First, ask for more opportunity, not for more money or a “better” title.
Second, commit to closing the gap between your current level of impact – both your technical skills and your relational/interpersonal ones – and the next level up. And then do it. In other words, create an outstanding development plan and then work that plan.
Third, be willing to leave a good thing for a new opportunity. The next level roles where you are will always be more limited than the ones “out there.” You’ll grow from the stretch of the change and your old company will be known as a place that cultivates talent like yours.
Finally, never forget that you own your career and nobody else does. When you decide to take 100% responsibility for that, your mind and heart will be more open and alive and the world will expand for you in ways you could never imagine.
DAVID BERRY is the author of “A More Daring Life: Finding Voice at the Crossroads of Change” and the founder of RULE13 Learning. He speaks and writes about the complexity of leading in a changing world.
