<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" version="2.0"><channel><title><![CDATA[Maya Grossman | Career Success Coach]]></title><description><![CDATA[Build a Career and Life That You Love]]></description><link>https://www.mayagrossman.com/guides</link><generator>RSS for Node</generator><lastBuildDate>Sun, 19 Jul 2026 10:20:19 GMT</lastBuildDate><atom:link href="https://www.mayagrossman.com/blog-feed.xml" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml"/><item><title><![CDATA[Write Your Executive Narrative Before Others Do It For You]]></title><description><![CDATA[One of the biggest mistakes high-performers make is assuming their work will tell the whole story. But the people deciding whether you are ready for more rarely see the full picture. If you're a Director working toward a VP promotion, your performance isn't the only thing leaders evaluate. They're also forming an executive narrative about you—often long before promotion conversations begin. Every meeting, update, decision, and interaction contributes to the story people tell about your...]]></description><link>https://www.mayagrossman.com/post/executive-narrative</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a42c6f53c06bdad542713ed</guid><pubDate>Fri, 10 Jul 2026 16:26:20 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/110351_879a93e069364fc0826a6ddf2b12d50e~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Maya Grossman</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[When Promotion Expectations Keep Changing (And What to Do About It)]]></title><description><![CDATA[You hit the goals. Your reviews were strong. You took on more scope. You solved harder problems. You showed leadership. Then the feedback changed again. For many Directors, this isn't because they're underperforming, it's because the promotion expectations were never clearly defined in the first place. Now you need to be “more strategic.” Now you need “more visibility.” Now it’s “not the right time.” If you’ve ever felt like the closer you get to promotion, the fuzzier the rules become,...]]></description><link>https://www.mayagrossman.com/post/promotion-expectations</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a42c4f245fef714ad46e2a0</guid><pubDate>Thu, 09 Jul 2026 22:44:56 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/110351_592433e8cc9248e4a19c15832ecba47b~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Maya Grossman</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Stop Updating Your VP. Start Leading Your Executive 1 on 1 Meetings]]></title><description><![CDATA[Your weekly meeting with your manager is one of the most important perception-building moments you have. If you're a Director aiming for VP, your executive 1 on 1 meetings are more than routine check-ins, they're some of your most important executive visibility moments. Many leaders treat these meetings as status updates. But senior executives are paying attention to something much more important: how you think, how you prioritize, how you make decisions, how you manage risk, how you...]]></description><link>https://www.mayagrossman.com/post/executive-1-on-1-meetings</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a42c9e345fef714ad46ed27</guid><pubDate>Thu, 09 Jul 2026 21:56:32 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/110351_58a7474aad024488845ed1d42c5bf850~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Maya Grossman</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[5 Proof Points Leaders Look For Before Promoting You]]></title><description><![CDATA[If you want to get promoted by the end of the year, July matters more than September. Most people treat promotion season like it starts when performance reviews open, when their manager finally brings it up, or when the org starts planning for next year. That's a miss. Promotion conversations don't begin during performance review season. Long before those formal conversations happen, executive leaders are already evaluating your promotion proof points, the evidence that shows you're operating...]]></description><link>https://www.mayagrossman.com/post/promotion-proof-points</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a42c1f145fef714ad46dbc0</guid><pubDate>Thu, 09 Jul 2026 21:55:44 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/110351_43aa8744fdda46f0865d0b66fce95b97~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Maya Grossman</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[How To Get Promoted To VP In A Tough Market]]></title><description><![CDATA[There's a lie almost every Director tells themselves at some point. And it feels so logical that you barely notice you're doing it. "The market is terrible." "Recruiters have disappeared." "No one is hiring at my level." "There's too much competition right now." You say it like it's the weather forecast, not a choice. But these aren't facts. They're protective stories.  And yes, the market is more competitive. But that is not the full reason some leaders stay stuck while others still manage...]]></description><link>https://www.mayagrossman.com/post/how-to-get-promoted-to-vp-in-a-tough-market</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a1447a4d681fe01d168532a</guid><pubDate>Wed, 03 Jun 2026 20:49:07 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/110351_51b13e56c00c4ebd826c58f059fead94~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Maya Grossman</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[The Executive Communication Skill Most Directors Ignore]]></title><description><![CDATA[One of the easiest ways to quietly undermine your executive presence is in your email updates. In fact, this is one of the most overlooked reasons strong performers stay invisible at senior levels. In a world of 17-slide updates, the person who can summarize wins. Because corporate is an inbox war zone. Senior leaders are triaging fires, meetings, decisions, and a flood of “quick updates” that are anything but quick. Most of it is well-intentioned. A lot of it reads like corporate spam. So...]]></description><link>https://www.mayagrossman.com/post/executive-communication-for-directors</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a144373183a32d20e30e79e</guid><pubDate>Wed, 03 Jun 2026 20:48:24 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/110351_5b79ad3ad09c45eeb502845a90ec7a08~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Maya Grossman</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[How To Get Promoted To VP: Make The Business Case]]></title><description><![CDATA[Most people answer “Why should we promote you?” like they’re asking for a gold star. They answer “Why should we promote you?” as if leadership is evaluating effort, loyalty, or how hard they have worked. But at senior levels, especially when you are trying to get promoted to VP, that is not the decision executives are making. If you’ve ever felt unsure about what actually gets you seen as promotable at this level, I break that down further here. Senior leaders get promoted when they make...]]></description><link>https://www.mayagrossman.com/post/how-to-get-promoted-to-vp</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a1440ec4ad1e926d858fa95</guid><pubDate>Wed, 03 Jun 2026 20:47:37 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/110351_cab8e6ab641b4048b0fbc0a7eee5075a~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Maya Grossman</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Strategic Visibility for Directors Who Want VP Roles]]></title><description><![CDATA[What if I told you that you probably don’t have a performance problem? That your work is not the reason you’ve been at the same level for years. What if your lack of promotion momentum has less to do with performance and more to do with strategic visibility? Like financial debt, it builds quietly in the background until one day it costs you something big. A promotion you assumed you were on track for. A compensation jump that never materializes. A stretch opportunity that goes to someone who...]]></description><link>https://www.mayagrossman.com/post/strategic-visibility-for-directors</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a143d42b6bdb307fe707eca</guid><pubDate>Wed, 03 Jun 2026 20:35:00 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/110351_e8ceecda6c754754ab306a7cd2096108~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Maya Grossman</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[How Directors In Tech Create Executive Impact That Leads To VP]]></title><description><![CDATA[“You need to show more impact.” It’s one of the most common pieces of feedback Directors in tech hear when they are trying to get promoted to VP, and one of the least useful. Because most leaders never explain what executive impact actually means. So high performers default to what they know: working harder, taking on more projects, responding faster, and increasing output. But executive impact is not about volume. It’s about whether your work changes business outcomes, scales beyond you, and...]]></description><link>https://www.mayagrossman.com/post/executive-impact-for-directors</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a143b32b6bdb307fe707b6e</guid><pubDate>Wed, 03 Jun 2026 20:33:50 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/110351_9c96d3a4a74a4255ab05366e9bb24ed3~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Maya Grossman</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Why Nervous System Regulation For Leaders Matters More Than Confidence]]></title><description><![CDATA[A few weeks ago, I was listening to an interview with Miss Excel - Kat Norton - the woman who turned dancing with spreadsheets into an eight-figure business. But what stopped me wasn’t the business model or the virality. It was this one line she said almost casually: "I train my nervous system more than I train my business skills." I paused the episode. Because as I've been growing my own business, I've been asking myself the same question everyone asks when they're headed toward a new level:...]]></description><link>https://www.mayagrossman.com/post/nervous-system-regulation-for-leaders</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69f8c995b27e981e27c48c68</guid><pubDate>Mon, 11 May 2026 20:37:12 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/110351_e8a840de500a4ae0868724dd92ad3322~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Maya Grossman</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Executive Presence In Meetings: Why Smart Leaders Still Shrink In Senior Rooms]]></title><description><![CDATA[You can be brilliant in your domain… and still shrink the moment you enter a senior room. You can be exceptional at your job and still lose executive presence the moment you walk into a senior room. Many Directors in tech know their numbers, strategy, and operations deeply, but when they enter meetings with the SLT, board, or CEO, something shifts. Their voice softens. They hedge. They wait to be invited into the conversation. Not because you’re not capable. Because the room feels bigger than...]]></description><link>https://www.mayagrossman.com/post/executive-presence-in-meetings</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69f8c69d7c961ad0b9fb183d</guid><pubDate>Mon, 11 May 2026 20:35:43 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/110351_1393091eff284cb795377c355e1d49c3~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Maya Grossman</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Managing Up As A Director When Your Manager Is Absent Or Chaotic]]></title><description><![CDATA[Have you ever felt like no matter how hard you try, you’re just treading water? If you’re a Director trying to grow into a VP role, managing up becomes critical, especially when your manager is absent, unclear, or constantly shifting direction. You’re trying your hardest and yet… Your VP is: Always in firefighting mode Avoiding hard decisions Giving vague feedback like “keep doing what you’re doing” Changing priorities every two weeks Or worse… politically fragile and protecting themselves ...]]></description><link>https://www.mayagrossman.com/post/managing-up-as-a-director</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69f8bc546d919e5ce86d81ae</guid><pubDate>Mon, 11 May 2026 20:34:39 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/110351_cd174c00a1364988a6d3cd706997905d~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Maya Grossman</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[What To Do If Your Boss Sees You As A Threat]]></title><description><![CDATA[No one prepares you for the moment your boss starts seeing you as a threat. You hit your goals. You become strategic. You raise your visibility. You start thinking like a VP. And suddenly… things shift. Meetings disappear from your calendar. Feedback becomes vague. Promotion discussions stall. Your ideas get questioned more aggressively than before. For Directors and aspiring VPs in tech, this is one of the hardest leadership dynamics to navigate because it forces you to deal with power,...]]></description><link>https://www.mayagrossman.com/post/boss-sees-you-as-a-threat</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69f8c330a09b06483d3dc4b0</guid><pubDate>Mon, 11 May 2026 20:33:22 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/110351_113c0e1cdc464871a558cb06c3df5609~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Maya Grossman</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[ Stop Over-Explaining: How Directors Communicate Like Executives]]></title><description><![CDATA[Have you ever walked into a meeting thinking you are fully prepared? The slides are done You rehearsed the story. You know your material. You start presenting, and everything feels fine… until you glance at the clock. Thirty minutes in, you’re still on slide two. Cameras start turning off. People are half-listening, half-multitasking. Someone is clearly answering emails. You can feel it. You’ve lost the room. This is what happens when over-explaining becomes your way of trying to prove a...]]></description><link>https://www.mayagrossman.com/post/how-to-communicate-like-an-executive</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69cb667f6d22c86f75a6da73</guid><pubDate>Fri, 03 Apr 2026 18:54:13 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/110351_c232a944006d4e6bb20d6ebc2bda293a~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Maya Grossman</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Strategic Storytelling at Work: How Leaders Influence Decisions]]></title><description><![CDATA[Strategic storytelling at work got me a job at Microsoft. When I interviewed for the role, I was asked to prepare a presentation on a specific topic. I knew exactly what most candidates would do. They’d research the space, pull the relevant data, show what’s happening today, maybe outline a few options, and let the interview panel draw their own conclusions. That’s what capable, logical people do. I chose a different approach. Instead of starting with information, I started with a story. I...]]></description><link>https://www.mayagrossman.com/post/strategic-storytelling-at-work</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69cb68dee7de3cb0060965c8</guid><pubDate>Fri, 03 Apr 2026 18:50:18 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/110351_aad3eb5d84814562894d361c17bc10ed~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Maya Grossman</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[How To Get Your Ideas Funded At Work (Not Just Heard)]]></title><description><![CDATA[If you’ve ever walked out of a meeting thinking, “They liked my idea”… and then watched it die a slow, silent death, you’re not crazy. That’s the most frustrating part of senior-level work: You can be smart, prepared, and completely right… and still not get traction. Because at the executive level, being “right” is not the requirement. Ideas don’t move forward just because they’re good. They move forward when they feel necessary. And most high performers confuse the two. They show up with a...]]></description><link>https://www.mayagrossman.com/post/how-to-get-your-ideas-funded-at-work</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69cb6ed593d82fc0deb0bb22</guid><pubDate>Fri, 03 Apr 2026 18:41:13 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/110351_7e38fc0dffda4f0c806bef4f31c33ffa~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Maya Grossman</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[The 90-Day Promotion Plan: Fast-Track Your Path to Executive-Ready]]></title><description><![CDATA[You’ve probably heard me say it before, but being a high performer doesn’t get you promoted. Sometimes it’s the reason you’re not even being considered. Because high performance creates one thing: trust. At your level. And trust is great… until it turns into a trap. You become the person who gets things done. The reliable one. The safe pair of hands. Which sounds like a compliment until you realize what it’s not: A reason to bet on you for a bigger scope. They prefer to keep you where you...]]></description><link>https://www.mayagrossman.com/post/90-day-promotion-plan</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69cb6ad66d22c86f75a6e8e2</guid><pubDate>Fri, 03 Apr 2026 18:29:31 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/110351_1333f7ddd40643b18bc40175667a6d7e~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Maya Grossman</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[How To Grow Your Scope And Position Yourself For VP Promotion]]></title><description><![CDATA[The biggest promotion red flag no one talks about? It’s not low performance. It's stagnation. When your role looks exactly the same year after year, leadership assumes you've hit your ceiling. And that's the catch: promotions aren't about tenure - they're about trajectory. If you want to understand how promotion decisions actually get made behind closed doors, I break that down in detail here. For Directors aiming for VP, trajectory is everything. Senior leaders aren’t asking, “Are they good...]]></description><link>https://www.mayagrossman.com/post/grow-your-scope-for-vp-promotion</link><guid isPermaLink="false">699de7c7bf1bf6f6a2a45ca3</guid><pubDate>Fri, 27 Feb 2026 02:37:32 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/110351_952952d3eca0463683031ab208ca4445~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Maya Grossman</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Promotion Strategy For Directors In Tech: Stop Relying On Your Manager]]></title><description><![CDATA[If one person is the only one who make or break your promotion, you don’t have a promotion strategy for Directors in Tech. You have a single point of failure. And I know, that sounds dramatic. But it’s just… accurate. Because promotions are not decided in your one-on-ones. They’re decided in rooms you’re not in, by people who don’t work with you every day, using criteria nobody bothers to write down. In those rooms, leaders are comparing multiple strong Directors. If only one person can speak...]]></description><link>https://www.mayagrossman.com/post/promotion-strategy-for-directors-in-tech</link><guid isPermaLink="false">699dea0050434423c3a56aba</guid><pubDate>Fri, 27 Feb 2026 02:36:52 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/110351_29ca9358ace84ca28aad9e4225e5b33a~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Maya Grossman</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[7 Boring Habits That Get Directors Promoted Faster]]></title><description><![CDATA[For a long time, I thought success in my business would come from the flashy stuff. Being everywhere. Posting all the time. Saying yes to podcasts, collaborations, travel, and visibility plays. And to be fair, some of that helped. But when I look back honestly, none of those things were the real growth engine. What actually moved the business forward was painfully boring. Sharpening my positioning instead of changing it every few months. Refining my offer instead of chasing new ideas. Doing...]]></description><link>https://www.mayagrossman.com/post/habits-that-get-you-promoted-faster</link><guid isPermaLink="false">699dec0e8f4f3ef74a9bfa06</guid><pubDate>Fri, 27 Feb 2026 02:36:03 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/110351_dce1067f83b74d5389aebac12b921a1c~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Maya Grossman</dc:creator></item></channel></rss>