Working harder was not the answer

A high-performing leader wanted the next role.

Her instinct was familiar:

Do more.

Know more.

Perform better.

Become even more dependable.

But she was already doing many of those things.

So the question became:

“If you already had the next role, how would you be operating differently today?”

That moved the conversation away from proving readiness and toward practising it.

Less focus on personal output.

More attention to direction, sponsorship, leverage, perspective and the quality of decisions around her.

The next role was not simply asking for more of the old behaviour.

It was asking for a different way of operating.