Get Director Ready in 12 Weeks

Nobody tells you this clearly enough.

Director isn’t simply Manager with more responsibility.

The next rung requires different things - different visibility, different relationships, different presence, and a different relationship to the work itself.

Most managers try to earn Director by doing more of what made them a great Manager.

They work harder. Take on more. Become even more indispensable. Solve more problems.

But the next rung requires you to operate differently.

And before we decide what you need to do differently, we need to know exactly where you stand.

You won't just talk about doing things differently. You'll do them.

Between our sessions, you'll make specific changes in your actual job, with your actual team, in your actual meetings.

I call these your Next Rung Moves. Your move might be:

• Ask the question you've been holding back in the next leadership meeting.
• Push back — professionally — instead of automatically agreeing.
• Delegate something you've continued owning because you're the person who does it best.
• Stop reporting information and walk into the meeting with a recommendation.

The move will depend on what you need to demonstrate differently.

 Then when we meet again, we look at what happened, what you learned, how people responded, and determine your next move. 

One of my clients, Tiffany, was a Finance Manager who knew she was ready for more — more leadership, more scope, more ownership.

But wanting the next level and being positioned for it are two different things.

Over the course of our work together, we focused on the shifts she needed to make to operate at a higher level.

Stepping out of the weeds, showing up with greater presence, preparing differently for important meetings, taking the lead instead of waiting for direction, and becoming more intentional about how others experienced her as a leader.

Along the way, something became clear: her next opportunity wasn't going to come from her current company.

So the work shifted. Instead of trying to force advancement where there wasn't a clear path, we focused on positioning her for the right opportunity elsewhere — including how to communicate the level she was already capable of operating at, even without the title yet.

When that opportunity came, she was ready.

Today, she's a Senior Finance Manager at a new company, leading direct reports with greater scope and responsibility.

“Working with Lisa has opened my eyes to so much I was lacking in leadership. I have become confident, taken greater responsibility, and I just accepted a position/promotion at my ideal company.”

— Tiffany S., Finance Leader