How to Get Promoted Into Leadership (Without Management Experience)

Ep 94 Krystal

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On Career Clarity Unlocked, we're all about those light bulb moments. I'm talking to people who are still trying to figure out what they're meant to do, coaching them live to reach that magical yes, this is it moment. And we'll also hear from those who've already found their dream careers and figure out exactly how they did it.

Whether you're looking for inspiration or actionable advice on finding a career you love, I've got you covered. Time to unlock some career clarity. Let's dive in

ou ever looked around at the [: 00:01:00

Isn't as visible and forward-facing than the roles that do bring in the direct revenue. And because of that, you might have started telling yourself a story. Maybe a story that your work matters, but not that much. Yeah, you know you're contributing and you're good at what you do, but it's not really driving the business.

day is about one of the most [: 00:02:00

She wants to move into leadership. Well, at least a part of her wants to. But underneath that is a fear and the worry that she isn't good enough, she isn't ready for it, she isn't quite leadership level yet. She believed that her impact was indirect, and because of that, she was questioning whether she was qualified for the next level.

re we jump into the coaching [: 00:03:00

A part of her wasn't so sure

and had a lot of beliefs around how she wasn't quite ready yet From the outside, what I saw is she already had an impressive career. She had years of experience, very deep technical expertise, a reputation for solving difficult problems, and she wanted something more. She wanted to step into leadership, and she wanted to specifically move toward people management and unlock what she described as her full potential.

ever found yourself thinking [: 00:04:00

Because what we uncovered isn't actually an experience gap, but it is much more a belief gap

And in this coaching session, as I was listening to Kayla describe her work, something became really obvious to me. What I was hearing her describe was that she was demonstrating so many of the qualities that we associate with strong leadership Because Kayla wasn't just solving technical problems. Yes, that was the piece she got paid to do.

e was managing risk. She was [: 00:05:00

She was already thinking strategically. But, like so, so, so many professionals, and most commonly women, she couldn't fully see it because these skills had become normal to her. It was just what she did. It's just who she is. And that's something that I see all the time.

The things that come naturally to us often become invisible to us over time. We assume everyone can do them. We assume that they're not special. We assume that they don't count. And then that assumption, it can become incredibly expensive when it is the time to advocate for yourself, pursue a bigger opportunity, go for that next role, be in a job interview.

Those are the [: 00:06:00

Kayla began talking about the type of function

she works in. She was in a support function, an enabling function, and that's where the real belief showed up. And essentially, she was saying that, "I work in compliance and regulatory affairs. I'm not in sales. I'm not in marketing. I'm not directly generating revenue." And underneath that is the question I've heard from thousands of professionals: Does my work matter enough?

Listen for that belief as this conversation unfolds because once we identify it, we can also change it

If you don't mind [: 00:07:00

Yeah, yeah, sure. I'm currently working for a health and hygiene company in the, product safety function, and I have, many years of experience in product compliance, regulatory affairs and also, quality assurance, particularly, specializing in, chemical management for consumer products.

next level and see how like [: 00:08:00

But of course I also have some concerns because I don't have the people management experience. So how could I like, navigate or, strengthen. That type of skills in order to get there. So, that is my, my biggest concern. So I would like to see how this assessment could, maybe help me to, maybe think outside of the box.

Yeah. And see if it is just something that like, limited belief, or maybe I have already get that experience, but it's just my current mindset couldn't help me to get there yet. Yeah, I'm excited to unpack that. Thank you for sharing that love. I love your experience and she engineering and chemicals and raw materials.

he Sparketype assessment and [: 00:09:00

So your primary, the scientist, is a love for solving problems and figuring things out. Did that resonate for you? I think it's really accurate, yes, because whenever I identify some issues or problems that actually excite me. And I really would like to find a solution to fix that. So I think that's something that I've been doing from my career, particularly with the background of like science and engineering.

sary skills as an individual [: 00:10:00

So that's how I'm thinking. Maybe I should switch a bit to that angle. Right. Well, I hear both and one, it's like beautiful quality, your love for problem solving, and I would imagine that was a part that got you into the engineering path and now the quality control, and the safety and compliance parts.

ng? Like for example, when I [: 00:11:00

Mm-hmm. For, let's say the production volume is, it's about 1.3 billions per year. Okay. So it's a max safe system. Mm-hmm. And one of my main responsibility is to ensure there's like, let's zero, zero noncompliance throughout the year. Okay. So it's a very important goal for the team and also for the company.

were doing where you're like [: 00:12:00

Yeah, as I mentioned, like if there's something like quite critical issues comes up I would like to investigate Oh yeah. In details, like mm-hmm. What, what happens, what, what's going on, and how. Could we find the solution with other functions? Mm-hmm. And how to like, move things forward?

Yeah, so I really like to understand the principles, the mechanism, even from scratch. That's what I get used to. And try to see the bigger picture and also hear perspective from different functions so that I could, so that I could, um, piece all these elements together and find, yeah, find, like the main solution.

Yeah. [: 00:13:00

Right. And yeah, I, and also that benefits a lot to the business. I love to find out the long-term solutions, instead of just being a firefighter. And when you were, speaking about investigating and really getting to the root of the issue, you said you also enjoy the different perspectives.

tand Yes. And what does that [: 00:14:00

They represent their own interests for their own functions, and everyone cares different things, but mm-hmm. When we are investigating this issue, how we could form a collective voice. Yeah. And, to find out the corrective actions as soon as possible. Mm-hmm. And I would say I'm also already proud of that.

hat's something that I enjoy [: 00:15:00

Sounds like that really plays into that of building relationships with people, caring about the people that are involved, listening to them and understanding them before you move into the solutions. Does that resonate with you? Yes. Yes, definitely. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And this is such a beautiful combination because as you said, yourself, you probably work with many people who solve problems, but not everyone cares about all the stakeholders involved.

tions, perspective and Yeah. [: 00:16:00

So shadow doesn't mean it's less, it's just they often work together. Mm. So it's a chance that you are really, that your gift is in taking care of the people you work with and listening to them and really understanding them, and then bringing that together to then find solutions to the issues you are working on.

deeply Im immerse into what, [: 00:17:00

Yeah. But nowadays I feel I'm bit mature, and I would intentionally to navigate at the workplace, to listen to what's going on from other functions, other departments, what are their pain points and what blocks the business growth. Mm-hmm. And, and also that really helps me to, understand or get the insights from others, from my coworkers, so that I could integrate my expertise or my experience.

that's also, aligned with my [: 00:18:00

Because you have that gift of listening to every person, really understanding them, investigating the root cause, taking everyone's perspective into account. 'cause that allows you to find higher level of solutions. And as you already said, the preventative solutions and the long-term solutions.

It's not just the quick bandaid fixes. Mm-hmm. But you are really getting the full picture that then allows you to create a solution at the highest level. Yes. Yes. And that is, as you're now thinking about people management. So first let's do the question of, is that the right long-term path for you, from what you're sharing?

ture you as moving up into a [: 00:19:00

And you are already doing that in your current role. How does, how is that resonating for you? Yes, you are right. That's what I've been doing. But I think the, maybe it is just my limited belief that because the nature of my functions, it's. It's always, supporting functions. Mm-hmm. So, uh, I would consider like functions like marketing or sales.

o they're often they are the [: 00:20:00

Because it's, I think it's just the nature of the function or the nature of. My work. Yeah. That somehow to some extent, that we wouldn't be the decision maker. We can be the decision maker for our own area. Right. But ultimately, the decisions are often made by the commercial side of the organization.

Yeah. And [: 00:21:00

Money and brand reputation. It's without the work you are doing the marketing, they wouldn't even have a product to market or they would have to market something that's not in compliance and really hurts their brand reputation. So the work you are doing has a very significant impact. It's not as obviously visible, right?

dollar contract, but without [: 00:22:00

Hmm. What would've happened if you didn't do what you did? And then it'll probably be clear, okay, there would've been a significant impact if you wouldn't have solved that issue. That product would've been needed to be taken off market, or there would've been branch reputation harmed or direct loss.

think, okay, let's say we, I [: 00:23:00

All of those costs compound that you are solving because you're thinking so proactively. Mm-hmm. Right. Yeah. That's, you are a hundred percent correct. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, , I understand, like the, what I do is business critical, but it's just that, maybe I underestimate how important it is for the business.

reat insight. Yeah. And when [: 00:24:00

To point out what was at stake. Mm-hmm. We were working on this specific issue. This is what was at stake. If we didn't solve it in this timeline, the company would've potentially have to be fined or have a loss, or the brand reputation. So, because we were aware of what's at stake, I did X, Y, and Z that resulted in this.

definitely, that's exactly, [: 00:25:00

Yeah. The anti performer. Let's get there in a second if that's okay. Mm-hmm. Because I also have yeah, sure. I thought I was like, we can go into that. Well, we are already talking about bridging the gap to people management. Mm-hmm. Yeah.

So really focusing on what you're already doing, because you have the most important leadership quality. It's that you care about the people you work with. You want to hear their different perspectives. You are a good listener, and you have the ability then to bring that together to solve problems. That is what a leader does, and you are already doing it.

herself or her new job. The [: 00:26:00

And we're taught to do that. Our society is taught and driven, and it's drilled into us that that is the only thing that matters. So that is not her fault. If she wasn't directly driving sales, then obviously her contributions must somehow be less important. But honestly, that is truly a false hierarchy that exists in so many organizations. Yes, of course, we know revenue matters, but it's not the only thing that matters. Protecting the company from risk matters. Safeguarding brand reputation matters. Preventing costly mistakes matters. Building systems that allow revenue-generating teams to succeed matters.

And the truth is that [: 00:27:00

And that was what was happening here. And I wouldn't be surprised that if some of you listening in here today are doing something similar. Maybe you convinced yourself that because you're not customer-facing, because you're not a salesperson, because you're not the executive presenting to the board, that somehow your contributions matter less.

hat, because that allows you [: 00:28:00

So if you resonated with Kayla's story, I want you to try something different this week. What I want you to imagine is you are temporarily stepping aside out of your role, not in reality, just in our thought experiment, and someone else is replacing you.

They're not terribly awful, but they're definitely not a superstar. They're someone just doing the absolute bare minimum to keep the job. Now, I want you to ask yourself, what would be different? What would be different? Someone in your role who does the absolute bare minimum only. What problems would not get solved as thoroughly?

ed as early as they're being [: 00:29:00

We compare ourselves to some fictional level of perfection that isn't even grounded in reality. We compare ourselves to the things we think we should be doing, this magical mirage that we're building up of what we should be like.

But what we don't do enough is to just stop and compare ourselves to what would happen if we weren't bringing our unique strengths to the table. And the difference between the outcome that you

ales, marketing, compliance, [: 00:30:00

And if you're still struggling to see that value for yourself, ask yourself, "If you stop doing what you're doing today, what would be different tomorrow? What would be different a week from now, a month from now, a year, two years from now?"

Because that's how you make your contributions become visible to yourself. And if there's one thing that I do hope you take away from today's episode, it is this: your confidence doesn't always grow because you gain more experience. I can't tell you how many hundreds of women I've worked with who had all the experience, but they still didn't see it in themselves.

this conversation with a new [: 00:31:00

The question that I want to leave you with for today is, where might you have been underestimating your impact? Because that answer could literally change how you show up in your career, how you talk about your experience, and what opportunities you finally allow yourself to pursue. You have agency, and sometimes the next level isn't about becoming someone or something different.

It's simply about recognizing who you've already become

cause that's exactly what we [: 00:32:00

We help you see the value that you already have, and then we help you find what careers are most aligned with it. And of course, don't forget to join me again next week for another episode full of insights, inspiration, and most importantly, actionable advice on finding a career you love, because I don't want you to settle.

Keep chasing what makes you come alive, and I'll see you back next week on Career Clarity Unlocked.

And that's a wrap for today's episode of Career Clarity Unlocked. If you're feeling stuck in that what's next spiral and are ready to finally break free, let's chat. You can book your free Career Clarity call, where we'll uncover what's really important to you, tackle any obstacles holding you back, and map out your best next step.

follow us on Apple Podcasts [: 00:33:00

And don't forget to share this episode with a friend or on social media. Your support truly means the world. Thanks for hanging out with me, and I'll see you next time