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I was talking with someone recently who was doing everything right. Strong performer. Well respected on his team. Consistently delivering. But he felt like his career had stalled out. No new opportunities. No conversations about what was next.
So I asked him a question: Does your leadership know what you want?
He thought about it for a second and realized they didn't. Not because he was hiding it, but because it had never come up. He assumed that if he kept performing, the right people would eventually notice and the next opportunity would come to him.
That assumption is one of the most common things I run into. And it makes sense. Most of us were taught that if you work hard and keep your head down, you'll get rewarded. That's the model we grew up with.
But in my experience, the people who move up fastest do something different. They don't wait to be handed the next role. They start doing pieces of it before they have the title.
In my own career, I call these moments "at bats." Every time you put yourself in a position to add value in front of a decision maker, that's an at bat. A project you volunteered for. A recommendation you brought to your leader. A meeting where you spoke up with a solution instead of just an observation.
The more at bats you take, the more chances you have to hit a home run. Not every swing goes out of the park. Some are singles or doubles. But even the ground balls taught me something and put me in front of people who remembered my name later. The value is in the reps.
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