You're Solving the Wrong Problem

A few years ago, I was sitting in a coffee shop with my manager.

I'd recently come back from maternity leave and felt like everyone else was moving faster than me.

People were getting promoted. New opportunities were opening up.

And I remember thinking:

"Just tell me what I need to do."

I wanted a checklist.

Should I take on a bigger project? Build a new skill?

Work longer hours? Be more visible?

Whatever it was, I was ready.

Instead, he asked me a question.

"People already know you can do this job."

Then he paused.

"Why should they trust you with the next one?"

I still remember sitting there staring at my coffee.

Because I didn't have an answer.

I'd spent years proving I could do the work.

I assumed that was the thing that mattered most.

Looking back, that conversation changed how I thought about career growth.

Not because it gave me an answer.

Because it made me realize I was solving the wrong problem.

WHAT

When something isn't moving in our careers, most of us have the same instinct.

We do more.

We work harder.

We volunteer for the project.

We help the team.

We stay late.

We become the person everyone can count on.

It feels like the logical thing to do.

And sometimes it is.

But not always.

WHY

One of the biggest surprises of my corporate career was realizing that promotion conversations rarely sound the way people think they do.

Most women assume the question is: "Is she doing a great job?"

By the time promotion discussions happen, that's often already been answered.

The conversation has moved on.

People start asking things like:

"Can she operate at the next level?"

"Can she influence decisions?"

"Can she think strategically?"

"Can we trust her with bigger challenges?"

That's why some of the hardest-working women get frustrated.

They're trying to improve performance when performance isn't the thing holding them back.

They keep proving.

When the real opportunity is positioning.

HOW

A better question is:

"What problem am I actually trying to solve?"

Because sometimes the issue isn't capability.

Sometimes you've become so good at your current role that people struggle to picture you in a different one.

Sometimes people know your work, but they don't know your thinking.

Sometimes your impact is bigger than your visibility.

And sometimes you're still playing by the rules that helped you get here, while the next level requires something different.

The women who move up fastest aren't always the smartest.

They aren't always the most experienced.

And they definitely aren't always the busiest.

They're often the ones who understand what decision makers are really looking for and adjust accordingly.

YOUR NEXT STEP

That's exactly why I created a short diagnostic tool that I wish I had when I was looking for a promotion:

5 Reasons You're Not Getting Promoted

It helps you identify the hidden pattern that may be getting in the way of your next opportunity.

The best part?

It takes about 10 minutes to go through what many people spend years figuring out.

If you'd like a copy, simply reply with:

PROMOTED

and I'll send it over.

Until next week,

Jaspreet