Most people think becoming VP-ready takes years. It doesn’t have to. What takes years is doing great work while waiting for someone else to notice. A few weeks ago, I was interviewed on a podcast and asked a deceptively simple question: “If someone wanted to be VP-ready and seen as the obvious next candidate, what would they need to do?” Not eventually. Not after one more year of proving themselves. But starting now. Most people expect the answer to be about skills, experienc

There was a period in my career when every day felt like a sprint with no finish line. Back-to-back meetings. Requests flying in from every direction. Firefighting disguised as "leadership." And the constant pressure to deliver, deliver, deliver. It looked productive on the outside. It felt draining on the inside. I was doing great work - but I was doing it in a way that gave me zero leverage. Everything relied on me showing up, grinding harder, pushing through another week o

January has a funny way of making people reflective. You start the year with ambition. Maybe even clarity. And yet there's a quieter thought underneath it all: I want the VP role… but am I actually close, or just hoping this is the year it finally happens? Most high performers don't ask that question directly. They assume the answer will reveal itself through hard work, scope, or time. And that assumption is exactly what keeps people stuck longer than they need to be. Becaus

January always brings a rush of new goals. New habits. New intentions. But every year I'm reminded of something simple: I did not grow the fastest when I added more. I grew when I stopped doing the things that kept me stuck. When I was at Microsoft, I was deep in the weeds. I thought being the person who could do everything made me valuable. It also made me the person who had no time, no altitude, and no space to think. One day, I did something radical. I looked at my to-do l

The most successful executives I know are not the hardest workers. They are the most leveraged ones. If you’re a Director or senior leader wondering how to succeed in corporate in 2026, this matters more than ever. The rules that rewarded effort, endurance, and execution are breaking down fast. The corporate world is shifting faster than any traditional playbook can keep up with. What worked five years ago won't get you anywhere next year. And the next wave of leaders will be

You’ve probably heard people say, “Act like an executive.” But no one ever explains what that actually means, especially on a Tuesday at 3 p.m. when you’re buried in Slack messages and fighting to hit deadlines. During my 20 years in corporate and across two VP roles, I’ve managed dozens of high performers. I’ve helped people move from Senior Manager to Director, from Director to Senior Director. I’ve also had moments when I couldn’t confidently put someone forward for promot