Write Your Executive Narrative Before Others Do It for You

 

One of the biggest mistakes high-performers make is assuming their work will tell the whole story. But the people deciding whether you are ready for more rarely see the full picture.   They do not see every decision you made, every fire you put out, or every smart move that kept a project from going sideways. They see pieces. A comment in a meeting. A project that landed well. The quality of your updates. The way you handle tension. The reputation you have with your team. The kinds of problems people trust you to handle.   From those pieces, they make a judgment.   She is strong, but still pretty tactical. He is reliable, but stays close to his lane. She creates clarity when things get messy. He already thinks beyond his title.   That judgment matters more than most people realize because when your name comes up in a promotion or succession conversation, nobody is reading your resume out loud. They are summarizing what they believe about you.   That summary is your executive narrative.   Not a polished headline you put on LinkedIn. The real story people believe because your behavior has given them enough proof And if you do not shape that story on purpose, people usually land on the easiest version of you.   Helpful. Reliable. Hardworking. Great executor. All positive.   Also exactly the kind of story that keeps a lot of talented people out of the VP conversation.   What executives are really trying to decide At senior levels, the question is not just, “Is this person good?” It is, “Can I trust this person with more?”   More scope. More ambiguity. More visibility. More business risk.   That is what your executive narrative is really doing. It is helping people answer the trust question.   Can this person think at the right level? Can they lead well when things get messy? Are they already showing signs of broader leadership?   Once you understand that, your narrative stops being fluffy and starts becoming useful.   You are not trying to come up with a smart way to describe yourself. You are trying to make your leadership team come to the right conclusion about you.

The three judgments leaders are making about you Whether they say it out loud or not, senior leaders are usually making three big judgments.   1. How does this person think? Do you jump into execution, or do you make sure people are solving the right problem? Do you bring analysis, or do you bring judgment? Do you understand tradeoffs, business context, and what actually matters most?   This is where a lot of strong people get underestimated. They may be perfectly capable of strategic thinking, but they are not making that thinking visible often enough. So leadership sees the output without fully seeing the quality of mind behind it.   2. How does this person lead? What is it like to work with you when things are unclear, tense, or changing? Do you create clarity or confusion? Do you make people steadier or more anxious? Do people trust you, follow you, and do their best work around you?   Leadership is not only watching what you deliver. They are watching the environment you create.   One of the strongest leadership signals in my own career was transparency. When things were changing, I did not try to keep people comfortable by hiding reality. I gave my team context. I told them what was changing, what was uncertain, and what we needed to do next. I treated people like adults.   That built trust fast.   My teams became more independent because they had the truth. They performed better because they were not wasting energy trying to decode what was really happening. And I became known as a leader people could trust, especially when things were messy.   That is the kind of leadership signal people remember.   3. What level is this person already operating at? Are you waiting to be told? Are you mostly focused on your own lane? Or are you already showing signs of broader ownership?   This one matters a lot.   People do not promote potential in the abstract. They promote proof. They look for signs that the next level is already starting to show up in how you think, lead, and take ownership.   Why smart people still get executive narrative wrong Usually, this is not an intelligence problem. It is an evidence problem.   A lot of smart people are doing excellent work while building the wrong case for themselves.   They show effort where leadership needs to see judgment. They solve problems without making their thinking visible. They are capable of more, but the signals they send still point to “strong performer” rather than “larger-scope leader.”   And that can keep you stuck in the “not ready yet” box.   Not because you’re not ready. Because the story in other people’s heads is still too small.   How to shape your executive narrative Let me start with what you don’t need; a fancy tagline. You can’t tell people how to see you, you need to act the way you want to be seen to shape the narrative in their heads.   Here’s a simple way to think about it and shape your story:   Step 1: Decide the reputation you want Start with the conclusion. What do you want senior leaders to believe about you?   Not a vague trait. A real, promotion-relevant takeaway.   One way to think about it is to ask yourself: what’s missing right now? Or what perception do I need to fix? Are you seen as too tactical? Then you want to reposition yourself as a strategic partner who understands the business.   Maybe you’re boxed in your lane? Then you want the reputation of someone who can think at the org level and drive impact beyond their role. Or maybe your leadership isn’t visible? Then you want to be known as the leader who makes teams stronger and more efficient.   That is the level of clarity you want.   Step 2: Identify the behaviors that would make that reputation believable Once you know the reputation you want, ask the next obvious question: What would the leadership team need to repeatedly observe in order to believe it?   If you want to be seen as strategic, the proof might be that you ask sharper questions, challenge assumptions, connect work to business priorities, and bring recommendations instead of just analysis.   If you want to be seen as a trusted leader, the proof might be that you communicate clearly in uncertainty, tell the truth without drama, remain calm under pressure, and build strong, independent teams.   If you want to be seen as ready for bigger scope, the proof might be that you notice issues above your lane, support goals beyond your own, represent your team cross-functionally, and show ownership before you have formal authority.   Once you know the reputation you want, outline the 3-5 behaviors that will prove your narrative.   Anyone can say they are ready for more, but the leadership team needs proof. They want evidence that betting on you won’t be a mistake, and the right behaviors send that message loud and clear.   Let me give you a few examples. I became known as strategic because I kept asking first-principles questions. Are we solving the right problem? Why are we assuming this is the answer? What would actually matter to the business here? What are we missing?   I did not need to announce that I was strategic. People experienced it.   One of my clients recently shared they were able to show next level readiness by looking for ways to support their manager’s goals and take meaningful things off their plate. Another client did it by stepping into a cross-functional project where they had to represent their team and influence beyond their role.   They didn’t leave it to chance. They were intentional about the signals they were sending. Instead of guessing what would make them ready in the eyes of leadership, they mapped out the right behaviors and started showing them.   Step 3: Make that proof visible in repeatable moments This is where most people chicken out. They outline the reputation, they map out the behaviors but… they never actually go for it. So they end up with a fancy word doc with a list of adjectives they want to be known for, and zero transformation.   Taking action means getting more intentional about where your proof shows up.   Meetings matter. One-on-ones matter. Written updates matter. Cross-functional work matters. Messy moments matter. Those are the moments that shape perception.   If you want to be known as strategic, then your questions in meetings matter.   A basic question sounds like, “Who owns this?” A stronger question sounds like, “Before we assign owners, are we clear on the actual problem we are trying to solve?” One shows participation. The other shows level.   The same is true in your updates. A weak update proves effort: “We completed A, B, and C. Next week we’ll move into D.”   A stronger update shows judgment: “We completed A, B, and C. What stands out is that adoption is slowing because ownership is still fragmented across teams. My recommendation is to simplify decision-making before we add more activity.”   Now people can actually see how you think.   The same goes for moments of uncertainty. When priorities shift, stakeholders get difficult, or a project goes sideways, people decide very quickly who creates clarity, who adds noise, who stays grounded, and who disappears into the weeds.   Those moments shape your story. Use them.   Step 4: Repeat until people can say it without your help I wish I could tell you that one meeting or one email would be enough to change your story. Reputation is built on consistency.   A narrative sticks when leaders have seen enough evidence to believe your narrative is the truth. The associate you with the story and can repeat it in rooms you are not in.   Try this quick test: If a senior leader had to advocate for you tomorrow, what narrative would they feel confident sharing (because they have proof)?   Could they say: This person shows strong judgment. This person leads well under pressure. This person is already operating at a higher level.   Or would they mostly say: Hardworking. Reliable. Always delivers. Great attitude.   There is nothing wrong with those qualities. They are just not enough on their own to make the case for bigger scope. That is the gap you need to pay attention to.

Your Next Steps If right now someone else is in control of your narrative, let’s change that.   Take ten minutes and answer three questions: What do I want to be known for? What behaviors would make that believable? Where in my week do those behaviors need to become more visible?   Then look at your meetings, one-on-ones, updates, cross-functional work, and messy moments. Those are not random parts of your job. They are the places where your narrative is being built.   Be intentional. Because people are already building a story about you.   The danger is not that they have no story. It is that the story is too small.

When the promotion goalpost keeps moving

 

You did what they asked. Then the standard changed.   You hit the goals. Your reviews were strong. You took on more scope. You solved harder problems. You showed leadership. Then the feedback changed again.   Now you need to be “more strategic.” Now you need “more visibility.” Now it’s “not the right time.”   If you’ve ever felt like the closer you get to promotion, the fuzzier the rules become, you’re not imagining it. This is one of the most frustrating patterns in senior careers because it keeps smart, hardworking people stuck in a permanent state of “almost”.   One of my clients was a Director for nearly 10 years. Every year, the message was some variation of the same thing: you’re doing well, but not quite there. Sometimes it was timing. Sometimes it was readiness. Sometimes it was a vague need for broader visibility or stronger leadership presence. The wording changed, but the outcome didn’t.   When we started working together, we stopped treating promotion like something that would eventually happen if he just kept performing. We treated it like a process that needed to be managed. He got more valuable feedback from his manager. They defined what “ready” actually meant. They started checking in regularly so expectations couldn’t quietly shift in the background. His manager even became much more active in helping him build visibility.   That year, after 10 years of hearing “not yet,” he was promoted to Senior Director.   When the goalpost keeps moving, the answer is not to run harder. The answer is to force more clarity around where it actually is.   Because at higher levels, promotions are rarely decided by a clean checklist. Once you’ve proven you can deliver, people start evaluating the less obvious stuff: judgment, visibility, influence, trust, political support, and whether others already see you at the next level.   If “ready” is never clearly defined, it can become whatever people need it to be in the moment. Here’s how to stop that from happening.

How to Stop the Promotion Goalpost From Moving Use this 4-step process if the promotion expectations keep shifting. You’ll create clarity, catch red flags early, and stop getting blindsided at review time.   1. Lock down what “ready” actually means The first mistake people make is accepting vague feedback as if it were useful.   “Be more strategic.” “Show more leadership.” “Operate at the next level.”   None of that is clear enough to help you. It sounds smart, but it leaves way too much room for interpretation. And that’s exactly how people end up spending months proving the wrong thing. You need to push for specifics.   Ask your manager questions like: If I were operating at the next level today, what would look different? What specific behaviors, scope, or results would make you confident I’m ready? What would senior leadership need to see to support this promotion?   Then confirm expectations in writing. It’s much harder to move the goal post when there is a paper trail with a clear outline. A simple follow-up email that says, “Here’s my understanding of what readiness looks like based on our conversation” can save you a lot of pain down the line.   If you do nothing else, do this. You cannot hit a target no one will define.   2. Check in before review season blindsides you This is where a lot of people get burned. They have one good conversation at the beginning of the year, feel reassured, and then put their head down and work.   Months later, they get to review season and find out something changed. A new concern came up. Another stakeholder had doubts. The standard evolved. Timing suddenly became an issue.   Now they’re shocked, frustrated, and out of runway. This is why the check-in matters more than the plan itself.   You need regular check-ins with your manager to validate that expectations are still the same and catch red flags while there is still time to do something about them. That can be monthly or quarterly. Just make sure you are not waiting until performance review to learn where you stand.   In those check-ins, ask: Based on what you’ve seen recently, do you feel I’m moving in the right direction? Is there anything that still gives you pause? Has anything changed in how you or the organization are thinking about readiness for this role?   Those questions do two things. They help you identify shifting expectations early, and they force your manager to engage with your progress in real time instead of giving you a vague verdict at the end.   Silence is not alignment. A calm year is not proof that you’re on track.   3. Don’t leave your growth sitting inside one-on-ones If your manager is the only person who sees your growth, your promotion case is weak.   At senior levels, promotions are social decisions. Your boss matters, of course. But they are rarely the only voice in the room. Other leaders are forming opinions too, whether they see your progress or not.   That means you need to socialize your growth before the decision is made. The goal is to make your readiness visible in credible ways.   That might mean: sharing wins and progress in the right forums leading work that gives senior stakeholders direct exposure to your thinking making your judgment more visible in how you communicate building relationships with leaders who can speak to your readiness, not just your reliability   This is the part many hardworking high achievers resist because they think good work should speak for itself. It doesn’t. Not at this level.   At this level, people are asking: do I trust this person to operate at the next level, and have I seen enough proof to believe it? If the answer to that question lives only in your manager’s head, you are too exposed.   You want broader confidence in your readiness before the room meets to decide your future.   4. Make your case and validate real sponsorship There’s a big difference between a supportive manager and a sponsor. You need to know which one you are dealing with.   Ask questions like: If promotion decisions were being made today, would you support me? What objections or concerns might still come up? Do you still see me as a serious candidate for the next cycle? Will you make a case for my promotion?   That last question matters because sometimes a manager is supportive in theory, but not in practice. Sometimes they like you, but they are not willing to spend political capital. Sometimes they are trying to keep you motivated without making a real commitment.   If you don’t ask directly, it is very easy to mistake polite encouragement for active advocacy. And that mistake can cost you a year.   Signs the goalpost is moving If this is happening to you, there are usually clues.   The feedback stays vague even when you ask for specifics. The expectations keep shifting no matter how well you do. New concerns appear late in the cycle. Your manager is positive, but slippery when you ask about promotion directly. No one beyond your manager seems to know how much you’ve grown.   None of those signs automatically mean promotion won’t happen. But they do mean the process is too loose. And loose processes are where politics, perception, and last-minute opinion tend to win. That is not where you want your career sitting.

Your Next Steps Whether you feel confident in your chances for promotion, or feel like the goal post has moved once again, talk to your manager.   Ask them 3 questions to protect your time and effort in the next 6 months: What specifically would make you confident I’m ready for the next level? What concerns would still make promotion hard to support? Are you currently prepared to advocate for me in the next cycle?

The 5 Proof Points Leaders Look for Before They Promote You

 

The 5 Proof Points Leaders Look for Before They Promote You In my 20 years in corporate, I had the opportunity to sit in many promotion conversations, and they all had one thing in common: the leadership team wasn’t asking, “Who did the most?”   They were asking, “Do we have enough proof that this person can operate at the next level without a lot of hand-holding?”   These are the proof points I’ve seen matter most in senior promotions. Use them to evaluate where your case is strong and where you still need stronger evidence.   Promotion Proof Point #1: Strategic judgment At senior levels, execution is expected. Strategic judgment is what elevates you.   This is where a lot of strong performers get misunderstood. They assume that because they are close to the work, understand the details, and care about outcomes, other people can automatically see that they are strategic.   Not necessarily.   Leaders are looking for evidence that you can connect the work to what matters most to the business. They want to see that you understand priorities, tradeoffs, risk, and what should happen next. In other words, they are not just evaluating whether you can run the work. They are evaluating whether you can shape it.   That usually shows up in very small moments. How you give updates. How you frame problems. Whether you bring options instead of just information. Whether you sound like someone who is helping the business think, not just someone who is consistently carrying tasks forward.   Evaluate yourself: When I give updates, do I mostly report what happened, or do I present clear recommendations that shape direction?   One action item to develop Judgment: Before your next manager, cross-functional, or leadership meeting, prepare one recommendation in advance. Not just an update. One clear recommendation.   A simple structure is: Here’s what changed. Here’s why it matters. Here’s what I recommend.   That one shift does a lot. It signals leadership, not just effort. It tells them you won’t rely on your manager for every decision and that you trust your own judgment.   Promotion Proof Point #2: Ownership At the next level, leadership trusts you to create momentum, not just respond well.   A lot of high achievers are excellent at reacting. They are reliable, helpful, responsive, thoughtful. That is valuable. It is also not the same thing as being seen as a leader.   Leadership shows up when you reduce ambiguity. When you see a problem and start moving it forward. When you define next steps, clarify decisions, and create traction without waiting to be told exactly what to do.   This is especially important if you have built a reputation as the dependable one. Dependable is good. But if you are not careful, it can quietly turn into support energy. The person who gets things done, but not the person people imagine in the bigger seat.   Evaluate yourself: Where have I recently created momentum without waiting for permission? If that answer isn’t clear, it’s time to create proof.   One action item to develop ownership: Pick one issue that has been stuck for ever, messy, or annoyingly vague and matters to the company’s goal. It can be a project, a process or even a structure that can be improved. Send a short note with a proposed path forward. Keep it simple: the problem, the next steps, the owners, and the timing.   You are not trying to give yourself more work. You are suggesting a better solution to a challenge your leadership cares about without being asked to do it. That is proof of ownership.   Promotion Proof Point #3: Visible business impact I know all of you are doing valuable work. But, not all of you are making that value easy to see.   This is one of the biggest reasons strong performers get overlooked. Their work matters, but its significance lives in their head, in the weeds of the project, or inside a hundred Slack messages.   They assume people know. They assume results will speak for themselves. They assume being busy, essential, or overloaded is somehow evidence of readiness. I’m sorry to be the one to say it, but it is not.   Impact has to be translated.   Senior leaders are not following every detail of what you do. They are seeing fragments. So if you want your work to support a promotion case, you have to help them see the business value clearly enough that they can repeat it back when your name comes up.   Evaluate yourself: Would my biggest stakeholders be able to clearly explain the business impact of my work without me in the room? That is the real test. Not whether your work is important. Whether its value is visible.   One action item to develop visibility: Send a short recap of a recent win to your manager or relevant stakeholders. A few bullets are enough: The problem Your recommendation - and what was done What outcome it supported Why it mattered   That last part about the “why” is the key. That is how you connect the dots and translate your work to the impact language they understand and care about.   Promotion Proof Point #4: Trust and influence Promotion cases are stronger when senior stakeholders advocate for you.   This is where readiness becomes more social. A promotion is rarely won because one person thinks you are great. It gets much easier when multiple stakeholders have experienced your judgment, your leadership, your communication, and your ability to work across functions.   That does not mean you need to charm the whole company or become some kind of networking machine. It means that your key stockholders should have enough direct experience with you to say, credibly, “Yes, I can see them at the next level.”   If nobody besides your manager really knows how you operate, it weakens your promotion case, even if you are brilliant.   Evaluate yourself: Who, besides my manager, has enough experience with me to genuinely vouch for my readiness? If the list is short, that is fixable. And this is actually a great time of year to fix it, because summer tends to create slightly more room for relationship-building conversations that get skipped when everything is on fire.   One action item to develop trust and influence: Set up one short catch-up with a key stakeholder this month. Use it well. Ask something like, “What would make me even more effective in this role?” or “Where do you think I could operate more strategically?” That does two things at once. It deepens the relationship, and it gives you useful signal you can actually act on.   Promotion Proof Point #5: Executive communication At senior levels, communication is not about polish. It is about clarity, confidence, and conviction.   Can you get to the point? Can you frame issues in a way that makes decision-making easier? Can you speak with enough structure that people trust your thinking? Can you adjust your message depending on whether you are talking to your team, your manager, or a senior leader?   This matters more than people think.   Because when someone communicates like a leader, people assume they can lead. And when someone rambles, over-explains, buries the takeaway, or clings to detail instead of meaning, they often look less ready than they are. That is brutal, but it is real.   Evaluate yourself: Do I communicate in a way that builds confidence, or in a way that makes people work too hard to find the point? Look for these signs: your audience loses attention, they ask a lot of questions that show they didn’t understand your point, and you rarely get buy in (and then someone else shares the same idea in a different way and gets all the support).   One action item to develop executive communication: Take one recurring update you already send and rewrite it for an executive audience with the main point first. Lead with the takeaway, then the context.   Not: “Here’s everything that happened” followed with 17 bullet points. More like: “Here’s where we are, what it means, and what needs attention.” Just 3 bullet points that speak their language.   This is how you send the right signal with your communication.   Your July Promotion Prep The point of this audit is not to obsess over where you are falling short. It is to get honest about what your promotion case actually looks like right now, while you still have time to strengthen it.   Because no matter how the year started, the next few months still matter.   Maybe you have done great work, but not enough of it has been visible. Maybe you have been highly valued, but mostly for being reliable, not strategic. Maybe you have been so heads down delivering that you have not spent enough time shaping perception.   That is exactly why this is useful.   This is your opportunity to be more intentional about building proof. And summer is a surprisingly good time to do that.   While other people coast, disappear, or tell themselves they will think about career growth later, you can use this season differently. You can use it to tighten your story, make your impact easier to see, and create a few visible moments that strengthen how people experience you.   Do not look up in September wishing you had started earlier. Start now.

Your Next Steps Read back through the five proof points and be brutally honest about which one is weakest for you right now.   Then spend the next 30 days strengthening that one. Not by working harder. By creating clearer evidence.   Because that is what leaders are really looking for. Not just potential. Not just effort. Proof

3 moves that create VP leverage in any economy

 

1. Position Yourself as the Obvious Choice If people don't instantly understand your value, they won't choose you.   Most Directors who tell me "the market is bad" have one thing in common. They haven't positioned themselves at all.   Their resume is generic. Their LinkedIn is a collection of responsibilities with a title slapped on top. Their executive narrative is fuzzy or nonexistent. Their unique value is buried under "cross-functional collaboration" and "strategic leadership" like everyone else.   And then they wonder why no one is reaching out.   Here is what no one will tell you because they don’t want to hurt your feelings. If you don't know what makes you unique, no one else will.   Positioning yourself means getting painfully clear on three things: What you are best at What you solve as a VP Why someone should choose you over the 200 other Directors who all claim the same things   A strong positioning is exactly why Shauna got promoted. Not because she applied for 376 jobs. Not because she waited for perfect timing.   Because she finally embraced the truth: she had market winning achievements she'd been minimizing.   Awards she never mentioned. A point of view she was scared to claim. And a killer value proposition that very few people can claim.   Once she stepped into that version of herself, opportunities started showing up because she finally stood out as a potential VP.   So what does this mean for you?   Here's what it looks like in practice to position yourself: You identify the exact roles you want You clarify the value you bring at the VP level You rewrite your resume and LinkedIn to make your value clear to the right people You use GPT as your leverage engine to refine your language and your value You create a presence that attracts the right people.   But here’s the catch. It means you need to stop blending in and hiding behind "hard work." And start intentionally shaping how others perceive you.   That starts with knowing exactly what role you want, what makes you the best candidate, and how to communicate your value clearly enough that people instantly get it.   Not vague. Not generic. Not "I can do anything."   Sharp. Confident. Specific.   Positioning isn't optional anymore. It's the price of admission for executive roles in 2026.   2. Network Like Someone Who Belongs in the VP Room Executives aren't chosen through job postings. They're chosen through people.   When the market shifts, most Directors double down on the worst possible strategy: applying online and hoping recruiters come back.   But recruiters are overwhelmed, job postings are saturated, and hiring managers are making quick, quiet decisions based on conversations you don't even know they're having.   If you want to move up in 2026, you cannot wait for those conversations. You need to be in them.   That means networking the right way.   Not surface-level. Not "just checking in." Not "let me know if you're hiring."   I mean strategic networking: talking directly to people who already have the job you want.   This is exactly what I did when I moved to California. I had no network. Nobody knew me. And even with a VP title from abroad, I couldn't land a VP role.   So I reached out to about 100 VPs.   Not asking for jobs. Asking for insight about their career so I can understand what mattered. Learned what got them chosen and listen to how they spoke about themselves.   It changed everything. Because suddenly I wasn't guessing. I had the actual criteria.   This is also how Jessica moved from Director to VP in six months. How Katie landed not one, but two promotions. And how Rafael broke a 10 year plateau and became a Sr. Director.   So what does this mean for you?   Here is the summary of what this looks like in practice: First, talk to people who have the job you want to have. You do this even if it means cold outreach on LinkedIn to people outside of your network.   Your goals in those conversations are simple: You uncover the hidden criteria that no job description will ever tell you. You find out what actually mattered in their promotion process. You apply what you learn to yourself.   Then, you network with intention: Talk shop, not "are you hiring." Exchange ideas and perspectives. Show up like a peer, not a desperate candidate.   This is what my client recently did. She applied for a role and never heard back. Then she reached out to the hiring manager to talk about developments in their field that she heard him talk about. A few weeks later they met at an industry event and decided to schedule a meeting at his company’s offices.   That conversation went beyond exchanging ideas. This senior leader shared come January they may have an opening that would be a perfect fit.   She did not bring it up. He did.   This is the hidden job market everyone talks about except it’s not a listing you don’t have access to. It’s a process you should be following.   Networking isn't about asking for a job. It’s about connecting and getting an opportunity to share your value. And when you do it right, you stop competing with everyone else and play a very different game.   3. Stand Out To Get Chosen In this market, competence isn't enough. Differentiation is everything.   This is the part almost no one wants to hear. Because it's the part that requires courage.   The market is crowded with talented people.   The only reason some rise faster is because they make themselves visible, memorable, and in demand. And no, I don't mean posting random thoughts on LinkedIn for three weeks.   I don't mean stuffing your profile with keywords. And I don't mean adding "strategic" to your headline.   Standing out requires intentional differentiation.   It means giving people tangible proof that you are a leader in your space.   Not because you say so. Because your actions (and your story) demonstrate it.   Here are a few real examples. Katie interviewed one of the biggest industry experts for an internal event. It wasn't a public keynote, but she leveraged it brilliantly. One photo. One post. One moment of "wait, she talked to that person?" And suddenly doors opened. I pitched myself to two major conferences when I had zero network in California. No one invited me. I invited myself. That video of my keynote on stage took my reputation from “no one” to “Thought leader”. John realized he never mentioned the multiple awards he won throughout his career. The moment he integrated them into his narrative, he stood out. More credible. More compelling. More in demand.   People want to hire those who seem in demand. People want to work with those who take initiative. People trust leaders who show leadership, not just talk about it.   So what does this mean for you?   It means asking yourself a better question. "How do I signal that I am operating at a VP level already?"   Maybe that is writing meaningful content regularly. Maybe it is pitching yourself to speak at events. Maybe it is getting interviewed for a podcast. Maybe it is partnering with a known leader in your industry. Maybe it is sharing wins or recognition you have buried for years.   Pick the path that fits your brand, your comfort level, your goals. But pick something. Because blending in is the fastest way to stay exactly where you are.

Your Next Steps If you have been telling yourself that "the market is bad," it is time for an honest check-in.   Is the market truly your problem? Or is it that you have not positioned yourself clearly, built the right relationships, or done the work to stand out?   Because right now people are getting promoted.   People are landing VP roles. People are breaking through freezes. And you can too.   If you want 2026 to be your VP year, the strategy is in front of you.   Position yourself intentionally. Network to create opportunities. Stand out instead of blending in.   Everyone else will spend another year waiting for the market to magically change.   But you now have the outline for what actually works. All that is left is for you to take action.