One of the hardest truths about leadership progression is this:

You don’t get promoted because you’re doing VP-level work.

You get promoted when leaders trust that you think like a VP.

Trust me, I've been there. In my Director role, I was running the entire commercial function: sales, marketing, and sales ops. I was reporting to the CEO. I was on the senior leadership team. There was no VP above me.

I was doing the VP-level job. And I still couldn't get the title.

For the longest time, I didn't get it. I wasn't sure if my boss was just being a jerk or what I needed to be doing differently.

But at the end of the day, when he was telling me that I ‘just wasn't strategic enough,' he essentially meant that he didn't believe I was thinking like a VP.

In my group program, I go deep into how to demonstrate that you think like a VP, but in today's newsletter, I want to dive into this concept with you, because many Directors are overloaded doing “stretch” work and are still overlooked. If this is you, keep reading…

Tactical vs Strategic Work

Learning to think like a VP means transitioning from being more tactical to being more strategic. A key element that needs to change as you make this transition is your focus.

Most Directors focus on:

  • Delivering outcomes
  • Solving problems
  • Supporting their teams
  • Executing initiatives well

This may seem logical and feel productive, but it's not signalling that you're operating at the next level. On the flip side, VPs focus on:

  • Deciding what shouldn’t be done
  • Allocating limited resources
  • Managing organizational risk
  • Aligning competing priorities

Let's look at some key comparisons:

The key insight I want you to walk away with here is this: Tactical leaders solve problems, but strategic leaders decide which problems matter. It's less about your skills and abilities and more about your focus. It's a perspective shift more than anything else.

The good news is, once you see it, you can't unsee it.

Signs You’re Still Operating Like a Director

If you're in a Director role today, I want to give some more concrete examples that will hopefully make this really clear, so you can make the choice to start showing up differently.

Examples of operating like a Director:

  • You jump into execution when things wobble

Acting too fast can be a liability (again, been there!). If you're thinking like a VP, you need to slow down when things go wrong and assess the situation (see next section).

  • You measure success by output instead of organizational impact

Executive-level thinking looks at impact and ROI above all else. This is also key to remember as you're sharing updates and reports.

  • You optimize within your function rather than across the business

Enterprise-level thinking is key to being a VP. Take a big step back.

  • You wait for direction instead of proactively reframing decisions

When something is broken, don't wait to be asked to fix it. You should be assessing strategy and processes, and making decisions when they aren't working.

  • You feel indispensable to delivery

I've talked about the idea of being indispensable but not promotable. Ironically, the more indispensable you are operationally, the harder it is to promote you.

The VP Lens

The best leaders slow down to speed up, and learn to apply what I call the VP Lens.

Before acting, a VP asks:

  1. What outcome matters most to the business?
  2. What trade-off are we making?
  3. Who else is impacted?
  4. What risk are we creating six months from now?

The key here is to step back and look at the bigger picture instead of focusing only on the immediate situation. What are the second and third order consequences? What's the #1 goal and priority?

For my ladies who are fast-thinkers, fast-talkers, and fast-action takers, this will feel uncomfortable at first, but you need to start creating space to ask yourself these powerful questions.

This will inform the way you respond and act, and people will begin to notice.

What's next?

Strategic leadership isn’t about sounding smarter in meetings.

It’s about seeing the organization differently.

If this is something you're ready to master, the Own Your Seat at the Table program was made for you. By the end of the 12-week accelerator, you'll be thinking, speaking, and acting like a VP. It's that powerful. 

Sign up and get instant access to key leadership resources that will help you start leveling up today, even before we kick off the program in April.

Sign up below or ​book a call with me personally to learn more here​.

Until next time friends… ✌️💜

Katy