After years of coaching professionals and executives, I’ve got a working theory about pivotal moments in career development.
It’s the point when you stop seeing others by their titles and start seeing them as peers.
Prior to this shift, working relationships are shaped by organisational hierarchy.
You engage with others based on their position, adapting your behaviour according to whether someone is above, beside or below you in the structure.
Your career still progresses well during this period, but there are constraints to this approach as you feel limited to do or say things because of titles.
Over time, however, a subtle but powerful change can happen.
You start to recognise that the value you bring to your role is comparable to the value others bring to theirs, regardless of title.
You see leaders not as distant decision-makers, but as colleagues working within different remits.
And that changes everything!
You collaborate more openly.
You engage across levels with confidence.
You focus less on status and more on outcomes.
It’s like a new graduate comfortably chatting with the CEO.
You’re not trying to impress or put a foot wrong. Rather, you’re speaking openly with a growth mindset.
So my working theory is that once you reach this inflection point, your career accelerates in wonderful ways.
What do you think?
Have you reached this inflection point yet?
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