Moving into a bigger role: what really makes the difference

Most senior careers do not stall on capability. They stall on positioning: being known for the job you have rather than the job you want next.

The step up is a change in the kind of work, not only its scale. More scope means more decisions made with less information, more time spent on people, and less of the technical work that earned the promotion.

Be clear on your story

Every strong candidate can explain, in three sentences, what they are good at, what they have changed, and what they want next. Very few can. That clarity is what makes an introduction easy to make on your behalf.

Build the network before you need it

The roles worth having are rarely advertised. They move through people who have seen you work — and a network built over years is a different asset from one assembled during a job search.

Weight it deliberately: the people above you whose seat you want, the peers who will one day be hiring, and the people who come to you unprompted. Those three groups do different work.

Choose the situation, not the title

A slightly smaller title in a business at an inflection point will usually do more for a career than a larger one in a steady state. The interesting question at interview is not what the role is called, but what has to change and whether you are being given the authority to change it.