The feeling of being stuck as a high performer is painful!

It sucks the joy out of going to work.

Because you feel: “What’s the point?!”

You are:

• Delivering much beyond expectations
• Peers doing less are on the same trajectory
• You’re touted for promotion w/o concrete steps

And then, god forbid:

• If the manager changes
• If there is turnover in the higher-ups
• If the company goes through a re-org

All the work and goodwill you developed – demolished.

Tamanna, felt the same way.

She was stuck as a high-performing IC for 4 years at a Fortune 500.

She did a part-time MBA and helped lead strategy.

Still no movement.

She tried to pivot to marketing roles.

Roadblocked.

Bias and barriers.

She could’ve waited for a couple more years.

But she had lost motivation due to lack of movement.

Fact: Corporate growth is not based on fairness.

• You can be promised a promotion
• You can show investments in upskilling
• You can do a lot to deserve more than a 2% raise

And we are taught – your results will speak.

So we:

• Don’t say no and take on more work
• Shy away from difficult conversations
• Think about investing in more formal education

We do everything to fight systemic problems, unconscious biases, and build stakeholder support.

And if no result, the alternatives are – suck it up or be pushed out.

But there is a game around us that we are not playing.

Introducing: Leveling Up to a Leadership Role

for Senior Individual Contributors [ICs] in Technical Roles

The game involves developing the five core elements of leadership that Tamanna found for herself.

Tamanna realized that high technical performance and communication are not enough.

Core Element: Career pivot with promotion.

When she saw stagnation, she made a career pivot WITH promotion.

She used her MBA and strategic positioning to move from technical to commercial strategy.

From a Fortune 500 to a Fortune 100 CPG company.

Which people say is impossible. But she made it happen.

In this Masterclass module, she will share:

• The PIVOT Framework
• Do you need an MBA for a career move?
• Decision tree to choose between internal or external pivots

Core Element: Sponsors.

Decisions about our career growth are made in rooms where we are not present.

At that time, someone is speaking on behalf of us.

During an exit interview from one company, Tamanna was asked, “Why was she leaving?”

Tamanna said, “I felt my career was stagnant here. External companies recognized my leadership skills even when my experience was technically heavy.”

The President running the exit interview said, “Can I give you my honest opinion why you didn’t get promoted internally?”

Very eagerly, she said yes! And

The leader said, “It is likely due to lack of sponsors.”

Ouch.

That was the blind spot she realized she had and ensured the mistake was not repeated.

Even though she had a strong community of peers who cheered for her growth;

She hadn’t yet cultivated Sponsors.

When she did, the sponsor unlocked her promotion from Sr Manager to Director role in months.

In this Masterclass module, she will share:

• Stories of how sponsors unlocked promotions and an EB1 GC for her.
• Identifying leaders with influence in the industry
• How to ask for specific support or endorsement

Core Element: Difficult conversations.

At the new company, Tamanna was the only Sr. Manager in a group of Directors.

She was quick to learn the ropes, yet growth seemed far-fetched.

She found herself in a similar situation she had to deal with in the R&D life.

So she had the difficult conversation, “How soon am I going to be promoted to Director?”

The leader said, “I would have done it. But I don’t think it will happen as it was not totally in his hands.”

With the difficult conversations she got clarity, and made an internal pivot instead.

In this Masterclass module, she will share:

• How difficult conversations unlocked additional $150,000 in comp
• The ASK Framework to prep for a conversation
• The SAFE Framework to navigate a complex situation

Core Element: Executive presence.

The last experience showed her that even after being in managerial roles, there is a different presence required for a Director and Up.

So she reached out to a peer who is great in executive presence.

They pushed her to build an even stronger brand – internally and externally.

Building that brand led to her leveling up to the Director role and showing up with confidence.

In this Masterclass module, she will share:

• The importance of Career Branding
• Executive Presence essentials
• Creating a Career Dashboard (with her current dashboard as example)