I was talking with a client last week — let’s call her Sarah — who’s been stuck in the same role for three years. She’s incredibly talented, gets great reviews, and has a crystal-clear vision of where she wants to go next. She can tell you exactly what VP role she’s targeting and why it excites her.
So why isn’t she there yet?
We dug into it, and here’s what we discovered: Sarah had spent months perfecting her vision. She’d journaled about it, visualized it, even created a vision board. But when I asked her what specific actions she’d taken in the last six months to move toward that role, the silence was telling.
It reminded me of that old story about the guy who prays every day to win the lottery. After weeks of nothing happening, he gets frustrated and demands to know why God isn’t answering his prayers. The response comes back: “Help me out here — buy a ticket!”
The Real Problem Most of Us Don’t Want to Admit
Here’s what I’ve noticed after years of working with ambitious professionals: most of us are operating without a real vision at all. We think we have one, but when I dig deeper, what we really have is society’s definition of success wearing our name tag.
“I want to be promoted.” Okay, but to what specifically, and why does that matter to you?
“I want to make more money.” Sure, but how much, and what will that enable in your life that’s important to you?
“I want more responsibility.” Great, but what kind, and how does that align with what energizes you versus what drains you?
We’ve gotten so caught up in climbing the ladder that we’ve forgotten to ask if it’s leaning against the right wall. We’re busy chasing promotions because that’s what ambitious people do, pursuing leadership roles because they seem important, aiming for corner offices because they signal success.
But here’s the uncomfortable truth: if you don’t know what you truly want and why it matters to you personally, you’ll either drift wherever the current takes you, or you’ll achieve someone else’s definition of success and wonder why it feels so empty.
What Strategic Action Looks Like
Let me paint you a picture of what this could look like in real life. Let’s say you’re a middle manager with your sights set on a COO role. You know talent reviews happen in July at your company.
Instead of hoping your manager remembers your ambitions during those closed-door discussions, you get strategic. In August, when the dust has settled from talent reviews, you ask for time on their calendar. Not for your regular one-on-one, but for a specific conversation about your career trajectory.
You walk into that meeting prepared. You don’t just say, “I’d love to be COO someday.” Instead, you say something like, “I’ve been thinking about the COO role in our division, and I believe the cross-functional rotation program would give me the breadth of experience I’d need to be successful there. What’s your perspective on that pathway? What else should I be focusing on?”
Then — and this is the part most people skip — you create a system to follow through. Quarterly check-ins, specific milestones, a conversation in June that positions you perfectly for the next year’s talent review cycle.
Will this guarantee you get the role? Of course not. But it dramatically increases your odds by moving you from passive observer to active architect of your own career.
The Questions That Changed Everything for Sarah
After our conversation, Sarah started asking herself three different questions:
How clear is my vision, really? Not just “I want to move up,” but specifically what role, at what type of company, with what kind of impact. The details matter because they inform your actions.
What’s my actual plan to get there? Not a wish list, but a real strategy with timelines, skill gaps to fill, relationships to build, and conversations to have.
Who’s in my corner, and do they know what I’m working toward? Your manager, your mentor, that colleague who always seems to know what’s happening — do they understand your ambitions well enough to advocate for you when opportunities arise?
Sarah’s now six months into executing her plan, and the difference is remarkable. Not just in her trajectory, but in her confidence. There’s something powerful about knowing you’re actively building toward your vision rather than just hoping it happens.
So here’s my question for you: What’s one action you could take this week that would move you closer to your vision? Not someday, not when things slow down, but this week.
Because the gap between where you are and where you want to be? It closes one intentional step at a time.
If you’re feeling stuck on either the visioning piece or the action part (or both), I’d love to help. Check out my other blogs and videos for more insights, or sign up for my newsletter where I share the strategies that are working for my clients in real time, or simply shoot me an email or message me.
