To accelerate your career, focus on developing 'agency'. This means moving beyond assigned tasks to proactively solve unspoken, systemic problems. Instead of chasing high-visibility projects, look for the unaddressed issues that keep leaders up at night. Solving these demonstrates true ownership and strategic value.

To become a more effective leader with a holistic business view, deliberately seek experience across various interconnected functions like operations, marketing, and sales. This strategy prevents the narrow perspective that often limits specialized leaders, even if it requires taking lateral or junior roles to learn.

Employees who strictly adhere to their job description are likely to remain in the same role for years. Going above and beyond, such as cleaning a boss's station to simply be in their orbit, builds a reputation and relationships that lead to unexpected opportunities.

A leader's value isn't being the expert in every marketing function. It's identifying a critical problem, even one they don't fully understand, and taking ownership to push it forward. This often means acting as a project manager: booking the meeting, getting the right people in the room, and driving action items.

To move from execution to strategy, stop waiting for permission or a promotion. Proactively demonstrate strategic thinking in your current role. Instead of just reporting what you did, frame your updates as "This is what I think we should do and why."

The transition from a hands-on contributor to a leader is one of the hardest professional shifts. It requires consciously moving away from execution by learning to trust and delegate. This is achieved by hiring talented people and then empowering them to operate, even if it means simply getting out of their way.

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.

Don't wait for a promotion or new job opening to grow. Proactively identify other teams' pain points and offer your expertise to help solve them. This proactive helpfulness builds relationships, demonstrates your value across the organization, and organically opens doors to new skills and responsibilities.

Well-meaning professionals often take on "glue work" like improving onboarding or team culture. While valuable, this work often doesn't align with promotion criteria for senior roles. Audit your energy and focus on activities directly tied to the expectations of the role you want.