09/15/2026
I spent a lot of my career believing that if I continued to become better at what I did, opportunities would naturally follow.
And there is nothing really wrong with that strategy.
Doing excellent work matters.
Building expertise matters.
Being someone people can trust matters.
But eventually, I started noticing something that challenged that belief.
Some of the most capable people I knew weren't necessarily the people being considered for the next level.
And I've seen that same pattern repeatedly with the women I coach.
They aren't under performing.
They aren't lacking ambition.
They aren't sitting around waiting for someone to rescue their careers.
They're often doing exactly what made them successful in the first place: delivering, solving, supporting, learning, and taking responsibility.
But advancement isn't determined by performance alone.
Your work has to be understood in the context of where you're going next.
That's where the conversation changes.
The question isn't always:
“How can I do better?”
Sometimes it's:
“How is the value I'm already creating being perceived?”
That's a very different career conversation.
If this resonates, save this for the next time you find yourself wondering why working harder isn't producing a different result.
