The frustrating career lesson I learned the hard way

Working hard isn’t always enough

Early in my career, I believed something that a lot of people believe. I thought that if I sat back, worked hard, and did a great job… people would notice. And when they noticed, they would promote me.

Simple.

Or at least that’s what I thought.

Back when I was working at Nike, I got stuck in a role for a lot longer than I should have. I had outgrown the role and I really should have been moving on to something else.

But my attitude was: just keep working hard and it will happen.

The problem is… it didn’t.

The moment it really hit me

There was someone on my team who had been more junior than me. He was talented, hardworking, and someone I really liked. A genuinely good guy. He moved to another team and got promoted. Great. Fully deserved.

But then something happened that really made me stop and think.

About a year later, he got promoted again… and came back to our team.

As my boss.

In the space of two years, he had gone from being junior to me… to being my manager. That was a pretty confronting moment.

Not because I didn’t think he deserved it. He absolutely did. But it forced me to look at what I had been doing with my own career.

And the honest answer was… not enough.

Why most people get stuck here

What I learned from that experience is something no one really tells you early in your career. In big global organisations, there are a lot of talented people doing great work. Working hard is the baseline. Everyone is working hard.

The difference is visibility.

The people who move forward are not just doing great work. They are advocating for themselves. They are talking about the work they’re doing. They are building relationships across the organisation. They are making sure the right people know what they are capable of.

Most people struggle with this because promoting yourself feels uncomfortable.

It can feel a bit… arrogant. But the reality is this: If people don’t see the work you’re doing, they can’t reward it.

What finally changed for me

Thankfully, Nike recognised that the situation had become difficult for me. I had a great former boss who had moved to another team, and he advocated for me to join him. It wasn’t a promotion. It was a sideways move.

But it was exactly what I needed. And he gave me some advice that stuck with me.

He said: You need to start advocating for yourself more. You need to show people what you’re capable of. You need to build the right relationships across the organisation.

So that’s what I started doing.

And about a year later, after a lot of tough conversations and deliberate effort… the promotion came.

The lesson

This was a hard lesson to learn. But it’s one I see all the time with the people I work with. So many talented people sit back and hope their work will speak for itself.

Unfortunately, in most organisations, it doesn’t.

If you want to move forward in your career, you need to advocate for yourself. You need to make sure people see the value you bring.

Because if you don’t… It's very easy to get left behind.

If you’re feeling stuck in your role and unsure how to get noticed or move to the next level, that’s exactly what we work on inside the Creative Career Level Up programme.

Check out more details, including testimonials, on our website here

Or use the link below to find out whether the Creative Career Level Up is the right fit for you.