Welcome to Work Tip Wednesday, where every Wednesday I get ready and share one lesson I've learned about career, leadership, and success from working at some of the world's biggest brands.
At 29, I was a senior manager, and I was happy. I liked my responsibilities and I was good at them. I still wanted the promotion. I knew I wanted to start a family soon, and I wanted to make more money and take the step up before that chapter began. Wanting more while you already like where you are is allowed, and going after it early, ahead of a big life change, turned out to be one of the smartest career moves I made. Here are the two things I did.
The Real Challenge
Most people wait to pursue a promotion until they are unhappy, underpaid, or already halfway out the door. The best moment is the opposite one, when you are doing well and thinking a step ahead, because that is when you have the standing and the runway to set it up properly. The problem is that two quiet gaps stop capable people from ever starting.
The first is that they have never actually defined what they want, beyond a vague sense that they would like to move up. The second is that even when they do know, they never say it out loud to anyone who could help. You cannot plan for a target you have not named, and no one can advocate for a goal they do not know you have. The two moves below close both gaps, and together they are what turned my wish into an actual plan.
1. Name the Actual Job You Want
"I want to be a Director" is a title with no substance behind it yet, which is why it never turns into anything. Real clarity starts on paper, so take out a sheet and journal it. Write down the specific title, the responsibilities, and the compensation you want next. Then sit with the harder questions that turn a wish into a plan.
Ask yourself what you are missing for your company to actually put you in that seat. What would be different about how you operate at that level? What would you own that you do not own now? What decisions would be yours to make? What would people need to trust you with before they handed you the role? Write real answers to each one.
This exercise does two things at once. It turns "I want to move up" into a concrete destination you can work backward from, with named gaps you can start closing this quarter. And it surfaces the honest distance between where you are and where you want to be, which is information you need long before a promotion conversation, not during one. Most people skip this step because it is uncomfortable to look directly at the gaps. Looking at them is exactly what lets you close them on your own timeline instead of being told about them in a review.
2. Tell Someone Who Can Help You Get There
Clarity in your journal changes nothing until it reaches a person who can act on it. You do not need to announce to the whole office that you want a promotion. You do need the specific people who influence your career to know, because they cannot advocate for something they do not know you want.
Here is where most people undersell themselves. They gesture at ambition instead of naming it. Compare these two sentences in a conversation with your manager or a senior sponsor:
Instead of: "I'd love to keep growing here." Try: "My goal is to move into a Director role. I'd love your perspective on the one or two gaps I need to close to be seriously considered for that level."
The first is pleasant and forgettable. The second states your destination clearly and, just as importantly, invites them into the plan by asking for the specific gaps. That question does something powerful. It signals seriousness, it hands you the exact criteria you need to meet while you still have time to meet them, and it turns a person with influence into a partner who is now quietly watching for your progress on the things they named. You have made your ambition a shared project instead of a private wish.
The Bottom Line
You can love your job and still want the next one, and the best time to go after it is while you are doing well and thinking ahead. Name the actual role on paper, with the title, comp, and honest gaps spelled out, then tell someone who can help and ask them for the one or two things you need to close. Clarity plus a direct conversation is how a promotion stops being something you hope lands and becomes something you are actively building toward.
Jeanelle Teves is the Chief Commercial Officer at Bugaboo and founder of Work Lunch. She teaches communication, presence, and strategic leadership for ambitious professionals.
