Role clarity - fit - opportunity cost

Before we build a strategy for getting ahead, we need to answer the most fundamental question: Is this the right arena? Most professionals skip this conversation — and spend years climbing the wrong ladder brilliantly.

This module provides a structured framework for honestly evaluating your current role and deciding whether to go deeper or move elsewhere.

WHAT WE COVER

The four dimensions of job fit: growth, impact, culture, and compensation — and how to score yours honestly

• How to identify whether you're underperforming, coasting, or simply in the wrong role

• The opportunity cost calculation: what is staying costing you in comp, growth, and career trajectory

• How to make a clear stay-or-go decision based on evidence, not anxiety

DELIVERABLE

Job Fit Scorecard — a written evaluation of your current role across all four dimensions

Carnegie principle applied: "The person who seeks wisdom from others is far stronger than the one who pretends to have all the answers." This module begins with radical honesty — about what you want and whether you're on the path to it.

Positioning - visibility - the VP transition

Getting to the next level isn't about working harder — it's about being seen differently. This module builds your 12-to-24-month advancement roadmap: what you need to be known for, who needs to know it, and how to position yourself for the role you want before it's even open.

WHAT WE COVER

• The VP-level identity shift: what it means to lead instead of execute, and how to demonstrate it before you have the title

• Visibility strategy: how to be known for the right things by the right people without playing politics

• The narrative you need: how senior leaders above you should describe you in a succession conversation — and how to shape that narrative now

• Identifying and closing the specific gaps between where you are and where you want to be

DELIVERABLE

12-month Career Advancement Roadmap with milestone check-ins

Carnegie principle applied: "Talk in terms of the other person's interests." Your advancement case is always built around the organisation's needs — never around your wants. This module shows you exactly how to frame it.

Market value - internal raises - total compensation

Most senior tech professionals have never had a real compensation conversation. They've accepted what was offered, taken modest annual increases, and assumed that's what the market dictates. This module teaches you how to understand your true market value, raise the conversation internally with confidence, and secure comp that reflects what you're actually worth — with or without an external offer.

WHAT WE COVER

Benchmarking your total comp against real market data — base, bonus, equity, and benefits — for your specific role, level, and company stage

• How to raise a compensation conversation internally without it feeling like a threat or an ultimatum

• The six compensation levers at the SM/VP level — and which ones your company has the most flexibility on

• How to time the conversation for maximum leverage — and what triggers to use that make yes easier for your manager

• Scripted language for the conversation, tailored to your specific situation

DELIVERABLE

Compensation Strategy Document + scripted conversation guide

Carnegie principle applied: "The only way to get the best of an argument is to avoid it." We don't negotiate through confrontation — we negotiate through clarity, market data, and framing the ask as a shared interest.

Promotion strategy - timing - the case for you

Promotions don't go to the most deserving person in the room. They go to the person who has been clearly positioned for the role, whose manager is actively advocating for them, and who has made the case so clearly that saying yes is easier than saying not yet. This module builds that case from the ground up.

WHATE WE COVER

• How promotion decisions actually get made at your company — and what most candidates don't know about the process

• Building a promotion case: the evidence, the narrative, and the timing that makes it undeniable

• How to have the promotion conversation — with your manager, with HR, and indirectly with the people who influence the decision

• What to do when you've been passed over — how to get honest feedback and reset your trajectory without losing momentum

• When to stop waiting and use an external offer to force the conversation

DELIVERABLE

Written promotion case document + conversation script

Carnegie principle applied: "Let the other person feel that the idea is his or hers." The best promotion conversations end with your manager feeling like they championed you — not like you lobbied them.

Upward influence - executive relationships - political intelligence

The most underrated skill at the senior level — and the one that separates the people who advance from the people who plateau.

Managing upward isn't political maneuvering. It's learning how to communicate with the people above you in a way that builds trust, removes obstacles, and makes you the obvious choice when opportunities arise. This module teaches you how to do it authentically, using Carnegie's influence framework.

WHAT WE COVER

• How to understand what your manager actually cares about — and how to align your work with their priorities in a way that feels genuine

• The skip-level relationship: how to build a genuine relationship with your manager's manager without undermining your direct manager

• How to deliver difficult news upward without losing credibility or trust

• Managing a difficult manager: how to change a broken dynamic, document your impact, and protect your career if the relationship can't be fixed

• How to become the person senior leaders think of first when an opportunity opens up

DELIVERABLE

Stakeholder influence map + upward communication playbook

Carnegie principle applied: "You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you." Managing upward starts with genuine curiosity about what the people above you are trying to solve.