I'm Layne Robinson—helping you put yourself on the fast track for promotion.

Reframing the Premature Promotion

Back in Episode 58, I tackled the tricky terrain of getting promoted too soon—when the title lands before the readiness does. That episode unpacked the complications that can follow a premature promotion: skill gaps, team tension, imposter syndrome, and even layoff risk. This week, I'm flipping the script. Instead of focusing on the pitfalls, let's talk about how to turn that early promotion into a strategic advantage. Because if you play it right, what starts as a stumble can become your fastest leap forward.

 

The Risks Beneath the Ribbon-Cutting

Getting promoted is thrilling—new title, new responsibilities, and a shiny new chance to flex skills you may or may not have yet. Maybe you lobbied hard for the role. Maybe someone senior left and you were the warm body in the right place. Either way, the promotion landed. But if it landed before you were ready, you're not just stepping into a new job—you're stepping into a minefield. You might be missing key skills. You might face tension from teammates who wanted the same role. And you might feel the creeping dread of Imposter Syndrome (I unpack that in Episode 83 – Faking It). If you let those complications define your leadership, they'll quietly sabotage your credibility. But with the right mindset—and a few tactical moves—you can flip the narrative and turn this shaky start into a career catapult.

 

Why Early Promotion Is a Hidden Advantage

Here's the twist: being promoted before you're ready can actually be a massive career advantage—if you know how to use it. You've just been handed a high-leverage moment. Expectations are low (or at least forgiving), visibility is high, and you've got a built-in narrative arc: the underdog who rose fast and figured it out in real time. That's catnip for senior leaders watching from above. Most people wait until they feel "ready" to stretch. You? You're already stretching. And that means you're learning faster, building resilience, and proving you can grow under pressure. It's not about faking it—it's about accelerating your readiness while the spotlight's already on.

 

Defuse the Drama Before It Starts

Let's be honest—people are hard. Every person you work with comes with their own expectations, insecurities, and preferred operating system. And when you get promoted ahead of someone else, the emotional stakes spike. Resentment simmers. Doubt lingers. That's why one of your first moves should be proactive one-on-ones with the folks who might be most resistant. Not to justify your promotion—but to listen, understand, and build trust. Ask what they need. Ask what they worry about. Then take visible action to show you're not just a good fit for the role—you're the best possible choice. This isn't politics. It's leadership. And the sooner you lean into it, the faster the tension turns into traction.

 

Use the Low Bar to Build a Launchpad

When expectations are low, exceeding them is almost too easy. The leaders who promoted you likely knew you weren't fully baked for the role—they saw potential, not polish. That's your opening. If you can quickly assess your skill gaps and build a fast-track learning plan, you're not just catching up—you're signaling that you're already thinking ahead. This isn't about scrambling to survive; it's about showing you can scale. The faster you close those gaps, the more confidence your leaders will have that you're not just ready for this role—you're already warming up for the next one.

 

Win Fast, Share Loudly

With a new role, all eyes are on you—watching, judging, quietly betting on whether you'll sink or swim. That spotlight won't last forever, so use it while it's hot. Look for short-term wins that prove you're not just learning—you're leading. But here's the nuance: don't just showcase your work, showcase your team. Give credit generously and publicly. It signals two things at once: that you're confident enough not to hoard praise, and that you're building something bigger than yourself. That kind of leadership doesn't just earn respect—it defuses resentment and turns skeptics into allies.

 

Set the Tone for Your Trajectory

Early promotions aren't just about the role you land—they're about the reputation you build. This is your chance to show that you're coachable, not defensive. That you learn fast, not just grind hard. That you can manage, influence, and lead—not just execute. When senior leaders see someone who can grow under pressure, elevate others, and stay open to feedback, they start thinking long-term. That's how one early promotion becomes two. That's how you get ahead of the curve—reaching the highest levels of the organization while others are still waiting for permission to stretch. You're not just filling a role. You're shaping your trajectory.

 

Your Move

If you've just landed a promotion you weren't quite ready for—congratulations. You've been handed a rare opportunity to grow faster, lead smarter, and build a reputation that lasts. Don't waste it. Start with self-awareness, lean into the hard conversations, rack up early wins, and make sure everyone knows you're here to elevate—not dominate. The next promotion starts now. So take the reins, set the tone, and show them exactly why betting on you was the smartest move they've made all year.

 

 

A career coach can help you build the skills to actually use these strategies—not just hear them. If you're looking for one, reach out through the Contact Form at ManagingACareer.com (https://www.managingacareer.com/contact/). I'll set up an intro session where we'll talk through your career goals and see if we're a good fit. If we click, we'll schedule regular sessions to get your career moving—not just forward, but up.

Has your career quietly veered off course—not with a dramatic crash, but with a slow, almost imperceptible drift? One missed opportunity. One unchallenging role. One "maybe next year" that turned into five. Then one day, you look up and realize you're nowhere near where you thought you'd be.

Here's the good news: every detour has a reentry point. You won't fix it overnight, but you can start with one small, intentional correction. And that shift—however minor—is how momentum begins.

 

How Did We Get Here?

Before we talk solutions, let's rewind. Career drift doesn't happen in isolation. It's usually the result of subtle, compounding forces: lack of challenge, fuzzy goals, a toxic boss, or simply being too good at a role that stopped growing with you.  This isn't about blame—it's about reclaiming agency. Because the first step to any meaningful course correction is knowing exactly what you're correcting.

 

1. Comfort

Maybe you find comfort in what you currently do.  Success can be a trap. When you're great at what you do, it's easy to settle into a groove that feels safe. But comfort rarely equals growth. Over time, that once-exciting role becomes routine, and the lack of challenge quietly erodes your ambition. You stop stretching, stop risking—and eventually, stop progressing.

2. Unclear Goals

Maybe you started with a clear destination: a title, a salary, a corner office. But goals evolve. If yours haven't kept pace with your values, you're likely chasing something that no longer feels meaningful. Without fresh direction, even the most polished resume starts to feel like a list of someone else's priorities.

3. Loyalty That Limits

Or maybe you're loyal -- to a fault.  You care about your team. You've built relationships, mentored others, maybe even carried a struggling department. Leaving feels like betrayal. But here's the truth: staying out of obligation isn't noble—it's self-sabotage. Loyalty should never cost you your growth.

4. Fear

And one of the biggest hinderances to growth?  Fear.  Fear is ambition's quiet saboteur. Fear of failure. Fear of the unknown. Fear of not being good enough in a new space. It convinces you to stay put, wait for "the right time," and avoid the discomfort of change. But fear doesn't vanish on its own—it shrinks only when you move toward it.

 

Reclaiming Direction with the IDP

One of the most effective tools for getting your career back on track is the Individual Development Plan (IDP). I've said it before, and I'll say it again: the top-down approach works.

Start with your Vision—your long-term destination. Then chart your Roadmap, assess your current state, define your Next Role, and break it all down into an actionable plan. This isn't career theory—it's a practical framework that turns ambition into movement.

Want a deeper dive? Episodes 36–40 of the Managing A Career podcast (https://managingacareer.com/36) walk through each step with real-world examples and templates.

 

1. Career Vision: What Do You Want to Be When You Grow Up?

The Career Vision is the soul of your IDP. Start with the end in mind. What role do you want to hold when you retire? Where do you see yourself in 10 years—or just 2? Whether you're aiming for CEO or a niche expert role, define the destination. Then reverse-engineer the path. Promotions, lateral moves, skill-building—it all depends on where you are now and where you want to go.

This isn't about rigid timelines. It's about mapping the milestones.

2. Honest Assessment: Where Are You Now?

Remember your assessment of where you are now isn't your annual review. It's a candid look at your current role through the lens of capability, not just performance. Start with your job description. Identify strengths, flag weaknesses, and spot growth opportunities. Ask trusted peers and leaders for feedback—they'll see what you might miss.  Then repeat the exercise for your next role. Look for gaps that persist across both, and note strengths that might not translate upward. The more honest you are in this step, the more actionable your plan will be.

3. Action Plan: Build the Bridge

Now that you've spotted the gaps, it's time to close them. Create a set of actions to turn weaknesses into strengths. Focus on the overlap between your current and next role. This could mean training, stretch assignments, or mentoring—either as mentor or mentee.

Each action should include:

• The activity
• The skill or gap it addresses
• A target timeline

Loop in your manager. If some actions fall outside your job scope, look beyond work—night classes, volunteer projects, anything that builds the muscle.

4. Successes: Track the Wins

As you complete items in your action plan, move them to your Successes section. Celebrate them. Document your progress—promotions, role changes, major skill gains. This section is your proof that growth is happening, even when it feels slow.

5. Keep It Alive

Your IDP isn't a one-and-done document. Revisit it quarterly. Update your action plan and successes often. As your career evolves, reassess your strengths and weaknesses against new responsibilities. If your vision shifts—because you've grown or simply changed your mind—that's fine. Update it.

Nothing in this plan is set in stone. It's yours to shape.

 

The IDP: Your Career's Reset Button

The beauty of the IDP is that it doesn't care why your career drifted—it just helps you get moving again.

• Stuck in comfort? The Career Vision section forces you to zoom out and ask, "Is this really where I want to end up?"
• Lost in vague goals? The IDP gives you structure: a destination, a roadmap, and measurable steps.
• Trapped by loyalty? The Honest Assessment and Action Plan help you evaluate whether that loyalty is helping or hindering your growth.
• Paralyzed by fear? The Successes section becomes your proof that progress is possible—one small win at a time.

The IDP doesn't just guide your career. It gives you permission to own it.

 

Let's be honest—careers don't derail overnight. They drift. Slowly. Quietly. But the IDP gives you a way to take back control. It's not just a worksheet; it's a strategic tool to reconnect with your ambition, assess your readiness, and build momentum toward the career you actually want.

Whether you're recalibrating or reinventing, the IDP meets you where you are—and helps you move forward with intention.

 

Ready to get started? Head to the Contact Form on ManagingACareer.com and request your free copy of the IDP template. It's time to stop drifting and start designing.

In last week's podcast episode of the podcast, Episode 105 – Communication Etiquette (https://managingacareer.com/105), I talked about how seemingly small, everyday actions can shape how others perceive you at work. While these habits may not directly earn you a promotion, they quietly build your reputation with the very people who influence those decisions. This week, I want to take that conversation further by focusing on something even more subtle but just as powerful: non-verbal communication cues.

 

Why Non-Verbal Communication Matters

Whether you're in a casual hallway conversation, presenting in a meeting, or connecting over a video call, the way you carry yourself sets the tone for how others receive both you and your ideas. Confident posture, purposeful hand gestures, and aligned facial expressions signal credibility and invite trust. On the other hand, shrinking into your chair, avoiding eye contact, or trying to make yourself small often leads people to unconsciously dismiss not only your presence—but also the value of your message.

 

Confident non-verbal communication isn't just window dressing—it's the foundation of trust. Behavioral researcher Vanessa Van Edwards underscores how our brains are wired to interpret nonverbal cues before we're even consciously aware of them—it's a silent language louder than words ( https://www.mickmel.com/notes-from-cues-by-vanessa-van-edwards/?utm_source=chatgpt.com, https://singjupost.com/unlocking-the-hidden-power-of-body-language-vanessa-van-edwards-transcript/?utm_source=chatgpt.com). In her work, she breaks down the "Cue Cycle": Decode → Internalize → Encode—illustrating how we interpret signals, let them reshape our mood and behavior, and then respond with our own cues ( https://www.mickmel.com/notes-from-cues-by-vanessa-van-edwards/?utm_source=chatgpt.com). She also highlights powerful patterns showcased by leaders—like open body posture, leaning in, purposeful gaze, and respectful use of space—as the "secret weapons" of nonverbal power ( https://www.mickmel.com/notes-from-cues-by-vanessa-van-edwards/?utm_source=chatgpt.com).

 

Studies show that when nonverbal signals align with our words, they reinforce our message; when they conflict, they're often the signals people believe ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Mehrabian?utm_source=chatgpt.com, https://www.scienceofpeople.com/body-language-percentage/?utm_source=chatgpt.com). This is why a confident stance, expressive gestures, and aligned facial cues ground your message—while shrinking into yourself, folding your arms, or avoiding eye contact sends the opposite. Vanessa's work isn't theoretical—it's backed by hundreds of thousands of observations, experiments, and real-world applications via her site Science of People (https://www.scienceofpeople.com).

 

Non-Verbal Cues in Action

Non-verbal communication looks different depending on the situation. Let's break it down with a few concrete examples you can use right away:

1. Casual Conversation

• Keep your hands visible – Open palms signal openness.
• Angle your body toward the person – facing them directly shows genuine attention.
• Use micro-expressions – smiles or raised eyebrows signal engagement.
• Mirror their energy – subtly matching tone or gestures builds rapport.
• Maintain comfortable eye contact – balance is key.

2. Participating in a Meeting

• Sit tall and lean in slightly – it shows investment in the conversation.
• Keep gestures intentional – emphasize points without fidgeting.
• Nod strategically – builds trust and collaboration.
• Claim your space – avoid shrinking into your chair.
• Manage transitions – signal readiness to contribute with subtle gestures.

3. Video Calls

• Position your camera at eye level – mimics natural eye contact.
• Use the "triangle of visibility" – head, shoulders, and hands visible.
• Avoid multitasking cues – no typing or looking away.
• Lean in when speaking, lean back when listening – shows engagement rhythm.
• Use lighting to your advantage – well-lit face communicates openness.

 

Common Non-Verbal Mistakes to Avoid

1. Casual Conversation

• Hands in pockets or crossed arms
• Looking over someone's shoulder
• Weak or limp gestures

2. Participating in a Meeting

• Slouching back in your chair
• Overusing filler gestures (tapping, clicking)
• Avoiding visibility (sitting out of sight)
• Interrupting without signals

3. Video Calls

• Camera pointing up or down at the wrong angle
• Constantly looking at your own image
• Distracted body language (typing, phone, darting eyes)
• Blank or frozen expressions

 

Why It Matters for Your Career

Mastering non-verbal cues has a measurable impact on your career trajectory. People form judgments about competence, confidence, and leadership potential within seconds of meeting you. Leaders who use intentional body language are often perceived as more competent and persuasive—even if they're junior in tenure.

 

Strong non-verbal communication helps you:

• Gain credibility quickly
• Build stronger relationships
• Enhance visibility
• Accelerate career growth

 

Five Simple, High-Impact Strategies You Can Implement Today

1. Check Your Posture – Stand or sit tall to project confidence.
2. Make Your Hands Count – Use visible, intentional gestures.
3. Lean In, Listen Actively – Subtle forward leans signal engagement.
4. Camera Confidence – Position at eye level with good lighting; keep hands visible.
5. Mirror & Match – Reflect the energy and tone of others to build rapport.

 

Wrapping Up

Non-verbal communication is a critical tool in your career toolkit. By paying attention to posture, gestures, facial expressions, and virtual presence, you can dramatically influence how others perceive you, build credibility, and accelerate your professional growth.

 

If you found these insights useful, subscribe to the Managing A Career podcast (https://managingacareer.com/follow) and never miss an episode.  Each episode is packed with practical strategies to help you advance. And if you know someone who could benefit from leveling up their professional presence, share this episode with them—your recommendation could be the nudge that helps them get noticed and get ahead.

 

Reference Links Table

Resource

URL

Vanessa Van Edwards – Cue Notes (MickMel)

https://www.mickmel.com/notes-from-cues-by-vanessa-van-edwards/?utm_source=chatgpt.com

Vanessa Van Edwards – Hidden Power of Body Language Transcript

https://singjupost.com/unlocking-the-hidden-power-of-body-language-vanessa-van-edwards-transcript/?utm_source=chatgpt.com

Albert Mehrabian – Nonverbal Communication

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Mehrabian?utm_source=chatgpt.com

Science of People – Body Language Percentage

https://www.scienceofpeople.com/body-language-percentage/?utm_source=chatgpt.com

Science of People – Main Website

https://www.scienceofpeople.com

On other episodes of the Managing A Career podcast, I tend to focus on the big-picture strategies that can propel your career forward—things like building influence, earning visibility, and positioning yourself for future opportunities. But advancement isn't just about the major moves. Sometimes, it's the subtle, everyday actions that shape how others perceive you. This week, I want to zoom in on one of those seemingly small details that won't directly earn you a promotion, but will absolutely impact the impression you leave on colleagues, managers, and executives: communication etiquette.

 

While you may build friendships at work, most colleagues are focused on getting their tasks done and moving on to the next priority. That means the way you communicate can either support their productivity—or unintentionally disrupt it. Poor communication habits, even small ones, can cause you to be seen as annoying, distracting, or inconsiderate. On the other hand, mastering clear and efficient communication signals respect for others' time and attention. Over time, that respect translates into stronger working relationships, greater credibility, and an overall reputation as someone people want to work with.

 

So what exactly do I mean by communication etiquette? Let's start with a classic example. Someone messages you on your company's internal chat tool and simply types "Hi"… and then waits. Now you're left wondering—do you stop what you're doing to respond, or do you ignore it and keep working? Your decision probably depends on who it is. If it's your boss, you'll likely pause everything to reply. If it's someone you barely know, chances are you'll hold off until you've finished your task. Now flip the scenario. When you need something, how do you open that conversation? Do you set the context right away, or do you leave the other person hanging? These small choices—how you start, how you respond, how you respect the other person's time—are exactly what falls under the umbrella of communication etiquette.

 

No matter the medium—chat, email, or even a quick stop by someone's desk—the goal of good communication etiquette is to minimize disruption. It's fine to start with a brief greeting, but you should quickly move into the context of your request. Dropping just a "Hi" in chat leaves the other person guessing—Is this urgent? Is it a quick question? Is it a major problem? That uncertainty forces them to pause and wonder instead of continuing their work. By including context up front, you give them clarity: how urgent the matter is, how much of their time you'll need, and what information they might need to prepare before fully engaging in the conversation. That small adjustment can be the difference between being seen as considerate and efficient—or frustrating and vague.

 

Of course, communication etiquette isn't one-size-fits-all. How you approach a peer, a manager, an executive—or even a direct report—should look very different. With peers, there's usually more room for informality, but clarity and efficiency still matter. When speaking with your manager, context becomes even more important—they need enough information to make quick decisions without having to drag details out of you. And with executives, brevity is king. They don't have the bandwidth for long explanations or back-and-forth messages. The faster you can give them the key point, the decision required, or the action needed, the more respect you earn.

 

The dynamic shifts again when you're a manager communicating with your team. Something as simple as sending, "Can we chat?" to a direct report can create unnecessary stress. Without context, their mind may immediately jump to the worst-case scenario—Am I in trouble? Am I about to be fired?—when all you really wanted was a quick project update. Providing a short explanation, like "Can we chat for 5 minutes about the client presentation?" removes that anxiety and creates psychological safety. As a leader, this kind of clarity not only improves communication efficiency but also builds trust, which pays dividends in team morale and performance.

 

In spite of good intentions, many professionals fall into communication traps that waste time and damage credibility. In email, vague subject lines like "Quick Question" force recipients to open the message just to understand the context. On chat, sending multiple short messages instead of a single, well-structured one can feel like a flood of interruptions. In meetings, inviting too many people—or failing to set an agenda—leaves participants wondering why their time was taken. And perhaps the most common error of all: failing to tailor your message to your audience, whether that means overwhelming an executive with unnecessary detail or leaving a direct report anxious with too little context. These small mistakes add up, and over time, they shape how others perceive your professionalism.

 

Fortunately, strong communication etiquette isn't complicated—it just requires a little intention. Start by leading with context: state what you need and why upfront, so the other person knows how to engage. Be concise, but complete; don't make people chase you for missing details. Match the level of detail to your audience—big picture for executives, decision-ready context for managers, and clarity with psychological safety for subordinates. In email, write subject lines that preview the request, like "Need approval by Friday: Client Presentation Slides." In chat, combine your greeting and your request in one message, so the other person can respond when they're ready. And in meetings, only invite the people necessary and share an agenda in advance. These small practices send a powerful signal: you respect others' time and attention, and that respect often comes back to you in the form of trust, influence, and opportunity.

 

Mastering communication etiquette may feel like a small thing, but it creates outsized benefits for your career. First, it builds a reputation for professionalism—people notice when you consistently respect their time and communicate clearly. Second, it increases your influence, because colleagues, managers, and executives are more likely to engage with and support someone who makes interactions smooth and productive. Third, it opens doors to leadership opportunities; when you demonstrate the ability to adapt your style across peers, managers, executives, and subordinates, you signal that you're ready to operate at a higher level. And fourth, it reduces friction in your daily work, which means projects move faster, relationships are stronger, and you spend less time repairing misunderstandings. Over time, these advantages compound, setting you up not only for promotions but also for long-term success in any role.

 

To make this simple, here's a quick set of do's and don'ts you can keep in mind the next time you communicate at work:

Do

Why It Matters

Don't

Impact of Mistake

Lead with context in chat/email

Gives clarity and saves time

Drop just "Hi" and wait

Creates confusion and frustration

Adjust detail to your audience

Shows awareness and respect

Use the same approach for peers, managers, and executives

Signals lack of professionalism

Use clear subject lines in email

Helps recipients prioritize

Send vague subjects like "Quick Question"

Wastes time, lowers urgency

Limit meeting invites & share agenda

Increases efficiency & focus

Invite everyone "just in case"

Wastes time, lowers credibility

Provide context to subordinates

Builds trust & reduces anxiety

Send cryptic messages like "Can we chat?"

Creates unnecessary stress

 

In the end, communication etiquette isn't about following rigid rules—it's about respecting the time, attention, and emotional energy of the people you work with. When you communicate clearly, efficiently, and with empathy, you build stronger relationships at every level of the organization. And while no one gets promoted just for writing great emails or sending thoughtful chat messages, those habits set you apart as someone who is professional, trustworthy, and ready for more responsibility. Start applying these best practices today, and you'll not only make your coworkers' lives easier—you'll be paving the way for your own career growth.

 

If you're thinking that your communication style might be holding you back—or if you're ready to take the next step in building the skills that lead to promotions and bigger opportunities—I can help. Through my career coaching practice, I work with professionals at all stages to refine the everyday habits, strategies, and long-term plans that accelerate success. If you'd like to explore how coaching can give you a competitive edge, visit ManagingACareer.com and reach out through the contact form. Let's make sure your next promotion isn't left to chance.

You Need to Be in the Room Where It Happens — But How?

You've heard the phrase before: "You need to be in the room where decisions happen." It sounds powerful—exclusive even—but no one ever hands you the playbook for getting in that room. Working hard isn't enough. Being the best at your job isn't enough. The truth is, opportunities to sit at the table where decisions are made don't simply appear—they're earned, often through deliberate actions, strategic visibility, and building the right kind of influence. So the real question becomes: how do you earn that seat at the table?

 

If you've ever wondered why certain people are always in those key meetings, asked for input on big projects, or somehow always in the know—it's not luck. It's structure. It's systems. It's intentional networking. And yes, it's strategy. Here's the truth: most professionals are unknowingly stuck at the kids' table at work. They're working hard, hitting every target, yet still left out of the conversations that shape the future. The difference between being an observer and being a decision-maker often comes down to two things: visibility and relevance. And the good news? Both are entirely within your control. We're about to unpack the exact strategy for you to claim your seat.

 

Before we get into the how, let's address the mindset. Too many people treat being invited into the room as a reward—something that magically happens when they've "earned it" through hard work alone. That's the wrong frame. You don't wait to be discovered; you create the conditions where your absence would be noticed. The people in those rooms aren't just good at their jobs—they've positioned themselves as indispensable voices in conversations that matter. They've made it impossible to move forward without their perspective. That's the shift: stop waiting for permission to join the table, and start building demand for your seat.

 

Here's something most people miss: there isn't just one room or one table. There are many. Your manager has a "table" where the senior members of your immediate team gather to influence decisions. Your department has a table where departmental leaders—leaders in role and in influence—discuss priorities and resources. And your company has a table where executives make the strategic decisions that shape the entire organization. Each of these rooms operates at a different scale, but the principle is the same: when you're not at the table, you're not part of the conversation—or the outcome. The strategy we're about to cover works for every single one of those tables, whether you're aiming for the inner circle on your team or the highest-level conversations in the company. Master it at one level, and you can scale it all the way up.

 

So how do you actually get that seat—whether it's with your team lead, your department heads, or your company's executive leadership? You do it with Access, Contribution, and Expertise.

 

• Access: Intentionally building the relationships and visibility that put you in proximity to decision-makers—so when opportunities arise, you're already in their line of sight.
• Contribution: Showing up in ways that move the needle—offering solutions, insights, and support that make you an active participant in progress, not just an observer.
• Expertise: Consistently demonstrating skill, knowledge, and judgment that make your presence in the room a competitive advantage for the group.

 

When you apply these principles, you stop waiting to be invited and start positioning yourself as the kind of person others want in every critical discussion. And because it works at every "table" in the organization, it's a strategy you can scale from your immediate team all the way to the highest levels of leadership.

 

Access

Access is about more than just "knowing people." It's about intentionally placing yourself in the networks, circles, and conversations that feed directly into the rooms you want to enter. There are four ways to build it:

1. Expanding your network – Go beyond the comfort zone of your immediate peers. Seek connections across departments, functions, and even locations. Each new connection is a potential bridge into a different room.
2. Being a connector – Don't just collect contacts; connect them. Introduce people who can help each other. When you become the hub, your value—and visibility—naturally rises.
3. Owning relationships – Keep in touch, follow up, and nurture connections over time. A name in someone's inbox is far more powerful than a name they vaguely remember from a meeting last year.
4. Having a sponsor or advocate – A mentor gives advice. A sponsor uses their influence to open doors for you. Build relationships with people who have a seat at the table and are willing to say your name when opportunities come up.

 

When you have Access, you're no longer on the outside looking in—you're on the shortlist for the conversation before it even begins.

 

Contribution

Contribution is about making yourself indispensable—not through sheer volume of work, but through strategic impact. You want to be seen as someone who moves things forward in ways that matter to decision-makers. Here's how:

1. Volunteering – Step up for initiatives outside your normal scope, especially when they align with high-priority goals. This shows you're invested in more than just your job description.
2. High-profile projects – Seek assignments that are visible to leadership or cross-functional in nature. These projects often get discussed in the rooms you want to enter, and your involvement gets your name in the mix.
3. Finding gaps – Look for problems that no one "owns" and take them on. When you solve an overlooked issue, you stand out as proactive and solution-oriented.
4. Delivering under pressure – Anyone can contribute when things are calm. The people who shine in high-stakes moments are the ones leadership remembers when the next challenge comes.
5. Creating wins for others – Help colleagues succeed and give them public credit. This builds allies who are more likely to advocate for you in conversations you're not part of—yet.

 

Strategic contribution builds a track record of impact that decision-makers notice and remember. It's one of the fastest ways to turn "who's that?" into "we need them in the room."

 

Expertise

Expertise is what transforms your presence in the room from optional to essential. It's not just about knowing your stuff—it's about being recognized for it. Here's how to build it:

1. Showing leadership – As covered in Episode 101 (https://managingacareer.com/101), leadership isn't a title—it's behavior. Take ownership, guide others, and elevate the performance of those around you. Leaders are invited into rooms because they make the group stronger.
2. Being the go-to person in a specific area – Specialization creates demand. If you're the one who can answer the tough questions or solve the tricky problems in your field, your absence will be noticed.
3. Staying ahead of the curve – Keep learning and bring fresh insights to the table. Share trends, tools, or strategies before others even know they exist. Being "future-ready" makes you valuable in strategic discussions.
4. Demonstrating sound judgment – Expertise isn't just technical—it's knowing when to speak up, when to hold back, and how to frame input so it moves decisions forward.
5. Documenting and sharing wins – Don't assume people know your impact. Make sure your results are visible—through reports, updates, or even informal conversations with decision-makers.

 

Expertise positions you as the person whose input changes outcomes. When you combine it with Access and Contribution, you're no longer hoping for an invitation—you're building a reputation that demands one.

 

Flip the Script: Take a Hard Look at Where You Stand

If you're still wondering why you're not in the room, it's time for some honest reflection. Ask yourself:

• Are you known beyond your immediate team, or are you mostly invisible outside your bubble?
• Does leadership understand what drives you and what unique strengths you bring?
• Are you just delivering on assigned tasks, or are you actively driving projects and initiatives forward?
• Are you waiting for an invitation, or are you proactively showing up where value needs to be added?

 

The harsh reality is that most people stay invisible because they're too heads-down, focused only on their own work. But if you want to influence decisions and shape outcomes, you have to be on the field—not just on the sidelines.  And here's another truth: your manager might not be the way in. If they don't have a seat there themselves, you'll need to build lateral and upward relationships to get the visibility and access required to move forward.

 

The Final Word: Claim Your Space by Becoming Irreplaceable

The room isn't reserved for people with fancy titles or the loudest voices. It's reserved for those who consistently deliver value, create momentum, and make themselves impossible to ignore. It's for the individuals who understand that influence isn't given—it's earned by being reliable, insightful, and proactive.

 

Think about the people who come to mind when you imagine leaders who really matter. Chances are, they didn't get there by waiting for invitations—they carved out space by stepping up when it counted, by building networks that mattered, and by developing expertise that made their presence in any conversation an asset.

 

Your career won't advance just because you show up; it will advance because you bring something others can't afford to lose. That means showing up not just to do your job, but to move the work forward in ways that others recognize and respect.

 

Be the person who doesn't just participate but who shapes the direction of the conversation. Be the person who others trust to take on challenges and deliver results, even when it's not easy. Be the person whose absence would leave a noticeable gap.

 

Claim your space by becoming irreplaceable—and watch how the room begins to open up for you.

 

Let's Keep the Conversation Going

I'd love to hear how the ideas from this podcast have helped you advance your career. Visit ManagingACareer.com and leave a message via the Contact form (https://managingacareer.com/contact) or, if you prefer, click the button to leave a voicemail directly from your computer.

 

Share which episodes have made the biggest impact on you and how you've applied what you've learned. If enough of you send in your stories, I'll start including them in upcoming episodes to inspire others on this journey.

 

Your voice matters—let's build this community together.

What You Prioritize Is What You Grow

In your career—just like in life—whatever you prioritize is what takes root, grows, and ultimately defines your trajectory. Whether you're intentional about it or not, your attention acts like sunlight and water: it nourishes certain parts of your professional life while leaving others to wither. Even worse is when you don't make a conscious choice at all—when your career just "happens to you." That passive approach can lead to years of drifting, missed opportunities, and invisible ceilings. So take a moment to reflect: what are you truly prioritizing right now? Is it visibility? Skill-building? Leadership? Or are you unconsciously prioritizing comfort, routine, or the path of least resistance? Because the answer to that question is shaping your future whether you realize it or not.

 

Alignment Isn't Optional—It's Essential

This kind of prioritization—this optimization of where you direct your focus—doesn't mean you stop putting effort into other areas of your role. Of course you'll still deliver on your responsibilities. But when given a choice—when you have limited time, energy, or visibility—what do you lean into? More importantly, how does that focus align with your Career Vision (see https://managingacareer.com/102) and how does it align with your company's goals? Because when your day-to-day priorities and your long-term goals don't line up, you'll feel it. It shows up as stagnation. As burnout. As growing frustration that no amount of "working harder" will fix. Misalignment creates drag in your career—alignment creates momentum.

 

Different Priorities, Different Trade-Offs

It's important to recognize that not everyone is—or should be—prioritizing the same things at every stage of their life or career. Your current focus is often shaped by your personal context, responsibilities, and what you value most right now. For example, someone who prioritizes stability might choose low-risk, steady assignments that keep them securely in their current role. That's not laziness—it might be the smart move for someone managing heavy responsibilities outside of work, like caring for young kids or aging parents. Someone who prioritizes growth is always looking for stretch roles, pushing past their comfort zone, and seeking out skill-building opportunities. But taken too far, this can lead to burnout or even career dead ends if the growth isn't guided by strategy.

 

Others may prioritize recognition, opting for high-profile assignments, even if it means working longer hours and living with the pressure of being in the spotlight. Meanwhile, those who prioritize money might take on roles or projects that are financially rewarding, but ultimately draining or disconnected from their passions. Some professionals prioritize influence, focusing on roles that expand their network and informal power within an organization. Others may lean into flexibility, taking roles that allow them to control their schedule, even if that slows their upward trajectory. None of these choices are inherently wrong—but they all come with trade-offs. The key is to make those choices consciously, and ensure they support—not sabotage—your long-term vision.

 

Two Paths, Two Outcomes

Let's look at two professionals working at the same company: we'll call them Maya and Jordan. On paper, they're equals—both mid-level managers with solid reputations and strong work ethics. But beneath the surface, their careers are unfolding in very different ways.

 

Maya has taken the time to define her Career Vision. She knows she wants to move into a strategic leadership role within the next two years. Because of that clarity, she filters every opportunity through a simple lens: Does this get me closer to the leader I want to become? If a project offers exposure to senior leadership, requires cross-functional collaboration, or ties directly to company strategy, she's all in. But when she's asked to join projects that are time-consuming but don't move her forward—like internal task forces or repetitive ops work—she diplomatically declines or negotiates her role to stay focused on her long term plan. That doesn't mean she's selfish. It means she's intentional. And leadership has noticed. Her name is now coming up in succession planning meetings.

 

Jordan, on the other hand, hasn't set a clear vision for his future. He's known as someone who can be counted on—a dependable team player who will roll up his sleeves and help wherever needed. His inbox is always full. His calendar is packed. His colleagues love working with him. But he's also exhausted. Despite all his effort, Jordan's career growth has stalled. He's been passed over for stretch assignments and promotions more than once. He doesn't understand why—after all, he's working harder than ever. But the truth is, he's prioritizing being helpful over being strategic. His focus is everywhere, so his impact isn't felt anywhere. And that misalignment is wearing him down.

 

A Simple Framework to Realign Your Focus

If you're starting to wonder whether you're more like Maya or Jordan, that's a good thing. Awareness is the first step toward realignment. Here's a simple framework you can use to check yourself: at the start of each week, take ten minutes to list your top five tasks or commitments. For each one, ask two questions:

1. Does this task move me closer to my Career Vision?
2. Does this task create value that is visible and aligned with my company's strategic goals?

 

If the answer is "no" to both, that task might be a drain on your momentum. It's not about abandoning your responsibilities—it's about understanding which activities are investments and which are just busywork. When you consistently prioritize high-alignment work, even in small increments, you start to build career gravity. You'll find yourself pulled toward more of the right opportunities—and less reliant on being lucky or liked to get ahead.

 

What to Do with the "Wrong Work"

Let's be honest—there will always be tasks that don't align directly with your career vision but still matter to the company. These assignments might not elevate your visibility, develop key skills, or move you toward your goals—but they still need to get done. The trick is learning how to manage them without letting them hijack your focus. Start by asking: Can this be delegated? Often, someone on your team may benefit from the experience or visibility that the task provides. Delegating isn't about offloading—it's about creating development opportunities for others while protecting your own strategic focus.

 

If it can't be delegated, ask: Can I complete this efficiently—without overengineering it? Not every deliverable needs to be a masterpiece. Be professional, be timely, but don't overinvest in low-impact work. You can also batch similar low-priority tasks together and knock them out in a focused sprint, leaving more of your mental bandwidth for high-value work. Finally, consider whether you can reframe or reposition the task: is there a way to tie it into a broader initiative that does align with your goals? Smart professionals don't avoid misaligned work—they minimize its cost and maximize their time spent on what truly matters.

 

You Become Known for What You Consistently Do

Every time you say yes to a task, you're not just managing your workload—you're shaping your professional brand. Over time, people begin to associate you with the type of work you consistently take on. If you always jump in to fix operational fires, you'll be seen as the firefighter. If you're the go-to person for behind-the-scenes execution, that becomes your lane. And if you focus on visible, strategic, cross-functional work, you'll be perceived as a leader who thinks big and delivers at scale.

 

That perception matters—not just for promotions, but for the types of opportunities people bring your way. It's not just about being competent. It's about being recognized for the kind of impact you want to have. So when you choose where to focus, you're also choosing what kind of career you're building, and what kind of future others will imagine for you.

 

Your Weekly Focus Check-In

To stay aligned, you don't need a career retreat—you just need a moment of clarity. Carve out five quiet minutes each week and ask yourself these five questions:

1. What did I spend the majority of my time on last week?
2. Did that work move me closer to my Career Vision or just keep me busy?
3. What's one task I'm carrying that someone else could take on and benefit from?
4. What's one opportunity I could say "yes" to that would stretch me in the right direction?
5. If someone looked at my calendar, what would they assume I'm optimizing for?

You don't need perfect answers—just honest ones. Because once you start recognizing the gap between where your time goes and where you want your career to go, you can begin to close it, week by week. And that's how long-term career momentum is built: in the small decisions, made consistently.

 

Three Moves to Reclaim Your Career Focus This Week

If you're ready to stop letting your career "just happen" to you, here are three steps you can take this week to realign your focus:

1. Audit Your Calendar. Look at last week's meetings and projects. Highlight anything that didn't contribute to your goals or your growth. That's your first clue for where boundaries need to tighten.
2. Say No Once. Find one task, meeting, or request that doesn't align with your vision—and practice the art of a professional "no." Decline it, delegate it, or deflect it. Start small if you need to, but start.
3. Choose One Priority That Matters. Pick a single high-value action that supports both your Career Vision and your company's goals. Put it on your calendar. Protect it. Give it your best energy.

Your career will always demand your time. The question is whether you're spending that time building momentum—or just maintaining motion.

 

I would love to hear some stories of how this podcast has helped you in your pursuit of career advancement.  Go to the ManagingACareer.com website and leave a message via the Contact form (https://www.managingacareer.com/contact/) or click the button to leave a voicemail via your computer.  Tell me which episodes have had the biggest impact for you.  If I get enough feedback, I'll start including them in upcoming episodes.

 

We've recently gone through a reorganization at my job, and with that change, I now have several new team members reporting to me. In my one-on-one meetings, I like to focus on more than just status updates—I emphasize career development. One of the tools I've consistently found to be effective is the Individual Development Plan, or IDP. If you've been following this podcast, you may remember Episode 37 (https://managingacareer.com/37) where I broke down the Vision and Roadmap section of the IDP. It's a framework I believe in deeply.

 

But here's the thing: many of my new team members are struggling with the very first step—creating a compelling Career Vision. And if they're struggling, I know they're not alone. So in this week's episode, I want to focus on how to help people—whether you're managing others or thinking about your own path—craft a meaningful vision for their career.

 

WHY THIS IS HARD

In Episode 37, I described the Career Vision as a statement about where you want your career to go—looking as far into the future as you can reasonably imagine. It's a personal declaration of what success and fulfillment look like for you.

 

But here's the challenge: if you don't know what your options even are, this step can feel frustrating—or worse, paralyzing. Instead of inspiring clarity, it can leave you feeling lost and without direction. And let's be honest—most of us are so heads-down in the daily grind of doing our job that we rarely pause to look up. We rarely make time to think about that longer view. But those who do—who take a moment to lift their gaze and imagine something beyond today's task list—are the ones who position themselves for real, lasting growth.

 

SHIFT YOUR STARTING POINT

If you already have that clarity and focus—fantastic. You probably don't need this episode... but I'll bet you know someone who does. So feel free to pass it along.

 

For the rest of you, if you're struggling to define your Career Vision, here's where I want to challenge the usual approach. Most people start by looking inward—asking questions like What drives me? What motivates me? And yes, that's important... but it's not the first step. When you're still trying to define the destination, the journey starts by looking outward. Not because you're searching for answers—at least, not yet—but because you're searching for inspiration.

 

START EXPLORING EXTERNALLY

Start by reaching out to people within your organization—especially those who are more senior than you. But don't limit yourself to only those on a traditional upward path. Sometimes, the next step in your career isn't up—it's sideways. A lateral move into a different role can be the beginning of a powerful career shift, or even a full pivot. (If that idea intrigues you, go back and listen to Episode 93 (https://managingacareer.com/93) where I dig deeper into career pivots.)

 

Set up informal coffee chats or virtual meetings with colleagues who do something different than you. Use those conversations to get into the weeds: What does their day-to-day actually look like? How did they get into that role? What parts of their job do they find genuinely fulfilling?

 

You're not committing to anything yet—this is an exploration phase. And at this point, quantity matters. The more people you talk to—and the more varied their roles—the more likely you are to uncover something that sparks real inspiration.

 

A LOW-PRESSURE OPTION

Or maybe you're not quite ready to start reaching out to others—and that's okay. If you're more introverted, or just want to start quietly, there's another route: job postings. Not because you're planning to apply right now, but because they give you a snapshot of what's out there and what it takes to get there.

 

Start by using filters to target the kinds of roles you might one day aspire to. Look at postings that require three, five, ten—even fifteen—years more experience than you currently have. That kind of range helps you see not just a job, but a progression. Focus especially on postings that include growth-oriented language—words like strategy, leadership, vision, or cross-functional. Those roles usually reflect soft skill development, which is where the real career growth happens. As you read, take note of recurring skills, responsibilities, and expectations. You're not just scanning for jobs—you're gathering clues to help shape your future.

 

FOLLOW THE THINKERS

Another great source of insight? People who publish their thinking publicly. Follow professionals in your industry who share their experiences through podcasts, blogs, or on LinkedIn. These voices often offer a behind-the-scenes look at how others approach their careers—and they can expose you to paths and mindsets you might not have considered.

 

You can also explore industry conferences, even if you're not ready to attend every keynote. Sometimes the real value is in the "hallway track"—those informal conversations between sessions where people talk candidly about their roles, their challenges, and what they're working toward.

 

The common thread here is exposure. The more sources you explore, the more perspectives you gather, and the better your understanding becomes of what's actually possible in your field. Inspiration often comes from seeing what someone else is doing and realizing, Hey, I could do that too.

 

ORGANIZE WHAT YOU'VE LEARNED

At this point, you might be thinking, Okay, I've gathered a lot of input—but what do I actually do with it? Here's a simple method to start making sense of it all.

 

For every conversation, job posting, article, or conference interaction, create a digital or physical sticky note. On each one, jot down a few key pieces of information: the role (not the title—titles vary widely between companies), the core skills involved, one or two things that genuinely excite you about the role, and one or two things you'd absolutely dread.

 

That last part is just as important as the first. You're not making any decisions yet—you're just capturing reactions. Over time, as you collect more of these notes, you'll start to see patterns. Some roles will light you up. Others won't. This is the beginning of classification—filtering what's possible into what's appealing.

 

ELIMINATE & EVALUATE

Once you've gathered your collection of sticky notes, don't rush into choosing one. Instead, revisit them multiple times over a few days. Your goal isn't to make a final, unchangeable decision—but you do want your choices to resonate deeply.

 

After you've had a chance to reflect, eliminate about half of them. Start with the roles that evoke the strongest dread or clearly don't align with your personal growth goals. Sometimes, the most valuable thing you can learn is what you don't want.

 

With the remaining notes, add a few important details: estimate how far each role is from where you are now—both in terms of promotions and years of experience—and then give each role a simple "excitement score." How much does the role energize you, even if it also intimidates you?

 

Now, start to group the remaining roles into "closer" and "further" buckets, and look for patterns in skills and responsibilities. Your goal isn't just to pick a job—it's to find a path. A path that begins where you are and stretches toward those big, exciting roles that may feel far off now, but are completely within reach with the right preparation.

 

WRITE YOUR CAREER VISION

Now that you've narrowed your list and started to spot patterns, it's time to draft your Career Vision statement. This isn't about picking one job and locking it in—it's about capturing a direction.

 

A good Career Vision describes the kind of impact you want to have, the types of problems you want to solve, the environments you thrive in, and the leadership or influence you hope to build over time. It can be a few sentences or a short paragraph, but it should be something that excites you and feels authentically you.

 

Use the roles that most energized you—especially the ones further out—as reference points. Ask yourself: What's the throughline across these roles? What kind of person would I have to become to step into them? That's your vision. Write it down. Revisit it often. And remember—it's a living document, not a life sentence. You can and should refine it as you grow.

 

 

Creating a Career Vision isn't a one-hour exercise—it's a process of discovery, curiosity, and alignment. But it's worth it. When you know where you want to go—or even just the general direction—you stop drifting and start moving with purpose.

 

Whether you're early in your career, mid-journey, or managing a team, a clear vision helps you filter opportunities, ask better questions, and make choices that actually lead somewhere. Most people never take the time to do this kind of work. But you're not most people. You're here, doing the work, and that already sets you apart. Now it's time to take that clarity and turn it into momentum.

 

Today's episode laid out a clear framework for creating your Career Vision—something that can feel overwhelming, but is absolutely within reach when approached step by step. If this process helps you break through the roadblocks that have kept you from completing your Individual Development Plan, then it's already done its job.

 

And if you're ready to take that next step but don't have a template to work from, I've got you covered—just reach out via the Contact Form on the Managing A Career website (https://managingacareer.com/contact) and I'll send you a copy.

Most importantly, if you know someone who's been spinning their wheels—someone who's unsure where their career could go or what's even possible—send this episode their way. Because career clarity is contagious, and sometimes, all it takes is one spark to change someone's direction.

"Being a leader isn't an assignment that is given to you, but an assignment that you TAKE." Let that sink in. Leadership isn't about waiting for permission. It's about stepping up when others step back. In today's episode of the Managing A Career podcast, we're diving deep into what it really means to TAKE leadership.

 

Anyone can be a leader—because leadership is a quality you demonstrate, not a job title you hold. Sure, some roles come with authority baked in, but real leaders don't wait for the title. They lead because they choose to. If you have ambitions to advance in your career, this is the mindset that separates you from the crowd: you look for moments to lead, even when it's not "your job." You don't ask, "Whose responsibility is this?"—you ask, "How can I help move this forward?"

 

Whether your job description includes the role of "leader" or not, leadership is about finding the gaps—and filling them. True leaders don't wait to be assigned. They see what's missing, what's stalled, or what needs momentum, and they move it forward. Even when the work isn't flashy, fun, or high-profile, they still show up. Sometimes, that means buckling down and doing the work yourself. Other times, it means stepping up to rally the right people around the task.

 

Let's say your team's project needs approval from another department, but no one's reached out. A leader takes the initiative to start that conversation. Or maybe a recurring process is causing frustration across teams—someone who leads might pull together a quick working session to fix it. Even noticing that a new team member is struggling to get up to speed, and offering to show them the ropes, is leadership in action. It's not about glory—it's about ownership.

 

But what if you already have authority based on your position? In those cases, leadership isn't about taking control—it's about knowing when to step back and let your team take the lead. It's about creating the space for others to stretch, experiment, and grow—while being ready to step in and coach when they need support. This kind of quiet leadership builds trust, resilience, and long-term capability within your team.

 

Maybe one of your team members is presenting to senior leadership for the first time. A great leader doesn't take over—they prepare them, give them the floor, and offer backup only if it's needed. Or consider a scenario where a project is headed off-course. Instead of immediately jumping in to "fix it," a strong leader might guide their team through a post-mortem, letting them identify where things went wrong and how they'd course-correct next time. Even giving your high-performers the freedom to lead cross-functional initiatives without micromanagement sends a clear signal: I believe in you—and I'm here if you need me.

 

So, regardless of where you are in your career—what's stopping you from being a leader? Are you waiting for permission? Leaders don't wait. They lead because the work demands it. They step up, own the outcome, and do what it takes to drive it forward. Still hesitating? Ask yourself: what are you afraid of?

 

Is it failure? Everyone fails. The difference is whether you learn from it or let it define you. Worried about overstepping or getting in trouble? There's truth in the old saying, "It's better to beg for forgiveness than ask for permission." And here's the secret: you usually only need to apologize when it doesn't work out. Most of the time, the people around you will be glad someone moved things forward.

 

And if it's imposter syndrome that's holding you back, go listen to Episode 083 (https://managingacareer.com/83). You're in your role for a reason—someone believed in your ability to contribute and lead. Build on their belief until it becomes your own. Leadership starts with a decision, not a title.

 

Here's what I want you to walk away with: leadership isn't about the title—it's about taking responsibility when others hesitate. It's about solving problems that aren't "yours," lifting up your teammates, and being the steady hand when things get messy. Whether you're brand new to the workforce or managing a team of 20, leadership is a mindset. If you're waiting for someone to tap you on the shoulder and say, "Okay, now it's your turn," you're already behind. The people who rise the fastest are the ones who start leading before anyone tells them to.

 

So how do you start? Here are four things you can do this week to start leading from wherever you are:

1. Own a Loose End: Look for a project, process, or task that's stalled or falling through the cracks—and take the lead. Don't wait for it to be handed to you.
2. Support a Teammate Quietly: See someone struggling? Offer to walk them through something or share a resource. Leadership is often invisible.
3. Speak Up with a Solution: At your next meeting, come prepared with a thoughtful suggestion. Don't just point out problems—offer a way forward.
4. Ask for Feedback Like a Leader: Proactively ask your manager or a peer what one thing you could do to be more effective—and then act on it.

These aren't grand gestures. They're repeatable habits that signal to others—and to yourself—that you're someone who takes initiative. And that's the foundation of real leadership.

 

If this episode hit home for you—if you're rethinking what it means to be a leader—then it's time to act. Don't just nod along. Choose one thing from today's episode and do it. Leadership isn't theoretical. It's practical. It's visible. And most importantly, it's yours to claim. If this message resonated, share the Managing A Career podcast with someone else who's ready to step up. Screenshot the episode, post it on LinkedIn, and tag me. Let's build a workplace full of people who lead—not because they were told to, but because they decided to.

There's a common misconception the corporate world: to get ahead, someone else has to fall behind. It's the old zero-sum thinking — that career advancement is a competitive, cutthroat race. But today, I want to challenge that notion. Whether you're managing a team or just stepping into a leadership role, the truth is that investing in the growth of others doesn't slow you down — it accelerates your own career trajectory. Helping others succeed is one of the most powerful, and often underestimated, ways to grow yourself.

 

This zero-sum outlook is rooted in fear and self-doubt. The mindset of "if I teach others, they'll outshine me," or "I need to keep them in check so they don't leapfrog me," misses the entire point of leadership. Great leaders aren't recognized for hoarding knowledge or stifling potential — they're recognized for elevating their teams. When you help others grow, you signal that you can get results not just as an individual contributor, but as someone who brings out the best in others. And when you can do that with a small team, organizations start asking: what could you do with a bigger one? Leadership is measured by the strength of the people around you. That's how you prove your value.

 

Elevating your team can take many forms, and it doesn't require grand gestures — it's often about being intentional in everyday leadership moments. One way is through strategic delegation. Be on the lookout for team members who are ready for a stretch assignment. Identify work on your plate that aligns with their development goals, delegate it, and then coach them through it. Not only are they stepping up and growing, but you're also freeing yourself to take on higher-impact work. Another approach is to become a champion. Speak up on behalf of your team's top talent — especially in rooms where they don't have a voice. When your peers and leaders hear you advocate for others, it reflects back on your strength as a leader. Then there's the idea of planning your exit. If you're serious about moving up, you should also be building someone who can step into your role when the time comes. That kind of foresight signals you're not just a manager — you're a leader with vision. Finally, foster a culture of growth. Provide feedback that's both constructive and encouraging. Your team should feel like they're being coached, not just critiqued. An open, honest, and supportive environment leads to loyalty, development, and performance — and it all starts with you.

 

When you elevate your team, the benefits aren't just theoretical — they're measurable and meaningful. First, you give yourself the space to focus on more strategic work. Moving from manager to director to executive is all about shifting from tactical execution to big-picture thinking. When your team can operate autonomously, you're free to make the kinds of decisions that affect broader parts of the business. Second, you build loyalty. People want to work for leaders who champion their growth and position them for advancement. When your team sees you investing in them, they respond with higher productivity, stronger commitment, and support when it counts most. Third, the organization begins to see you as a multiplier. Your impact scales because your team becomes an extension of your leadership. Rather than micromanaging, you orchestrate — coordinating efforts across projects, keeping more plates spinning, and delivering more value than someone working in a silo. And ultimately, you open yourself up to bigger opportunities. The more you can lead from a high level while keeping momentum strong, the more trust you'll earn — and with that trust comes bigger assignments, bigger budgets, and yes, that coveted promotion.

 

Now that you know the what and the why, let's talk about the how. Start this week. Identify one or two people on your team to focus on. And if one of them could potentially step into your role someday? Even better. Pick something meaningful to delegate — not just drudgework, but a task or project that truly matters to the team. Hand it to them with intention. Tell them, "This is yours to lead — but I'm here to coach you through it." And then follow through. Be a coach, not a backseat driver. Resist the urge to take over or dictate every step. Instead, ask leading questions that nudge them toward the right answers. Let them struggle a little — that's part of growth. When they stumble, be the one who picks them back up. And when they succeed? Shout it from the rooftops. Make sure your leaders and peers know who did the work. That spotlight will reflect on both of you.

 

The takeaway? The most powerful thing a great leader can do is make their team better — stronger — by lifting them up. When you focus on developing others, everyone around you takes notice. And while your team benefits from your leadership, your own career grows in the process. Because at the end of the day, great leaders don't rise in spite of their team — they rise because of them.

 

Need help putting this into action?

A career coach can help you build the skills you need to lead at the next level. If you're looking for guidance, I invite you to reach out to me through the Contact Form at ManagingACareer.com. I'll schedule a free introductory session where we can explore your career goals and see if we're a good fit for coaching. If we are, we'll create a plan to get your career on the fast track to advancement.

 

When your career feels stalled and growth seems out of reach, it's tempting to look outward for answers. Maybe it's the company culture. Maybe your boss doesn't recognize your potential. Or maybe the job market is just brutal. These might all be valid frustrations, but dwelling on them leads nowhere. The Blame Game feels satisfying in the moment, but it rarely sparks progress. If anything, it keeps you circling the same dead-end thoughts, instead of charting a new path forward.

 

Blame often functions as emotional armor. When we pin our lack of career progress on external forces; a difficult manager, a broken system, or bad timing; we shield ourselves from a harsher possibility: that our own choices, habits, or blind spots might be part of the equation. This deflection is comforting because it absolves us of responsibility. It tells us, "It's not you……it's them." And while that can feel protective, it also keeps us passive, removed from the power we actually hold to create change.

 

Blame doesn't always show up as frustration or finger-pointing. Sometimes it disguises itself as logic. "The company isn't growing, so no one's getting promoted." "I'm not being assigned strategic projects; it's out of my hands." These explanations sound rational, even fair. But that's precisely what makes them dangerous. They quietly reinforce the belief that your circumstances are fixed, that your potential is capped by forces you can't influence. But what if that narrative is incomplete? What if there's more within your control than you've allowed yourself to see?

 

Dave Anderson (https://www.linkedin.com/in/scarletink/) touched on the Blame Game in his Scarlet Ink newsletter (https://www.scarletink.com/p/no-more-excuses-trading-blame-for-action), where he reviewed responses that he received to some of his newsletter articles. The feedback he gave to those responses helped inspire this exploration of how reframing blame can lead to reclaiming power.

 

Agency isn't always handed to you—it's something you often have to claim. Especially when it feels like everything's slipping beyond your control. In those moments, action isn't optional—it's essential. Blame, excuses, and even rational-sounding limitations build walls around your potential. And the only way forward? Break through them. To realign your career, you have to stop waiting for permission and start rewriting the story. That starts with believing you can influence the outcome.

 

Let's tackle some common career-stalling excuses—and explore how to reframe them to regain your agency.

 

"My manager won't let me..." or "They are always micromanaging me."

As I unpacked in Episode 95 of the podcast (https://www.managingacareer.com/95), micromanagement often stems from three sources: lack of trust, pressure to perform, or fear of failure. The key isn't to wait for the grip to loosen—it's to earn the slack. Build trust through consistent delivery, clear communication, and proactive ownership. When your manager sees you as reliable and competent, control tends to give way to collaboration.

 

"The job market is tough right now." or "It's SO hard to get promoted!"

While that may be true. It's also a call for creativity. In Episode 93 (https://www.managingacareer.com/93), I explored career pivots—those adjacent roles or skill sets that aren't a leap, but a shift. Whether you're looking to switch companies or grow where you are, this strategy helps you stretch into new responsibilities and showcase untapped potential, which can fast-track that elusive promotion.

 

"My assignment isn't promotion-worthy" or "I don't get to explore new technologies."

Don't wait for the perfect project. Carve out time each week to learn something new—especially emerging tech that aligns with your company's goals. Then champion what you've learned within your team. Volunteer for stretch assignments. Become the person who brings energy and innovation into the room. Promotions often follow visibility and initiative.

 

Across every stalled scenario, one theme rises above the rest: action. Not reaction. Not justification. Action. When you catch yourself pointing outward—blaming a boss, a market, a system—pause and flip the script. Instead of asking why something is blocking you, ask what you can do to move forward. Shift from obstacle to opportunity. And if you're not sure what that looks like, enlist help. A trusted peer or a career coach can shine light on blind spots and offer the kind of advice that nudges you back into motion. Just remember—clarity is useless without commitment. You have to follow through.

 

At its core, agency is about ownership. Owning the problem, yes—but more importantly, owning the solution. When you choose to act instead of excuse, to lean in rather than check out, you're doing more than clearing your current hurdle. You're signaling something powerful to everyone around you: I take responsibility. I solve hard things. That kind of initiative doesn't just move careers forward—it sets you apart. While others wait for conditions to change, you're busy becoming the kind of professional companies fight to keep and leaders trust to elevate.

 

Your next promotion isn't waiting -- it's waiting on YOU.

 

 

A career coach can help you build the skills you need in order to implement these strategies.  If you need a career coach, reach out to me via the  Contact Form at ManagingACareer.com (https://www.managingacareer.com/contact/).  I'll schedule an introductory session where we can talk about your career goals and determine if we would be a good fit for coaching.  If we are, we can arrange regular sessions to help you put your career on the fast track to advancement.

 

I pull inspiration for my episodes from many places.  The inspiration for this week's episode came from the June 19th episode of the Help Wanted podcast with Jason Feifer and Nicole Lapin (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/how-to-find-solutions-when-there-are-no-good-options/id1456031960?i=1000713535785).  In that episode, Jason outlines a specific problem solving technique, but it reminded me of a critical fact when it comes to your career.  I'll get into Jason's technique later, but first, I want to take a step back and talk about the importance of taking action.

 

If you think about your job in the simplest of terms, your JOB is to take responsibility of SOMETHING so that your leader doesn't have to think about it.  That may be small responsibilities early in your career or larger responsibilities as you gain experience and seniority.  Even your boss is expected to take responsibility of something so that THEIR boss doesn't have to think about it.  As much as possible, there is an expectation that you continue to move those responsibilities forward with very little input from anyone else.  If everyone does their part, the organization will continue to make progress on it's goals.

 

This is why it's important that you continue to take action, even when faced with a problem with no obvious solution.  In Episode 084 (https://www.managingacareer.com/84), I talked about the phrase "Don't bring me problems, bring me solutions".  This episode is sort of a continuation of that.

 

In Episode 084, I talked about the three reasons you might engage your leader in your responsibilities.  You need their authority, their permission, or their insight.  Because they have their own responsibilities, leaders are looking to minimize how much of their time you consume.  If, every time you face a difficult decision, you escalate to your leader, they will begin to question why they delegate tasks to you since you aren't showing ownership of the problem.

 

"But," you may think, "I want to make sure that I make the RIGHT decision."  But that desire to be right may lead to decision paralysis.  Over-research, waiting for others, or meetings to discuss the options AGAIN.  All of these factors are just putting off progress.  Sometimes, there IS no right solution.

 

This is where the technique that Jason mentioned in the episode of the Help Wanted podcast (https://www.jasonfeifer.com/podcast/) is useful.  When you have imperfect choices, it's often better to pick one to move forward and deal with the imperfections than it is to stall out your project.  By taking action, you showcase your ability to make tough decisions and allow your leader to continue to focus on bigger things.

 

Jason calls this strategy "List before you Leap".  Or you can consider it to be the "Least Flawed Option".  Start by listing every option that you've considered; even the ones that you have already dismissed.  When you consider each solution one by one, it's easy to say "no" because you can identify the flaws.  However, when you have the list of options, focus on determining to which solution you will say "yes".  By flipping from a "no" mindset to a "yes" mindset, you're preparing yourself to move forward.

 

With the list of options before you, it's often easy to eliminate most of them when compared to the few stronger candidates.  This is where applying the approach that Jeff Bezos uses for making decisions.  Some options may lead to 2-way doors and others may lead to 1-way doors (https://blueprints.guide/posts/one-way-vs-two-way-doors).  Consider how reversible a decision will be.  If you can easily undo a decision, that represents a 2-way door because once entered, you can always exit.  But, if a decision is irreversible, that decision is a 1-way door and you must take extra cautions when making that choice.  After you have narrowed your selection of imperfect solutions down, if you are struggling to decide, it is better to select a 2-way door solution instead of a 1-way door solution.  As you encounter the flaws, if they cannot be overcome, it may be useful to reverse track and choose the other option.

 

When you've made a decision on which imperfect option to choose, the next step is to present it to your leader.  As mentioned earlier, when you escalate to your leader, it's for authority, permission or insight.  It requires a lot less of their time when you ask for permission to proceed than if you ask for their insight.  You've indicated what was considered in making the decision, so you've provided the insight; you're just asking for permission to proceed.

 

 

In the Managing A Career podcast, I cover short-form topics to challenge your thinking about career advancement.  If you are interested in professional coaching, reach out to me via the contact form on the ManagingACareer.com website (https://managingacareer.com/contact).  I will schedule an introductory session where we can talk about your coaching goals.  If we're a good fit, we can set up regular coaching or I can refer you to other coaches I know that may suit your needs.

The other day, I was listening to the Smart Passive Income podcast (https://www.smartpassiveincome.com/) by Pat Flynn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/patflynn3/).  It wasn't even in the episode itself, but in his call to action at the end that he said a quote that was both insightful and inspiring to me.  So much so that it lead to today's episode.  In his episode, Pat said "It's not the mistakes you make that derail you.  It's the mistakes you make that becomes the rails you work within."

 

So, before we break that down, let's take a step back and talk about those rails -- those guardrails.  Guardrails are usually designed to keep you from going somewhere you shouldn't and to keep you safe.  But, when it comes to your career, those guardrails are often built by others -- or more specifically they are created by yourself based on the expectations you think other have for you -- and are here to keep you in line.  In the end, they may be holding us back from our full potential by keeping us from breaking out of a box that we find ourselves in.

 

So, what do I mean by all of that?

 

When it comes to career advancement, what's holding you back?  If you have limiting beliefs that keep you from speaking up or from challenging yourself, it may be time to review them and find a way to tear those guardrails down.  Let's look at some common guardrails that people believe that they must work within.

 

 

The first one is seniority based deference.  Especially early in your career, but it can happen at any time; if you find yourself surrounded by those with more tenure or more experience or higher rank, do you defer decisions to them.  Maybe you feel like if you challenge them you'll be considered problematic.  This can cause you to remain quiet and never express your ideas.

 

Instead of focusing on the seniority of others, focus on the different perspective that you bring.  Back up your ideas with data and preparation; a well-researched, well-thought-out idea is hard to argue against.  Challenge yourself to speak up in a meeting.  If you're still struggling with that, look for opportunities to present the idea to participants before the meeting starts.  Their feedback can help you refine your pitch and give you more confidence when the actual meeting takes place.

 

 

Along the same lines as seniority based deference is cultural conditioning.  In some cultures, hierarchy matters and is ingrained from an early age.  If you come from one of these cultures, you may wait for permission to speak instead of talking any time you have an idea.  If the meeting facilitator comes from a western culture, they may not realize and never offer the permissions you expect.  When you speak less, people begin to assume that you have nothing to contribute.

 

When you work for a global company, consider how company culture aligns with societal culture.  Western companies are more often going to value those contribute ideas.  If societal culture is hard for you to break past, then figure out who is leading the meetings that you will participate in and discuss the cultural difference that they may not be aware of .  Devise a signal that you can give them that indicates that you have something to contribute to the discussion so that they will offer the permission you seek.

 

 

Another guardrail that you may face is that of patriarchal conditioning.  Some companies or industries are heavily male dominated which leads to unwritten rules about how women should act.  Any deviation from those expectations can be punished by those in charge.  And when you also face cultural conditioning, this can be compounded exponentially.  In these situations, women will often revert to self-minimizing language in order to come across as non-threatening to their male team members.

 

To combat patriarchal conditioning, it's important to remember that being direct and being aggressive are different behaviors.  You can be direct without being aggressive.  Being direct is about bringing clarity.  Additionally, review Episode 087 (https://www.managingacareer.com/87) called "Language Matters".  Pay close attention to the sections on undermining your self and undermining your intelligence, but in short, look for ways to remove phrases from your vocabulary such as "Sorry" or "I could be wrong" or "I don't know".  Using these phrases are not just making you appear non-threatening, but are also perpetuating the patriarchal view.

 

 

There are also guardrails based on race and ethnic identity.  You may work at a company with very few people that look like you or that share a common heritage with you.  You limit what you say and how you say it in order to not validate any stereotypes that your colleagues may have.  You may even force yourself to tone down your actions or language in order to not be perceived as "emotional" or "problematic".  Code-switching can be draining.

 

If this applies to you, I'm not going to pretend to know the best way to handle this situation.  I'm a cis-gendered white male living in the United States.  But, what I can say is that some of us are allies, so seek us out.  Use us to amplify your voice.

 

 

Regardless of the source of your guardrails, they all lead to limits that can hold you back.  You become diminished or invisible.  And when you aren't seen, you won't be supported when it comes time for advancement.  While the guardrails may have been built by society, your inaction reinforces them.  If we look back at the quote from Pat Flynn, "It's not the mistakes you make that derail you.  It is the mistakes you make that become the rails you work within."  If I reframe it in the context of this episode, "When you let your guardrails limit your action, you make the mistake that will derail your progress."

 

So, how can you break free of the guardrails?

 

• In 12-step programs , the first step to breaking free is to name what limits you.  The same applies here, name your guardrail.  Say it out loud.  Tell a friend.  By naming it, it loses some of its power.
• In Episode 085 (https://www.managingacareer.com/85), I talked about how confidence builds confidence.  Test the water; start by speaking up in small ways.  The more you speak up, the easier it will get.  You may start by speaking up to support someone else's idea.  As you gain confidence, you can then transition to offering your own ideas and eventually even being the first to bring an idea to the team.
• Look for allies.  I don't mean other people in your same situation.  Look for people who are not afraid to speak up that can bring you into the conversation.
• Practice what you want to say.  If you feel nervous speaking up, write it down so that you don't lose track.  The better you know your material, the more confident you will be when speaking.
• Remove all minimizing phrases from your vocabulary.  Be clear and direct without being overly aggressive.
• And lastly, if you feel it necessary to have permission to speak, I hereby give it to you.  You are smart and capable; you wouldn't have this job is you were not.  You have permission to speak up and bring forward your ideas.

 

 

This is a very important episode of the podcast.  If you are personally impacted by these guardrails, use these guidelines to break free of them.  If you KNOW someone who is impacted by these guardrails, be an ally.  Call them into conversations and support their ideas.  Share this podcast -- and specifically this episode -- with the marginalized members of your team.

The single most important thing you can do for your career is to build your network.  Whether you build relationships with champions and advocates, coaches and mentors, or people that act as a resource, each one of them provide a benefit that can help move your career forward.  Champions and advocates will support you and your ideas—they'll speak up for you in rooms you're not in, recommend you for stretch assignments, and give visibility to your contributions. Coaches and mentors will help you grow by offering guidance, feedback, and perspective from someone who's been there before. They help you avoid pitfalls, refine your approach, and accelerate your development. Finally, people who act as resources—whether subject matter experts, connectors, or peers in other departments—help you get things done faster, smarter, and more effectively. Each category adds a layer of strength to your career foundation, and together, they create a powerful support system that can help you rise.

 

But, sometimes -- whether intentionally or not -- you can jeopardize your relationship with someone and potentially even destroy it permanently.  It might be because you disappeared after getting what you needed, failed to follow through on a promise, or didn't acknowledge the role someone played in your success. Other times, it could be as subtle as not showing appreciation, taking credit for shared work, or consistently making interactions one-sided. These moments can leave the other person feeling used, undervalued, or disrespected. And when trust is broken, it's incredibly difficult to rebuild. Relationships, especially in your career, are built on mutual respect, reliability, and reciprocity—once that's compromised, even unintentionally, the consequences can follow you far beyond that one interaction.

 

Or maybe YOU'RE the one on the other side.  Maybe you've spent time fostering a connection with someone only for them to turn their back on you.  They've taken advantage of you generosity in order to get ahead and then fail to reciprocate. That kind of experience can leave you feeling betrayed, used, and questioning whether it's even worth investing in people again. It stings when someone you believed in shows that their interest in you was transactional. And while it's tempting to close yourself off after that, it's important not to let one bad experience poison your ability to build meaningful, mutual relationships in the future. Instead, take the lesson with you: be more discerning, set clearer boundaries, and recognize the early signs of imbalance before you're left holding all the weight.

 

 

Why do people burn bridges?

People don't always burn a bridge because of spite.  In fact, they often don't even realize that they are doing it; it just sort of happens.  Let's take a look at some of the common reasons that people burn bridges and how to handle each of them.

 

They've gotten what they need from the relationship. If someone has achieved their goal, they may feel like they no longer need the relationship.  Or maybe they never intended to maintain the relationship at all, just get their needs met and move on.  Any time you reach out to them, you just get ghosted.  You may even see them put someone else in your position as they look to climb the next rung.

 

Look for signs early on in a relationship based on how often someone offers assistance either to you or others.  Someone who is going to use you and then leave will be unlikely to offer help to anyone else because they're focused only on their own needs.

 

They're distracted.

When someone is facing a challenge -- whether work or personal, they may be overwhelmed and distracted by their current situation.  They may not intend to ignore the relationship, but things just seem out of their control.

 

This could be an opportune time to strengthen a relationship.  If you recognize their situation, it can be a good time to reach out and offer what support you can provide.  By showing that you are not just out for yourself and have their best interests in mind, they'll be inclined to return the favor when they can.

 

They're avoiding a negative situation.

When someone makes a mistake or doesn't follow through with a promise, they may just disappear.  If they don't put forth the effort to mend the relationship, it can sour leading to a burned bridge.  You'll notice them avoiding you or putting off any interactions for fear of the consequences.

 

Being angry or holding a grudge won't resolve the situation.  Nor will running from it.  In order to preserve the relationship in this situation, the only way forward is to confront it head on.  If it's your mistake, own it.  If it's their mistake, offer support and understanding and try to figure out the source and a resolution to the failing.

 

They're burning it proactively.

The last reason someone may burn a bridge is if they feel like the relationship is ending and they want to be the one to control its end.  If they feel like they have been used and that they will soon be ghosted, they may try to ruin the relationship in retaliation so that they can't be used in the future.

 

It's important that you offer gratitude when someone in your network provides you aid; even just a simple email is enough to let the person know that their assistance is appreciated.  Additionally, look for ways that you can pay the person back with whatever help you can offer them.  A relationship should never be a one-way street.

 

Here's the thing about burning bridges—word spreads; people talk. And in today's interconnected professional world, reputations are more fragile than we like to admit.  When someone is ghosted or treated as disposable, it doesn't just end with them.  That person will talk within their network.  One burned bridge may not wreck your career, but it has the potential to cascade through a network quickly.  That could lead to a stalled career at a critical time.

 

That's why it's not enough to simply build a network—you have to cultivate it.  If you only show up when you need something, people notice.  Strong networks are built on consistency, mutual respect, and generosity.  Check in with people even when you don't need a favor.  Offer support without being asked.  Celebrate others' wins.  And always leave people better than you found them.  Because when your network thrives, so does your career.  When you make honoring relationships a habit, you're never starting from scratch—you're building momentum.

 

 

 

I would love to hear some stories of how this podcast has helped you in your pursuit of career advancement.  Go to the ManagingACareer.com website and leave a message via the Contact form (https://www.managingacareer.com/contact/) or click the button to leave a voicemail via your computer.  Tell me which episodes have had the biggest impact for you.  If I get enough feedback, I'll start including them in upcoming episodes.

It consistently ranks as one of the worst attributes in a boss year after year…..and yet, there are still many bosses who are micromanagers.  This week, I'm going to look at how you can break out of the micromanagement pattern.

 

 

It's the bane of everyone's existence.  You may feel like your manager is always hovering asking for status constantly.  Maybe everything you do is redone by your leader.  Or maybe your manager gives you no freedom in what you do or how you do it.

 

Regardless of the form that it takes, micromanagement is frustrating and demoralizing.  Managers who micromanage are doing so from a position of fear or anxiety.  Whether they are doing it intentionally or not, they do it because they do not trust their team to get done what needs to be done when it needs to be done.

 

What's worse, is that if you find yourself the target of micromanagement, it can completely derail your career progress.  If your leader feels the need to micromanage you, whether your fault or theirs, that display of lack of trust will lead to worse reviews and delayed promotions.

 

 

Managers who are new to the role may be more used to "doing" instead of "leading".  Their micromanagement tends to be treating their team as an extension of themselves.  They know what they would do and how they would react, so they are trying to make every member of their team follow that same game plan.  They haven't learned how to properly delegate and to let go, but that can come by building trust.

 

In Episode 031 (https://managingacareer.com/31), I asked the question "Does Your Manager Trust You?"  If you find that your leader micromanages due to a lack of trust, that episode can help you break out of the pattern.  Work to understand how they think in order to make decisions that align with those that they would make.  Learn how to communicate and escalate appropriately so that your manager does not regret assigning the task to you.  And lastly, to build trust, deliver; when you are assigned a task, follow through.  As you build trust, your manager can shift their focus to other activities and provide you with more freedom.

 

If managers aren't micromanaging because of lack of trust, it could be because of pressure to perform.  Pressure can be driven many different factors.  Are they responsible for a high visibility project with tight deadlines?  Or maybe they or the team has had a recent failure and they have already been given a warning about their performance?

 

When your manager is facing addition pressure, no matter the source, they might resort to micromanagement in order to gain some level of control over a situation where they don't feel like they have any.  When you encounter this form of micromanagement, the best course of action is to reassure your leader that they can relinquish control.  You can do this by communicating often.  Episode 044 (https://managingacareer.com/44) has additional guidelines for Reporting Status.  In addition to clear communication, work to identify potential issues and proactively raise them to your leader.  When he feels less like he will be blindsided, he will be more likely to loosen the reins and give you more freedom.

 

The final driver for micromanagement is fear of failure or dealing with imposter syndrome.  This speaks more about the confidence of your manager than it does about you, but when your leader is struggling with their own responsibilities, they may look to inject themselves into tasks that align with areas that they already feel confident.  Most leaders were previously experts in the "doing" role and will revert back to that mode in order to boost their self-confidence.

 

When your manager is lacking confidence in what they SHOULD be doing, look for ways to shift the dynamic by reframing their requests.  When they try to dictate too much of the details of how you should work, instead, ask questions that bring the focus to broader topics that emphasize why over how and guidance over direct supervision.  Focus on the outcomes and alignment with priorities over processes and specific activities.

 

 

Micromanagement is one of the most despised attributes in a leader.  If you find yourself a target of it, reacting emotionally won't help.  Work to provide clear, proactive communication and build trust with your leader.  Change the conversation from the details to the big picture.  And if necessary, use your network of allies to provide yourself a layer of protection.

 

 

My goal for this podcast is to help as many people as I can advance their careers.  To reach this goal, I would appreciate it if you would share this episode with your friends and coworkers.  Send them to ManagingACareer.com/follow (https://www.managingacareer.com/follow) which will give them links to everywhere that this podcast can be found.

This past week at my day job, we went through an organizational restructuring.  Some of my team is now reporting to a new manager and I have new people on my team.  If you find yourself on a new team, this is the perfect time to review your Individual Development Plan.

 

It's been a while since I last talked about your IDP, but I believe it is a critical tool for ensuring your advancement.  For a more detailed explanation of the different sections of the IDP and how to incorporate one into your one-on-one discussions with your leader, review Episodes 036 to 040 of this podcast (https://www.managingacareer.com/36) and if you need a copy of my IDP template, you can reach out via the Contact Form on the Managing A Career website (https://managingacareer.com/contact).

 

But, to summarize, the IDP is a document that YOU own that takes a systematic, top-down approach towards breaking down your career plan.  It starts with the Vision and Roadmap sections (https://www.managingacareer.com/37) that looks at your five or ten year goal and helps you identify the major steps it will take to get there.  Next are the Assessment and Next Role sections (https://www.managingacareer.com/38) where you look at just the first step on your journey towards your Vision.  In these sections you focus on identifying your strengths and weaknesses in your current role and what is holding you back from reaching the next step on the roadmap.  Once you have completed the assessment, you can document an Action Plan (https://www.managingacareer.com/39) of how you will address the gaps.  And the final section of the IDP is the one where you document your Successes.  It is important to document your accomplishments and periodically review them to remind yourself of the progress you've made.

 

 

While your IDP should be a consistent component of your regular one-on-ones, any time you change leaders is a good time to review it.  With new management comes new expectations and new opportunities.  By taking the time to review and update your IDP you can ensure that your path forward is not derailed by not understanding how to impress your new leader.

 

Start by validating your current Vision statement.  Since you last updated your IDP, has anything changed about where you see your career heading?  Have you learned anything more about what you like and dislike about your career trajectory?  Or maybe you've grown and can see further into the future about where you want to be.

 

With a refined Vision, do you need to adjust how you get from here to there?  Consider how your new team fits with your defined roadmap.  Does it put you closer or further from your goal?  What experiences or connections does your new manager have that you can benefit from their mentorship?  Will this new team or new manager provide you with any shortcuts to your goal?

 

With a new team comes a new focus and a new role.  A new leader brings new standards and values.  As you perform your self-assessment, you will need to determine if your strengths are in alignment with these new expectations and what you need to prioritize working on.  The earlier you can understand what your new leader considers "next level" performance, the more likely you can stay on your original timetable.  Update your action plan to take advantage of the focus of the new team and volunteer for stretch assignments that give you immediate visibility to your new team.

 

Finally, update your Successes section with all that you accomplished with your previous team.  Use the guidelines outlined in Episode 044 (https://www.managingacareer.com/44) on Reporting Status to ensure that you capture the value you provided.  During your first few one-on-ones, review these Successes with your new leader so that they understand where you started and what you are capable of.

 

 

Not every change moves you forward on the road to your ultimate goal.  If you're lucky, they will, but when they don't, there can still be benefit to the reassignment.  At a minimum, you can use the new team to expand your network, but always be on the lookout for new skills and projects that you gain exposure to.  You may enjoy the new focus and decide to change your Vision statement.  However, never be afraid to look for a different opportunity if you ultimately determine that the new team is a dead end when it comes to what YOU want.

 

 

Your IDP is a critical piece to your career advancement, especially during times of change.  It provides you a clear focus to make sure that you keep heading where YOU want.  If you need a copy of my template or if you need help filling it out, reach out to me via the Contact Form on the ManagingACareer.com website (managingacareer.com/contact).

 

The job market is tough right now.  People across all industries are getting laid off and starting their job search.  If this includes you, you may have found that each job you apply for is highly competitive.  You might think that finding another job in your current field is a struggle.  Or maybe you feel like you are stuck and there are limited or no growth opportunities available to you.  One way that you can increase your opportunities is to consider a career pivot.

 

A pivot point is a fixed point around which something rotates.  It's a strong, anchoring point.  A career pivot isn't a case of completely changing your career; it's a strategic change leveraging the anchor of your current career.  In this case, you are leveraging you existing skills to pivot towards a similar or related career that may have more opportunities than your current one.

 

Before you can pivot, the first thing you need to do is take an inventory of the skills that you have and how they might apply to other fields. If you use my Individual Development Plan template, you've already got a leg up.  If not, review Episode 038 (https://www.managingacareer.com/38) which covers the Assessment and Next Role sections of the IDP.  You can also request a copy of the template by reaching out via the Contact Form on ManagingACareer.com (https://managingacareer.com/contact) to request one.

 

Consider grouping the skills into those that have broader applicability such as communication and leadership and then a group for those that are more specialized such as project management or data analysis.  I would still note those skills that you have that are highly technical, because even if they seem to apply primarily to your current career, there may be parallels in other careers.

 

With your list of transferrable skills in hand, brainstorm job families that are adjacent to your current position.  Consider other roles that you interacted with frequently that may have parallels to what you do now.  If your company has recently had a layoff, look at the positions that were least impacted that fit with your abilities.  If you're having difficulty coming up with related careers, look at the Occupational Information Network at https://www.ONetCenter.org or the Career Explorer at https://linkedin.github.io/career-explorer (links will be in the episode notes).  Both of these sites have tools where you can compare different careers and which skills are common between them.

 

As you explore pivot options, determine if there are any skills that you need to refresh or skills that may benefit from additional training.  For example, project management is a skill that would be useful in many industries, however, project management in the software development industry is different than project management in the construction industry.  This is a good time to look for supplemental training to strengthen your ability to pivot.

 

Lastly, reach out to your network.  If you know someone in the adjacent role, they can explain the day to day duties that they have and they can help you understand how your skills will translate to the new role.  Your network may also have leads on openings in this related field.

 

Now that you understand why you might want to pivot and how to approach the change, let's look at some real world pivots that may be options for you to explore.

 

Career

Key transferable skills

Potential pivots

Teaching

Classroom management

Lesson planning

Explaining complex ideas in simple terms

Creating classroom resources for other teachers

Curriculum planning

Creating online courses in other areas

Nursing

Medical knowledge

Patient care

Healthcare Case Management

Patient Advocacy

Accounting

Skills with spreadsheets

Understanding of financial drivers

Regulatory knowledge

Financial Analyst

Financial Planner

Lawyer

Understanding of the law

Negotiation

Compliance officer

Sports or Entertainment Agent

Chef

Food handling

Coordinating a team

Resource planning

Food Safety Inspector

Inventory Management

Construction

Knowledge of building codes and regulations

Project Management

Building Inspector

Project Management in another industry

 

Real Estate

Sales and Contracts

Relationship Management

Market Analysis

Property Management

Sales in another industry

Loan Officer

Journalism

Research and Investigation

Writing and Editing

Writing website copy

Corporate Communications

 

So, if a pivot seems like the path forward for you, how do you approach it?  First, review your resume and reframe it to showcase transferable experiences.  Next look for supplemental trainings or certificates that can jump-start a shift.  Next, leverage your network to find contacts in the related field.

 

 

A career coach can help you build the skills you need in order to implement these strategies.  If you need a career coach, reach out to me via the  Contact Form at ManagingACareer.com (https://www.managingacareer.com/contact/).  I'll schedule an introductory session where we can talk about your career goals and determine if we would be a good fit for coaching.  If we are, we can arrange regular sessions to help you put your career on the fast track to advancement.

How many of you have struggled to figure out what it takes to get promoted?  Maybe you've been in your current position for several years and feel like you'll be stuck there for many more.  When you reach out to your manager, you just get a vague answer that doesn't really tell you what you need to work on such as "your turn is coming" or "you're doing well, just keep it up".  The secret that no one talks about?  Your boss probably doesn't know how to articulate it……if he even knows what it takes to get to the next level.

 

Very often, managers are not given training on how to develop their team.  If they are good at it, it's probably a skill that they picked up as they transitioned from junior levels up to senior levels within their own careers.  Other than comparing job descriptions, there likely isn't any concrete criteria that have been defined and the difference between job descriptions is vague and minor at best.

 

Even when there are criteria, they are rarely communicated outside of management circles because they rely on soft skills that are hard to quantify.  The skills you rely on do perform your day to day activities are just expected.  It's skills like being trust-worthy, how you communicate, your executive presence, and dealing with ambiguity that will set you apart from your peers.  But, how do you measure someone's executive presence?

 

The other problem with defining criteria is that it could become an implicit contract (potentially even legally binding depending on where you are located).  By refusing to state criteria or defining them in vague terms, your manager gives themselves room to adjust based on conditions at the company and within your peer group.  For example, right now, there are many companies laying off portions of their staff, the implication being that there may be fewer promotions available during the next cycle.  If the criteria were clearly defined, there may be an expectation by several on your team that a promotion is imminent that your manager will be unable to fulfill.

 

At the end of the day, most managers just rely on their gut feel for when someone is ready for the next level.  Additionally, when your manager has to justify the promotion to a panel of others, they will only put forth the effort when they believe there is a strong chance that the promotion will be granted.  So, not only do they need to believe that you are ready, but they need to believe that the panel will agree with that assessment.

 

 

As a general rule, there are a handful of attributes that you will find to be applicable across the board.

• Be the person who takes ownership of problems.  If you can identify the problems and work to solve them without being told, even better.  But even just being the person that when given a task, your manager trusts that you will drive it to completion will help you stand out among your peers.
• As much as possible, be visible beyond your team.  When cross-functional teams and your skip-level leader know who you are, it makes it easier for your manager to sell your promotion to others in the organization.
• When you show that your decisions and judgement are in alignment with those of your manager, this alignment will establish your readiness for promotion.

 

While these generalized attributes will help you, it is more important to understand the specifics of what YOUR manager is looking for because, ultimately, they are the ones who controls whether you will be promoted or not.

 

If your manager can't or won't state the criteria, then how can you figure out what it takes to get promoted?  Start by paying attention.

• During all-hands or team meetings, listen during the recognition section.  When your manager makes comments about the team, what does he say?   If necessary, write them down and compare the comments over time.  The things that he brings up frequently are the ones that he values most.
• Who on your team has been promoted recently?  What are their strengths?  Can you emulate them?  Is it possible to have them mentor you?
• Look beyond your immediate team.  Senior level promotions often require input or approval from other leaders.  Do you understand the criteria that your VP looks for when a promotion is brought before them?
• Pay attention to the work that your leader delegates and the stretch assignments that people are given.  These assignments are often tests to see if the recipient has developed the skills needed in order to be promoted.  If you can identify what skill is being tested, it can give you a clue on what you may need to work on.

 

When you feel like you have gained enough insight into the secret criteria that your manager is evaluating you against, plan to bring them up in your next one-on-one.  With evidence in hand, instead of asking "What do I need to do to get promoted?" you can ask questions about the valued skills such as "What does executive presence look like at the next level?" or "If someone were ready to be promoted, what would their leadership skills look like?"  You can also get your leader to describe what previous people did that showed they were ready to be promoted.  If you can name names, that will put even more context to their answer.  Not only will these answers provide clarity to you on what it takes, but it can bring focus and attention for your boss and pre-dispose them to watch for those attributes in you.

 

 

A career coach can help you build the skills you need in order to implement these strategies.  If you need a career coach, reach out to me via the  Contact Form at ManagingACareer.com (https://www.managingacareer.com/contact/).  I'll schedule an introductory session where we can talk about your career goals and determine if we would be a good fit for coaching.  If we are, we can arrange regular sessions to help you put your career on the fast track to advancement.

Throughout our careers, we observe others around us getting ahead by various means.  Some people do so by putting other people down in order to make themselves look better whereas others do so by lifting those around them up.  You may have even used these techniques yourself.  The secret?  Both approaches can work, but only one is sustainable for the long term.  Let's take a look at the longer term impact of each.

 

 

Whether intentionally or not, some people will try to advance their careers by pushing those around them down.  These people will steal credit from other.  They will undermine the success of those around them.  And they will secretly work to cause a rift in the team in order to distract others from their actions.

 

If the organization is driven by visibility, someone trying to look superior will take credit for the work that their team does or reframe what was done in such a way that they steal credit for things that they had minimal impact on.

 

If they are not confident in the quality of their work, they may spread gossip in order to cause stronger team members to be viewed as incompetent or even to be excluded from key efforts.  Beyond rumors, they may "forget" to include them in important decisions or purposefully withhold or delay support in order for their targets to struggle or fail.

 

People who operate in this mode are operating from a position of fear -- fear for their job, fear for being found to be "less than", or just fear that there are limited opportunities for success and that they will be left behind.

 

Sadly, this can be an effective strategy……at least in the short term.  If someone can implement their plan before others catch on, they can achieve the promotion they desire.  But, eventually that catches up to them.  Their team will stop supporting them and their leaders will eventually see the pattern.  That early success eventually stalls out.

 

If you find yourself to be a target of someone who is trying to get ahead by pushing you down, how should you react?

 

Start by proactively reporting your status to your leaders.  If the person putting you down IS your leader, then report your status to project sponsors and your skip level leader.  Review Episode 044 (https://www.managingacareer.com/44) for more information on reporting status.

 

Next, build relationships with those that will ultimately be deciding who advances.  If you build a relationship with your skip level leader as well as cross-functional teams, it will be harder for someone to misrepresent your work because they will have first-hand knowledge of what you bring to the team.  Additionally, grow your network as covered in Episode 029 (https://www.managingacareer.com/29) and build a cheering section as covered in Episode 052 (https://www.managingacareer.com/52).  The more people you have on your side, the harder it is for someone to attack you.

 

It may be tempting to try to "fight fire with fire", but by stooping to their level, you run the risk of being the one viewed as being the problem, just strengthening their approach.  Instead, turn their actions against them.  When they steal credit that you deserve, remember, they are only stealing credit that they see as valuable.  Leverage that by following up with your leaders to add additional context and provide evidence of your bigger role in the work.  Doing so in a matter-of-fact manner will show them that you bring more value to the team.

 

 

The other approach is to lift those around you up.  Where the first strategy is about stealing credit, when you lift people up, you freely give credit where it is due…..and sometimes even give credit away.  When those around you are struggling, you offer to mentor them.  You offer support for good ideas, even when they aren't your own.

 

The driver for this approach is not fear, but in being strategically generous.  Lifting others up builds trust and leads to a reputation of being someone who makes a team better.  Additionally, you build allies and advocates.  This investment in people will pay off in the future when those that you've supported gain positions of authority and power.  And when your position advances, they'll follow you willingly.

 

Lifting others up is a much slower play, but it is much more sustainable in the long run.  Each person you lift up becomes an advocate for you when it's your turn.  And over time, this can lead to more and more supporters.  As a side benefit, these same people that are helping you advance will also provide a level of protection from those that look to push you down.

 

If you find that someone else is lifting you up, first, accept it and then reflect it back to them.  When they bring attention to your work, offer a response along the lines of "Thank you!  A big reason that I was able to be successful on this project was because of all that I've learned working with [Joe]".  This not only helps your visibility based on the credit, it will also strengthen your alliance with the person who is sharing the spotlight.

 

 

Help me spread the word about the Managing A Career podcast (https://managingacareer.com).

 

My goal for this podcast is to continue to grow the audience in order to help as many people as I can advance their careers.  To reach this goal, I would appreciate it if you would share this episode with your friends and coworkers.  Send them to ManagingACareer.com/follow (https://www.managingacareer.com/follow) which will give them links to everywhere that this podcast can be found.

More often that you realize, when a manager is asked to create a list of people to lay off, they are rarely given much time to think about it; they are just given a target number and a deadline.  When they have to react quickly, there a few criteria that they instinctively use to determine who goes and who stays.  What can you do to make sure that you aren't on that list?

 

The first thing to realize is that there are no short term fixes.  The steps to take to protect your job start TODAY.  In Episode 068 (https://www.managingacareer.com/68), I cover some techniques that can help you identify upcoming changes and use them to maximum benefit.  Using these techniques, you can often predict an upcoming layoff, but even with that knowledge, by the time you recognize a pending layoff, it's already too late to do anything about it.

 

When it comes to layoffs, there is very little that can ensure job safety.  But, if you understand how managers decide who to put on the list and who to keep off, you can give yourself a fighting chance of staying off the list, so let's take a look at what usually factors into a manager's decision.

 

Do people know who you are?  If your manager were to be asked to name everyone on their team, are you one of the first names that they think of……or one of the last?  While it's possible for your name to be front of mind for your manager just based on the work you do, more than likely that isn't enough.  You need to ensure that you remain visible.  Go back and review Episode 081 (https://www.managingacareer.com/81) for more strategies for being visible within the organization.

 

How easily can you be replaced?  If you bring something unique to the team, it's a lot harder for your manager to let you go.  Lean into that strength and find ways to amplify that message.  If you are one of three or four different team members who can do the same work or if your work can be automated, how likely is it that your manager will look your direction to make the mandated cuts?  Episode 076 (https://www.managingacareer.com/76) Developing Skills would be a good place to start for building skills that make you unique.

 

Does your manager trust you?  I covered this very topic in Episode 31 (https://www.managingacareer.com/31).    Your manager is much more likely to keep you off the list if they view you as a solution to a problem and not someone that causes problems.  If they trust you to do what is needed with very little guidance from them, you free them up to focus on other duties.  When it comes to layoffs that's valuable to someone who is anticipating having to take on additional duties.

 

How do you fit with the team?  If you support the team in a way that brings up the energy or morale or productivity, that is something that will have even more importance when the team shrinks.  If you don't engage with the team and are more aloof, the team may feel some level of sympathy for you, but overall, they won't necessarily miss you.

 

And the last criteria that managers secretly use to evaluate the team is the potential for future contributions.  Businesses continuously evolve.  If you are viewed as someone who is ready for the next shift in technology, they will be more inclined to want to keep you.  Staying abreast of the latest technology and ideas is the way forward.  For example with AI being the current hot topic, in episode 078 (https://www.managingacareer.com/78) Future Proof You I cover how you can leverage it in your job.

 

 

None of these guarantee job safety.  You may be visible, but that will just amplify any recent mistakes no matter how minor.  You may be irreplaceable, but the function you perform is going to be eliminated.  You may be trusted, but your second level manager mandated that you be on the list because he doesn't value the work you do.  You may be the glue that holds the team together, but people question your dedication to the work.  So, if, in spite of your standing, you find yourself on the list, go back and review Episode 053 (https://www.managingacareer.com/53) for how to recover from being laid off.

 

The good news is that these same criteria are the ones that leaders look for when it comes time to give out promotions.  Promotions go to those that are visible, contribute unique skills, are trusted, lift up the team, and have future potential.  So, putting together a plan to address them will serve a dual purpose.

 

 

A career coach can help you build the skills you need in order to implement these strategies to keep your name off of the list and position you for a future promotion.  If you need a career coach, reach out to me via the  Contact Form at ManagingACareer.com (https://www.managingacareer.com/contact/).  I'll schedule an introductory session where we can talk about your career goals and determine if we would be a good fit for coaching.  If we are, we can arrange regular sessions to help you put your career on the fast track to advancement.

Last week, in Episode 088 (https://www.managingacareer.com/88), I covered the four key project types that can fast-track your career advancement.  This week, I'm going to cover some strategies for when your current project assignment is not on one of those fast-track type projects.

 

So, to review, the four fast-track project types are strategic projects aligned to organizational goals, cross-functional projects that impact multiple teams, projects tied to revenue generation or expense reduction, and finally, projects that are in trouble.  If you find yourself assigned to a project in any combination of those categories, success can be a springboard to the next level.

 

So, what do you do when your work doesn't fall into any of those categories?  The first thing I would do is to get an understanding of why the project even exists.  It's rare for a project to be initiated without having some business value, so your goal should be to understand what that value is.

 

If you are unsure, ask your leader how your assignment aligns with the bigger picture.  It's possible that your assignment is a precursor to an upcoming effort.  Use this link when you communicate status of your project and include statements about how your current work ENABLES the future project.  This linkage can also be your ticket to being assigned to the strategic project in the future.

 

Alternatively, can you reframe your project so that you create a link between your project and a fast-track project?    If you can directly tie the goals of your project to those of a fast-track project, it's possible that your project could be absorbed by the larger project, providing a backdoor route to being assigned to the fast-track project.

 

If your project is not directly related to a fast-track project, look for ways to elevate your project.  Can you expand the scope of your project to include cross-functional aspects?  Does your project facilitate revenue generation or expense reduction for other areas of the business?  Can someone leverage the results of your project to bring a troubled project back on track?

 

Projects have executive sponsors.  Who are the sponsors of your project?  Make sure that they are communicating the importance of your project to your leaders and their leaders.  Use their position to tie your project back to corporate goals.

 

Those strategies would allow you to align your current project with a fast-track project.  As long as you deliver on your current project, you can use the connection to a bigger project to help set yourself up for a key assignment on your next project.

 

The other strategy is to look for ways to be assigned to a fast-track project.

 

If your team is responsible for or contributes to a fast-track project, the obvious first step would be to speak to your manager.  You'll need to make a case for why you would be an asset to that project.  Do you have specific knowledge or skills that you can bring to the project?  Or maybe you have key relationships that will gain the support of other teams?  If your manager turns you down for the current project, ask for specific feedback on what you should work on so that you are considered for the next fast-track project……and then put a plan in place to work on those things.

 

If you can't get reassigned to a fast-track project, it can still be beneficial to keep up with the progress of projects you aren't assigned to.  Pay attention to when those projects have a need for additional resources or skills that you can provide.  Volunteer to provide the additional support the projects need and continue to deliver on your current project.

 

In Episode 013 (https://www.managingacareer.com/13), I cover how sometimes you have to make your own luck.  If you work your network and pay attention to the goings on of your organization, you can often find a problem in need of a solution.  Look for those opportunities that can lead to a fast-track project.  If you are the one bringing the project forward, you will usually not only be assigned to the project, but also have an opportunity to lead that project.

 

If you find yourself in a situation where you get neither aligned or assigned to a fast-track project, there's still a course of action you can take.  Play the hand you're dealt.  Deliver strong results and use them to build trust and reputation.  Take advantage of being on a less stressful project and use the time to build the skills you will need in order to be ready for the assignment when it becomes available.

 

 

Help me spread the word about the Managing A Career podcast (https://managingacareer.com).

 

My goal for this podcast is to continue to grow the audience in order to help as many people as I can advance their careers.  To reach this goal, I would appreciate it if you would share this episode with your friends and coworkers.  Send them to ManagingACareer.com/follow (https://www.managingacareer.com/follow) which will give them links to everywhere that this podcast can be found.

When it comes to career advancement, some projects have a bigger impact than others.  How can you make sure that you're associated with the projects that give you the best chance at success?

 

When you look at the types of projects that are undertaken within your organization, four key types will garner the most recognition and opportunities for advancement.  This week, I'll take a look at what these project types are.  Next week, I'll cover what you can do if your assignments don't fall into one of these four categories.

 

The type of project that is going to have the biggest impact on your career is going to be those that are most closely aligned with the organizational strategy and goals.  The bigger the goal, the bigger the impact; projects tied to team goals, won't have nearly as big of an impact as one tied to departmental or company goals.  But, regardless of the level, when the project is tied to a goal, your leaders will have a vested interest in the success of the project.

 

Another impactful project type is a cross-functional projects.  These projects give you an opportunity to expand your network (https://www.managingacareer.com/29) and expand your sphere of influence (https://www.managingacareer.com/70).  While the project may not be aligned with YOUR organization's goals, it very likely aligns with the goals of the other organization.  Your leadership will usually be made aware when you make significant contributions to these cross-functional projects.

 

Most companies are in business to make money.  It is never a bad thing when your projects directly drive revenue or on the flip side when your project reduces expenses.  People will take notice when you are responsible for the improving the bottom line.

 

If you're looking for a project type that is high-risk / high-reward, look for projects that are in trouble.  Joining a problem project and turning it into a success will allow you to gain a lot of trust and leeway.  Just be careful because it can be difficult and stressful to try to live up to expectations that you can swoop in like Superman for every project in the future.

 

The common thread in all four of these fast track project types is that they all provide an opportunity for you to be more visible to leadership.  You can enhance this visibility by documenting the project outcomes and how your involvement lead to those outcomes.  Review Episode 044 (https://www.managingacareer.com/44) for how to communicate the VALUE you provided and not just the activities you performed.

 

The other way to increase the impact that a fast-track project has on your career is to build your network of champions.  Use the success on these high-impact projects to bring the project sponsors into your personal cheering section as covered in Episode 052 (https://www.managingacareer.com/52).

 

 

Not every project will fall into one of these fast-track categories.  Next week, I'll cover what you can do when you find yourself in that situation.

 

 

Is there a career development question that you would like for me to answer on an upcoming episode?  If so, go to the ManagingACareer.com website and drop me a note via the Contact form (https://www.managingacareer.com/contact/).  If you would rather, you can leave me a voicemail through your computer by clicking the button on the right.

 

 

In Episode 085 (https://www.managingacareer.com/85), I covered techniques to build confidence.  This week I'd like to talk about how you can use the words you say to project that confidence to those around you.

 

When you speak with others, in order to project confidence, you should pay attention to the negative qualifiers that you use when stating your ideas.  Those negative qualifiers typically fall into five categories. 

• They can undermine your ideas such as "I think".
• They can undermine your self such as "Sorry" or "I could be wrong, but…".
• They can undermine your audience such as finishing with "Does that make sense?"
• They can undermine your intelligence such as "I have a doubt"
• They can make you seem uncommitted such as "I'll try"

 

When you use phrases such as "I think", you weaken your message.  Instead, just drop the qualifier and state your idea clearly.  You are a professional and paid to be an expert in your field; own your ideas.  Consider these phrasing pairs:

• I think we should explore the new technology.  OR…
• The new technology is the best course of action.

The first option comes across as a suggestion looking for someone else to take the lead.  The second option conveys the same message but gives little room for doubt that your idea is the one to follow.

 

When you make statements that diminish your self, you leave room for others to be the dominant voice in the room.  I'm not suggesting that you be loud or vocally bullying, but if your goal is to be seen as a confident leader, you should be one of the more dominant voices in the room.  Consider these phrasing pairs:

• I could be wrong, but our customers are looking for us to deliver this feature.  OR…
• My perspective is that the new feature will drive additional customer upgrades.

The first option lacks certainty.  The second option doesn't apologize for your thoughts and presents a better case for why the team should proceed in the direction you suggest.

 

It can be very off-putting when someone questions your intelligence.  Using phrases that undermine your audience will have them deciding to support ideas from others.  In order to gain their support you should avoid phrases such as "Does that make sense?" and instead use something along the lines of "If anyone needs more detail on that, let me know."  The first questions their ability to understand whereas the second offers clarification for those that request it.

 

Phrases that undermine your intelligence will kill any credibility you have with your audience.  It's fine not to know something, but instead of saying "I don't know" say "I'll find out".  Don't try to misrepresent your knowledge, but show your willingness to learn and grow.  When you don't understand something, instead of saying "I have a doubt" say "Can you explain that".  Using "I" language places the burden of ignorance on you and using "you" language places the burden of explanation on them.

 

The last qualifier is "I'll try".  Using this type of phrase doesn't express your commitment to the results.  If what is being asked is within your abilities, just be direct and say "I will".  Or if you are unsure of your ability to deliver, be clear and confident in what you can do and explain what areas may be problematic.  For example, instead of "I'll try to get sign-off by the end of the week" say something like "I will send an email request for approval today and if I haven't received sign-off by Thursday, I will follow up in person."

 

While I've been referring to these statements in terms of speaking, but the same holds true for written communication.  Since written communication gives you more time to review and compose what you are sending, it may be easier to start there.  Go back through your recent emails and look for these types of phrases.  How could you have reworded them to present as stronger and more confident?

 

If you have access to AI bots that can transcribe your meetings, record your meetings and pay attention to who uses strong language and who uses weak language.  Are those the same people that are viewed as thought leaders?  How often are you using weaker language?  Do you find yourself using stronger language with certain audiences or in certain meetings but weaker language with different audiences or meetings?

 

As we've seen this week, what you say and how you say it can play a big part in how others perceive you.  Using the right phrasing will have others viewing you as confident and competent.  And as I covered in Episode 085, confidence builds confidence.  So, as you speak more confidently, your confidence in yourself will also grow.

 

In past episodes, I've brought up people that I follow on LinkedIn whose content I feel can set you up for career success.  This week, I'd like to turn your attention to Nausheen Chen (https://www.linkedin.com/in/nausheenichen/).  Nausheen is a public speaking coach.  Now some of you may think to yourself that you never intend to speak on a stage, but hear me out.  Speaking on a stage is about learning to speak with confidence and many of the same tips for public speaking apply to your day to day life, too.  She not only covers the type of content that I've shared today but many more tips that can help be a better and more confident speaker, both on and off the stage.  Go and give her a follow.

On this podcast, I cover topics that can help you advance your career.  In simple terms, this means putting yourself in the best possible position to be considered for a promotion.  But, sometimes the next transition is from an individual to management role.  This week, I cover a technique where you can document your leadership skills as you prepare for that change.

 

When it comes to capturing the results of your work as an individual, I've covered several different methods.  In Episode 044 (https://www.managingacareer.com/44), I cover how to report status to various audiences showing the value that you provide in the context of your current assignments.  In Episode 039 (https://www.managingacareer.com/39), I cover the Success section of your IDP; in that section, you capture the results of your Action Plan and how you have grown from those activities.  But, these forms of documentation may not be adequate to showcase your abilities when the next role relies on completely different skills than your current role.

 

Many of the skills that you will need to have as a people manager are soft skills.  Using them is often not tied directly to project results but affect HOW those results are achieve.  Just documenting the results is not sufficient, so it will require a different approach.  This week, I'd like to introduce you to a Leadership Portfolio.

 

So, what do you capture in your Leadership Portfolio?  At the most basic level, it should document your use of soft skills and particularly how they have impacted those around you.  This is not an exhaustive list, but you should look to include instances when you:

• coached and mentored others
• navigated complex office politics
• resolved a conflict within the team
• showed executive presence
• delegated work to a more junior team member

 

A Leadership Portfolio isn't something that you will typically be asked to produce but just going through the process of tracking the use of soft skills will set you apart from your peers.  Beyond that, though, the Leadership Portfolio becomes your evidence that you can present to your leader when you feel you are ready to move to management.

 

When documenting your interactions with individuals, keep track of who you helped and your relationship to them.  Include details about how they benefitted from your leadership such as learning a new skill or completing a project or even receiving a promotion.  If you have any feedback from them such as quotes or thank-you notes, include that in your portfolio, too.

 

When the entry is in relation to a project, capture the dates of the instance and which soft skills you leveraged to move the project forward.  Document a summary of the event and what actions you took to address the situation.

 

If you decide to track your Leadership Portfolio, schedule time on your calendar every week to reflect on which soft skills you used throughout the week.  If you helped someone, be sure to follow up with them to get feedback on how the responded to that assistance.  Review which soft skills you use and which you don't.  In the coming weeks, look for opportunities to bolster those that you use least.

 

This week, I've given you a technique that will be a differentiator when you approach your leader about opportunities to transition to a managerial position.  It will take time…..and action….to fill your portfolio, so start your Leadership Portfolio today.

 

 

 

I would love to hear some stories of how this podcast has helped you in your pursuit of career advancement.  Go to the ManagingACareer.com website and leave a message via the Contact form (https://www.managingacareer.com/contact/) or click the button to leave a voicemail via your computer.  Tell me which episodes have had the biggest impact for you.  If I get enough feedback, I'll start including them in upcoming episodes.

 

Back in Episode 083 (https://www.managingacareer.com/83) I talked about how Imposter Syndrome and Fear of Failure can derail your plans for career advancement.  This week, I'd like to take a deeper dive at Confidence.  Confidence, at it's very basic, is the believe that you will succeed in the current situation.  Confidence is not arrogance; but they can be two side of the same coin.

 

The biggest difference between Confidence and Arrogance is how others react to you and how you treat those around you.  When you are confident, you state your case assertively but with respect.  If you are arrogant, you will come across as dominating and dismissive.  When you are confident, your believe in success can encourage those around you and lead them to want to help.  Being arrogant, though, can alienate others when you act superior to them.

 

So, how does confidence help when it comes to your career?

• Being confident makes you a better speaker.  When you believe in what you are saying, it comes across to those you are speaking to.  Your confidence will help you make your point stronger.
• When you are confident, you are focused on the final success and will not be hampered by small challenges along the way.  Continued confidence in everything you do will have others considering you to be a "winner".
• As I mentioned earlier, being confident can inspire those around you.  This type of inspiration will have others viewing you as a leader because most people want to follow proven winners.
• You confidence will also bring you bigger opportunities.  When you are able to work through any challenges you face and still drive to success, you will gain the trust of your leaders.  This trust will lead to those coveted higher-level assignments that eventually lead to promotion.

 

Some people have what seems to be a natural confidence.  You may even think that they were born with that confidence.  But, in reality, confidence is a lot like compound interest.  When you have a small success, you gain some confidence, which helps you have more success, which leads to more confidence, which leads to more success, and so on and so forth.  When someone seems to be naturally confident, it is just that you are seeing them so far past their initial, awkward phase.  If you find yourself in a situation where you don't have confidence, as I said in the episode on Imposter Syndrome, set as small of a goal as you can; make success almost a guaranteed outcome.  Your confidence will build and grow much like a snowball rolling down a hill.

 

Beyond starting with small wins, another confidence building technique is to practice self-affirmation.  A negative mindset can erode your confidence.  When you find yourself doubting your ability to succeed, you need to act quickly to change your mindset.  Make positive statements about yourself, out loud if possible.  As you make these statements, take a "superhero pose".  You'll be surprised how just holding a powerful pose for a few minutes can boost your confidence.

• Start by focusing on the things you KNOW you are capable of and focus on those positive aspects.  Confidence builds on other confidence, so by going back to the basics, you are starting the seed of your confidence snowball.
• Next, look at the skills that you are building.  Focus on how proud you are of the growth you've already made.  Make positive, affirming statements about the continued growth you will experience.  These statements should be along the lines of "I *will* successfully learn……" and then name the skill.
• Lastly, take the negative thoughts that you have and reframe them into statements of opportunity.  Instead of saying "I _can't_" or "I'm not good at" say "Even though I do not currently have the ability, I can learn".

 

Another way to build confidence is to reach out to your mentors and leaders to ask for constructive feedback.  They can help you identify the things you are good at (the beginning of your confidence snowball) and how those strengths are positive for the team.  This assessment can be a big confidence boost.  They can also help you plan your next areas of growth.  Competence builds confidence; the stronger you are in particular skill, the more confident you will be when using the skill.  Never stop learning and refining your abilities.

 

 

Where are you in your confidence journey?  Are you just starting or have you already banked some successes?  Regardless of where you are, a career coach can help you build your confidence.  If you need a career coach, reach out to me via the  Contact Form at ManagingACareer.com (https://www.managingacareer.com/contact/).  I'll schedule an introductory session where we can talk about your career goals and determine if we would be a good fit for coaching.  If we are, we can arrange regular sessions to help you put your career on the fast track to advancement.

The other day on LinkedIn, there was a post (https://www.linkedin.com/posts/lenareinhard_many-bosses-like-to-say-something-along-the-activity-7305950821341380610--N5o?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop&rcm=ACoAAACwlk8B_aCb2SXpDbHHORaRrI9SsfHvBMs) by Lena Reinhard, host of the Leadership Confidential podcast (https://www.lenareinhard.com/leadership-confidential), about the saying "don't bring me problems, bring me solutions".  That post got me thinking.

 

In her post, Lena (https://www.linkedin.com/in/lenareinhard/) expresses that she is not a fan of that phrase because it make the target of the statement feel like they are left to do all of the work themselves.  Her suggestion is clarification through communication.  Does your boss really expect you to solve the problem on your own or how you can align the way you work and ask for help with the way that they work and offer help.

 

An example of how your work styles are not in alignment could be that in your one on ones with your leader, you may spend a large portion of the session complaining about a specific problem you're facing.  Your manager may view that as asking for help but you just needed someone to vent to while you worked through conflict with another team.

 

As a natural problem solver, I often had a similar response with my wife.  Sometimes, she just wanted to vent about things going on with her job and I would often offer suggestions on how to proceed.  Because our styles were in conflict, this would lead to frustration on both of our parts.  Being able to communicate and align work styles with your boss (or spouse) can eliminate the frustration and turn things back to being a productive relationship.

 

When everyone is on the same page when it comes to work style, what does your manager mean when they say "don't bring me problems, bring me solutions"?  Your leader has a lot on their plate.  They are responsible not just for keeping the members of their team productive and growing, but they also must take on tasks for THEIR leader.  This often means that they are not able to spend a large portion of their day solving every problem on their team.  They are looking for people to step up and own problems so that they don't have to.  Unless they are a micromanager, they often only need to know about a problem under three specific conditions.

 

Sometimes, when you have a solution to a problem, you need either approval or authority to proceed with the solution; you may have considered the alternatives and formulated a solid plan, but you need your boss to sign off on the final decision or to champion it to other teams.  This is the perfect time to engage your boss; just be prepared to demonstrate the alternative solutions you considered and why this is the best path forward.  If this solution impacts other teams, you may even need to refine your presentation as you communicate your solution beyond just your manager.

 

The next situation is when you have narrowed down the options but need your manager to make the final decision.  This case is a good opportunity to make yourself stand out.  Instead of asking your leader to make the decision, ask for clarification on the criteria that they would use to decide.  This will help you solve the current problem but also set you up for future success when you face a similar problem in the future.  When your manager believes that you will make the same choice that they would make, you grain trust which leads to more autonomy as well as more strategic assignments.

 

The final condition when you would bring a problem to your manager is when you have explored options but don't know how to proceed.  When you find yourself without a clear path forward, you would do well to ask your manager, not for the answer, but for some strategies on how to proceed.  Show them that you are interested in learning and growing and that you have a desire to solve problems on your own.

 

If you are highly demanding of your manager's time because they have to solve every problem for you, they will come to dread every interaction they have with you.  When you face a problem, instead of immediately taking it to your manager, use the problem as an opportunity to build trust and gain standing by showing independence.  Work to think like your manager so that your solutions align with theirs.  When you do this, you're bringing your manager solutions and not problems.

 

 

I would love to hear some stories of how this podcast has helped you in your pursuit of career advancement.  Go to the ManagingACareer.com website and leave a message via the Contact form (https://www.managingacareer.com/contact/) or click the button to leave a voicemail via your computer.  Tell me which episodes have had the biggest impact for you.  If I get enough feedback, I'll start including them in upcoming episodes.

There's been a lot of talk recently about "Imposter Syndrome".  The term was coined by psychologists - Dr. Pauline Clance and Dr. Suzanne Imes in the late 1970s, but seems to be mentioned in so many different places the past few years.  Having imposter syndrome is a very common experience in that most people experience some form of imposter syndrome at least once in their career.

 

Imposter Syndrome is most prevalent when you take a new role.  Self-doubt starts creeping in as you compare yourself to those around you.  You may feel like you need to work extra hard to justify yourself to your new peers.  You may even be dismissive of the accomplishments you DO have.

 

As you work through the feelings of imposter syndrome, it's important to realize that someone believed in you in order for you to get to the position that you're in.  Instead of thinking that you don't belong, focus on how you earned the right to the position.  No one knows everything and with time and growth, you will be as much of an expert as anyone else.

 

Another way to combat imposter syndrome is to keep track of your accomplishments and review them.  If you have an Individual Development Plan using my template, you can also review the Successes section as covered in Episode 039 (https://www.managingacareer.com/39).  You can reflect on how much you have learned and grown and realize what you are truly capable of.

 

If all else fails, reach out to a trusted peer or a mentor or your leader and talk through your feelings.  Often, they can talk about when they experienced imposter syndrome and how they worked through it.

 

Closely related to imposter syndrome is the fear of failure and a lack of confidence.  If you feel like an imposter, you may think that any tiny failure will reveal to the world that you don't belong.  This type of thinking will quickly erode any confidence you have, just reinforcing the imposter syndrome.

 

One of the best way to beat failure or the fear of it is to have a few wins.  This is where I like to use the snowball effect.  Set small, short-term goals that involve small risks that are easily achieved.  When you have achieved the goal, set new goals that are slightly bigger.  Each goal will build your confidence like a snowball……small at first but larger and larger as you layer each success on top of it.

 

Gaining competence - through learning and successes - will also build confidence.  When it comes to imposter syndrome, look at which areas make you feel the most uncertain.  Are there trainings you can take or assignments that you can take on that will help you become more competent and eventually more confident?  Competence and confidence go a long way in eliminating those feelings of imposter syndrome.

 

 

Feelings of inadequacy can stall or kill any career advancement you may be seeking.  It's important to recognize those feelings early and work to eliminate them and eliminate them quickly.  If you find yourself struggling, one person who can help you overcome them is a career coach.  If you need a career coach, reach out to me via the  Contact Form at ManagingACareer.com (https://www.managingacareer.com/contact/).  I'll schedule an introductory session where we can talk about your career goals and determine if we would be a good fit for coaching.  If we are, we can arrange regular sessions to help you put your career on the fast track to advancement.

Recently, companies have been in cost cutting mode.  The most obvious result of this cost cutting, at least when it comes to your career, is that companies have been laying off large numbers of workers across all industries.  But these very same companies are starting to balk at the negative press associated with "yet another layoff".  This week, I take a look at the subtle ways that companies continue to reduce their headcount in a less public manner.

 

Return to Office Mandates

During COVID, social distancing and stay at home orders lead many to resort to remote work.  During that time, many companies experienced record revenue and added staff to support future projections.  These activities showed that remote work could be successful and many workers enjoyed the freedom offered by these new policies.  Now that the height of the pandemic has passed, companies transitioned to a hybrid model where some days were worked remotely and some were worked in the office.

 

I won't argue that there are benefits to being in the office with your co-workers, but now companies are changing their policy to switch from a hybrid schedule to one requiring workers to be in the office five days per week.  The freedom that workers once had has been quickly eliminated.  In some instances, this policy shift may make sense, but in most cases, this change leads to a situation where people voluntarily leave to find an opportunity that still offers the flexibility that they had become accustomed to.

 

Reduction in Promotions and Frozen Salaries

Beyond return to office mandates, employees are finding fewer opportunities for advancement and smaller salary increases.  When a company is in the process of laying off employees, this often includes cancelling most of the open positions.  For the positions that remain open, you will face additional competition from those on the reduction list as well as everyone else looking for a promotion.

 

In addition to limited opportunities, many are finding that salary increases are small or non-existent and bonuses are reduced or eliminated all under the banner of controlling costs.  Those expecting some sort of increase to their bank account will face dissatisfaction and demotivation.  And for the company, this could be a way to reduce staff without the stigma of another round of layoffs.

 

Overworked and Burnt Out

One would hope that layoffs are targeted to areas where shifting business needs have lead to reduced workloads, but they often hit areas that were already understaffed.  Those that remain are often asked to do "more with less".  Goals are set more aggressively in order to recover some level of profitability.

 

With the constant fear of being "next", people will just accept the additional workload and strive to do everything asked of them, even if it means working longer hours and opting not to take all of their allotted time off.  This is an unsustainable position that will only lead to burnout.

 

Singled Out

The other factors are things that apply generally to everyone in the company.  But you could also find yourself targeted by your company to encourage you to leave.  You may find that your responsibilities are changing, often in a manner that doesn't align with your career plan and skill set or potentially even having diminished responsibility levels.  Performance reviews may not accurately reflect the level of contributions you have made.  Feedback is not constructive or even offered.

 

If it feels like your manager is pushing you out in this manner, you may have no choice but to look for alternatives.  There may be opportunities to remain at the company but to transfer to another group.  But, if that is not an option, take advantage of the situation as best you can.  Use any training resources available to you and do your best to remain employed, but begin exploring your options elsewhere.

 

Navigating Your Options

If you find yourself in a situation where your company is looking for ways to drive people to leave, there may be some things you can do to ease some of the stress you find yourself facing.

 

Policy may require you to be in the office five days per week, but there may be flexibility in the hours that you are in the office.  Maybe you can negotiate having certain mornings or afternoon continue to be remote as long as you still meet the five day mandate.

 

If promotions and salaries are not an option, it may be possible to receive other non-monetary benefits.  A change in title doesn't cost the company any money but could add some needed prestige as you explore other jobs.  Having expanded access to training resources can allow you to increase your skills opening up other opportunities previously unavailable to you.

 

In Episode 053 (https://www.managingacareer.com/53), I covered what you should do if you've been laid off, but many of those same strategies apply if you find yourself being quietly fired.

 

 

A career coach can help you navigate these difficult times and set yourself up for future success.  If you need a career coach, reach out to me via the  Contact Form at ManagingACareer.com (https://www.managingacareer.com/contact/).  I'll schedule an introductory session where we can talk about your career goals and determine if we would be a good fit for coaching.  If we are, we can arrange regular sessions to help you put your career on the fast track to advancement.

The job market right now is a really scary place.  Large companies are laying off employees.  Even the government, usually one of the more stable places to work is reducing their headcount.  There are no guarantees of job security unless you own the company, but if you want to provide at least a modicum of safety when the reductions come around, you have to find a way to become indispensable.

 

There will be many who, when times are tough, will go into what I like to call "turtle" mode.  They'll find ways to hide in their shell and hope that when the cuts come, they're overlooked.  But if you want to be important, it starts with being seen.  While this may feel uncomfortable and risky, if no one knows who you are and what you contribute to the company, how can you be viewed as an indispensable part of the company?

 

The first step to becoming more visible is to be more vocal.  In meetings, pay attention to what is being discussed and look for opportunities to ask insightful questions.  A well crafted question at the right time can show the attendees that you have desire to learn more about the subject.  You can also express your opinion on topics that you already have a level of understanding.  When others make suggestions, you can also offer support for their ideas -- just be careful of coming across as a "yes man".

 

The next step is to volunteer.  When there are activities that involve highly visible or extremely challenging tasks, instead of shying away from them, step up and take ownership of those activities.  By taking them on, you show ownership and leadership.  Additionally, success on these assignments is amplified across the organization.

 

Another way to more visible is to tell everyone.  This isn't about bragging.  But, if you think back to Episode 044 (https://www.managingacareer.com/44), I cover Reporting Status.  In that episode, I talk about how you can create a status report that expresses the value you have provided and how you might tailor those reports to different audiences.  If you create a status report to be sent to your leader and their peers, you can increase you visibility without coming across as braggadocios.

 

The last way to increase your visibility is to talk to more people.  In Episode 029, Building a Network (https://www.managingacareer.com/29) and Episode 070, Sphere of Influence (https://www.managingacareer.com/70), I offer several ways that you can grow your network -- both within and outside of your company.  Use your network to showcase your contributions, especially with key decision-makers.  Become a hub of knowledge by sharing industry trends and articles about new ideas and technology.  Being that hub will have others seeking YOU out to be a part of THEIR network.

 

In last week's episode (https://www.managingacareer.com/80) the focus is on turning your Action Plan into daily Habits.  You can apply this same strategy to increasing your visibility.

• To be more vocal, make a point of asking one question in each project meeting that you are in.
• Take ownership by making sure that you leave each meeting with at least one action item.
• Showcase your wins by sending a weekly status report.
• Build your network by scheduling a weekly coffee break with different people within your department.

 

Hiding in your shell and being quiet may feel comfortable, especially when the world feels chaotic, but that is not the path to job security or career advancement.  When you are just starting out, use visibility to build credibility and showcase your leadership skills.  When you are in the middle job grades, visibility can help you be assigned to the preferred projects.  As you transition to positions of leadership, visibility will strengthen your position and ensure that you are leading a growing team.

 

 

Visibility is a critical component of growth.  Help me grow this podcast by going to your podcast platform of choice or the Managing A Career website (https://www.managingacareer.com/reviews/new/) and leaving an honest review.  More reviews will help others searching for career growth podcasts find and follow this podcast.