Work hard, follow the rules, hope to be promoted.
It sounds straightforward, but it’s rarely the reality.
Organizations have limited roles, competing priorities, and complicated promotion systems that don’t always reflect merit. If you want to grow, you may have to do more than perform well. You also have to understand where you can create value and sometimes build the opportunity you want instead of waiting for it to appear.
Maya Grossman learned this the hard way. From creating her own entry into marketing, to reshaping her role at Microsoft, to leaving to reach the VP level faster, and eventually walking away from the title she had spent nearly 20 years pursuing, Maya knows what it looks like to intentionally design your career.
In this episode, she joins Cindi Baldi to discuss how to create opportunities that don’t officially exist, when to stay versus when you’ve stayed too long, and how identity can hold you back from career advancement, and how to think several moves ahead instead of simply chasing the next promotion.
Episode Highlights:
- Why hard work alone doesn’t guarantee career advancement
- How to create opportunities and roles that don’t officially exist
- What to consider to strategically plan your next career move
- How to tell strategic patience from staying too long
- What managers can do to unlock talent beyond the job description
Watch This Episode on YouTube:
About Maya Grossman:
Maya Grossman is an executive career coach, two-time VP of Marketing, LinkedIn Top Voice, and author of the best-selling book Invaluable. She built her career at global companies like Microsoft and Google—but it wasn’t a straight climb. After 17 rejections in a row, she cracked the code to breaking into senior leadership, landing two VP roles in her 30s. Now, she helps ambitious professionals in tech do the same – getting unstuck, stepping into bigger roles, and building the influence that gets them noticed and promoted.
*Get Maya’s free masterclass to becoming a VP.
Connect with Maya:
Linkedin | Website | Instagram
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Want to Go Deeper? Check Out Our Recommended Reading:
- Waldinger, Robert, and Marc Schulz. The Good Life: Lessons from the World’s Longest Scientific Study of Happiness, Simon & Schuster, Jan. 2023, https://a.co/d/05bMWU8h
- Ferriss, Timothy. The 4-Hour Workweek, Harmony, Dec. 2009, https://a.co/d/03B0jijK
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