You’re hitting your metrics consistently and your team is happy. But you’re NOT getting promoted.

What gives?

The fact is you’re doing exactly what you’ve been asked to do. And you’re doing it well. And… that’s the reason you’re not getting promoted.

Because doing exactly what you’ve been asked to do is simply fulfilling your job duties. It’s great to consistently hit your numbers, but – and here’s the important part – it doesn’t justify a promotion.

I often refer to the gap between middle and senior management as a ‘chasm’, because I see more people get stuck here than at any other point in their career.

Early in your career, it’s all about executing on your goals and exceeding your targets. Do that well, and there’s a good chance you’ll get promoted to the Manager level.

Then you become a Manager, and execute the same playbook. And suddenly, it’s not enough for that next promotion.

To get to the next level, you need to show your boss and leadership that you can do MORE. That you’re capable of executing a NEW playbook.

You need to go from tactical execution to strategic thinking.

And that my friends, is the chasm.

The good news is, if you want to cross the chasm and move into senior leadership, this is absolutely learnable. It takes investing in yourself and becoming more self-aware, but if I can do it, so can you.

So where can you start?

Here are some great questions to get really honest and ask yourself if you’re feeling stuck:

  1. Am I going above and beyond, or just executing really well at the job I’ve been given?

  2. How often do I take initiative with a new idea or problem vs. asking my boss for the solution?

  3. When was the last time I brought a great new insight to the table that helped shape our strategy?

If you’re answering ‘not very often’ to all 3 of these, you now know why you’re stuck.

And friends, I get it! Because I was stuck too… I was stuck trying to get promoted to a Director role for almost 4 years and stuck again trying to get promoted to a VP role for 5! But once I learned to show up like a strategic leader, it got a whole lot easier… and more fun.

If I think about the most impactful changes I made to the way I showed up, they were:

  • Taking more initiative and presenting my ideas with confidence

  • Learning how to bring valuable business insights to the table

  • Effectively communicating my ideas to the C-suite – framing things in a more impactful way

  • Broadening my thinking – ie. thinking like a CEO

These may sound like big changes, but the truth is once you wrap your head around them, they really aren’t all that difficult. They just take practice and commitment.

I’ve seen first-hand how making some simple changes can take my clients from ‘stuck’ to ‘promoted’.

Until next time friends… ✌️💜

Katy