Promoting top individual contributors into management often backfires. Their competitive nature, which drove individual success, makes it hard to share tips, empathize with struggling team members, or handle interpersonal issues, turning a perceived win-win into a lose-lose situation.

Climbing the corporate ladder isn't always the ultimate goal. As professionals become more senior, they often move away from the hands-on, creative work they are passionate about. Leaders advise cherishing mid-career roles where you can be "in the weeds" of the actual work.

To assess an internal candidate's readiness for promotion, give them the responsibilities of the higher-level role first. If they can succeed with minimal coaching, they're ready. This approach treats promotion as an acknowledgment of proven performance rather than a speculative bet on future potential.

A manager's highest duty is to an employee's fulfillment, not just their performance. When a top performer is not personally aligned with their role, a leader should actively help them find a better fit—even if it means using their own social capital to place them at another organization.

Companies often fail by promoting high-performing individual contributors into leadership without teaching them how to scale their judgment. The new leader's job is not to solve problems directly but to define what "good" looks like and enable their teams to get there.

People don't develop at the same constant pace as a fast-growing company. Some need years to master a role, while others have rapid growth spurts. Leaders must recognize this irregularity and build a talent strategy that blends internal promotions with timely external hiring to meet scaling demands.

Hired as a program manager at Microsoft, Elon Lee was failing. His boss recognized his design aptitude and moved him to a new role, stating, "You're one of the worst program managers I've ever seen, but I think you might be a good designer." This highlights the value of seeing potential beyond a current job description to retain talent.

When senior leadership typecasts you (e.g., "just a marketing person"), you must actively pursue challenging roles outside your expertise. This demonstrates broader capabilities and forces them to re-evaluate their perception of your potential.

The skills that make a great individual contributor or team lead in a specific discipline, like product management, are not the same skills needed for more senior leadership roles. Career progression requires a conscious effort to let go of beloved hands-on tasks and adopt a broader, more strategic perspective.