Maya Grossman 💪 Career Success Coach

I will make you VP | Executive Coach and Corporate Rebel | 2x VP Marketing | Ex Google, Microsoft | Best-Selling Author

Hey, I'm Maya 👋
At the age of 27 I hit rock bottom - I completely burnt out trying to overwork my way into a promotion. 
Fast forward 15 years and I gained 10 promotions, worked for companies like Microsoft and Google, landed two VP roles at hyper growth startups, earned high six figures and actually enjoyed my 9-5.

What changed?
I stopped letting my career happen to me, and instead started managing it like a business.
I learned what it really takes to break through to executive roles, stopped making the mistakes that were holding me back, and developed the executive skills that got me noticed.

Today I am an executive career coach and my goal is to help you demystify what it takes to break through to executive roles, and build the bridge between where you are today, and where you want to be in your wildest dreams.

I want to save you the time, effort, and headache of figuring it out on your own and give you the playbook for achieving anything you want in your career.

My mission? To empower 1,000,000 high achievers to build the career of their dreams.


My brag list:

→ International best-selling author. Ranked  #1 new release for career books on Amazon.

→ 150,000+ followers across platforms, 70M views for my daily career advice
 
→ LinkedIn instructor (34,000 + learners, 4.7/5)

→ Named top 50 rising experts (US) and top 12 in Austin in 2023

→ Coached hundreds of high achievers to success on their terms​


If you are ready to level up in your career:

JOIN MY WEEKLY NEWSLETTER: Become VP Ready in 10 Minutes Per Week

Win the corporate game in 2025. Join 50,000+ high achievers receiving weekly actionable guides and proven strategies to level up into executive roles in months not years. 

www.mayagrossman.com/email


SUCCESS BUILDERS: BECOME THE OBVIOUS VP - 3-MONTHS GROUP COACHING PROGRAM

The exact steps to level up from Director to VP in months not years, without an MBA or working 80/h weeks

www.mayagrossman.com/SB


PRIVATE 1:1 COACHING

For senior executives who want to become first time VPs, or crush their first VP role.
I only offer 5 spots quarterly, and they require a 6-months commitment.

DM me for details.

Founder, Maya Grossman Consulting

Maya Grossman

Being a high performer doesn’t get you promoted.

In fact, it might be the reason you are not even being considered.

This is where most high performers get stuck:
→ Heads down
→ Quietly crushing it
→ Waiting to be “noticed”

But promotions aren’t rewards.
They’re investments.
And no one invests in potential they can’t see.

Here’s how to fix that in 8 steps:

1/ Audit the next level
➝ What does a VP actually do day-to-day?
➝ Look at job postings, internal docs, and talk to current VPs.
➝ Make a list of gaps between your current role and that one.

2/ Start operating above your title
➝ Volunteer for cross-functional projects.
➝ Solve problems outside your job description.
➝ Speak in terms of business outcomes, not just task completion.

3/ Build your strategic voice
➝ In meetings, stop reporting what you did.
➝ Start sharing why it matters and what’s next.
➝ Use the 3-I Formula: Impact, Insight, Intent.

4/ Make your work visible
➝ Send monthly “impact recaps” to your manager.
➝ Tie your results to broader business goals.
➝ Show how you’re solving problems that scale.

5/ Get a sponsor, not just a mentor
➝ Find someone who has a seat at the table.
➝ Ask for feedback—and tell them your career goal.
➝ Make it easy for them to advocate for you.

6/ Stop waiting to be chosen
➝ Book a conversation with your manager.
➝ Say: “Here’s what I’m doing to operate at the next level. I’d like your support in getting there.”
➝ Ask: “What would you need to see for that to happen?”

7/ Keep receipts
➝ Track every measurable win.
➝ Include cross-team wins, cost savings, and leadership moments.
➝ Make your case undeniable.

8/ Play the long game
➝ Promotions take time and alignment.
➝ But if you’re doing the job already—it’s easier to make it official.
➝ Stay consistent. Stay visible. Stay strategic.

💡 Reminder:
You don’t “earn” a promotion by waiting quietly.
You earn it by making your next-level potential obvious.

♻️ Repost to help someone stop being overlooked and start getting seen.

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Here is the link to the episode:
https://open.spotify.com/episode/6ebCBzi8Hi0uem5UHtzfcZ

This conversation is what happens when two former executives spill the best kept secrets about what it really takes to level up. 

8 Things High Performers Do To Land Promotions

Here’s the real difference between Directors and VPs:
Directors think in tasks.
VPs think in tradeoffs.

It took me years (and more missed opportunities than I care to admit) to understand that.

When I was a Director, I treated my workload like a badge of honor.

If I could juggle ten initiatives at once, I thought it meant I was operating at the next level.

But inside executive meetings, I kept noticing something.

VPs were not asking, “How do we get all of this done?”
They were asking, “Why are we doing this at all?”

Meanwhile, I was losing sleep over projects that didn’t move the business forward.

That’s when it clicked.
Strategy isn’t about volume.
It’s about judgment.

What matters. What doesn’t.
What gets resources and what gets cut.
What gets attention and what gets parked.

If you want to be seen as VP-ready, stop proving how much you can carry.

Start proving you know what’s actually worth carrying.

Here’s a simple test I give my clients:
If you were already in the VP seat,
What’s one initiative you would stop tomorrow?

The answer tells me whether you’re thinking at the level you want to lead.

So here’s the real homework:
Act on that answer.
Cut something. Stop something. Push something down.

Because VP-level leadership isn’t about handling more.
It’s about making the judgment calls that move the business forward.

For years, I did exactly what high performers are told will get them promoted.

I worked longer hours.
I took on more scope.
I said yes when others hesitated.
I carried work no one else wanted.

And I kept getting passed over.

What finally changed my career wasn’t a new skill or a bigger win.
It was realizing that promotions aren’t rewards for effort.

At senior levels, performance is table stakes.

What leaders are actually evaluating is judgment.
How you think in ambiguous situations.
How you frame tradeoffs.
Whether they trust you to represent the business when they’re not in the room.

I was optimizing for execution in a system that promotes perception.

Once I saw that, I stopped trying to impress with how much I could do
and started being intentional about how I showed up in high-stakes moments.

The shift was subtle, but the impact was profound.

If you’ve ever felt overlooked despite doing everything right,
it might not be your work.

It might be a mismatch between what you’re optimizing for
and what leaders are actually rewarding.

And that is something you can easily change.
Let me show you how: https://lnkd.in/gG8GnY4Y

The shift that finally made me VP

“We’re hiring someone above you to lead the function.”

I’ve watched this sentence land like a punch to the gut for some of the most capable leaders I know.
Heck, I’ve lived it.

They’ve been delivering.
Owning the work.
Holding the team together.

And then they realize the decision was already made.

Without them in the room.
Without a conversation.
Without even being asked if they wanted the role.

That’s when the questions start:

What did I miss?
Did I do something wrong?
Why wasn’t I even considered?

Here’s the lesson most high performers learn too late:
Doing the job doesn’t automatically make you the successor

Strong performance alone doesn’t create leverage

And when leadership shifts, everything resets unless you control the narrative

This is why so many Directors get blindsided when someone is hired above them.

Not because they aren’t capable.
But because they were never positioned as the obvious choice.

If you’ve ever felt that quiet moment where your future was decided without you, you’re not alone.

And you’re not powerless.

I break down how to prevent this — before it happens — inside my free masterclass.

If you want the strategy that puts you back in the driver’s seat watch it here: https://lnkd.in/gG8GnY4Y

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When people ask how I became a VP at 35, they expect me to say:

→ I went back for an MBA
→ I worked harder than everyone
→ I waited for someone to tap me

And honestly?
None of that explains it.

The real reason I moved up had nothing to do with credentials or grind.

It came from skills no one ever put on a job description:

Staying grounded when priorities blew up overnight
That's emotional resilience.

Speaking up for the value I brought - not apologizing for it
That's self-advocacy.

Building relationships with people who actually made decisions
That's strategic visibility.

Reading the room, navigating egos, and keeping people aligned
That's emotional intelligence.

Trusting my judgment when there was no clear right answer
That's leadership.

These weren't "extra" skills.
They were the difference-makers.
They're why I stood out early - and kept rising.

And here's the part most people miss:

Your resume won't tell you whether you're ready for the next level.
Your job title won't tell you either.

But your soft skills?
They will.

If you've been managing chaos, influencing without authority, smoothing conflict, making judgment calls, and keeping everyone sane...

You're already doing executive work.

You don't need permission to see that.
You just need to recognize it.

Because the soft skills aren't "nice to have."
They're the engine behind executive promotions.

And they're 100% learnable! In fact, I teach some of them here: https://lnkd.in/gG8GnY4Y

Most people getting passed over for VP are not underperforming.
They're over-performing at the wrong level.

These are the doer habits that look impressive on paper but quietly stall your promotion:

- Saying yes to everything (a.k.a people pleasing)
- Waiting for permission
- Presenting options instead of making calls
- Over-explaining to prove credibility
- Solving problems only inside your lane
- Only offering insights when asked

The truth is none of these are "bad habits."

They're rewarded early in your career.

But at senior levels, they send a very clear signal:
"You're reliable execution. Not leadership judgment."

VPs are not promoted because they do more.
They're promoted because they decide better.

They choose where to focus.
They make calls with incomplete data.
They connect dots across the business.
They influence outcomes without owning every task.

That's why burnout is so common right before the VP leap.

You're carrying Director-level work with doer-level habits.
Not good.

If you want to learn how to retire doer habits and start showing up as an executive decision-maker, I'm breaking it down step by step in my free masterclass.

Comment VP and I'll send you the details.

And yes, this is the work that actually changes how leaders see you.

P.S. How many of these are you still doing without realizing it?

6 Doer Habits That Kill Promotions

I did everything “right.”
Crushed deadlines. Took initiative.
Said yes to the extra work.

But I still wasn’t being seen as “ready.”

Meanwhile, people with less experience were getting promoted faster.

Not because they were better
but because they knew how to get noticed by the right people.

That’s when I realized:
The habits that get you promoted aren’t flashy.

They’re boring.

But they’re powerful.

→ Prepping for meetings like they’re interviews
→ Repeating your value until it sticks
→ Speaking in outcomes, not effort
→ Asking for the role before you feel ready

No hacks. Just quiet signals that make you undeniable.
Are you practicing these every day?

DM me VP and I’ll send you the 3 biggest shifts that change how decision-makers see you — fast.

10 boring things that actually get you promoted faster

I did it! VP title, two offers, under 6 months.
And none of it happened by accident.

I wasn't tapped on the shoulder.
I wasn't on an exec track.
I got rejected 17 times trying to move past Director.

What changed was the strategy behind how I was showing up.

I made one decision that shifted everything:
I stopped waiting for someone to "pick" me.

Inside a company the size of Microsoft, I knew the promotion wasn't coming anytime soon. 
So I made a strategic exit - not impulsive, not emotional. 

I built relationships first, 
created opportunities before I needed them, 
and left with leverage instead of hope.

The next shift was learning to promote myself out loud.

Not bragging - clarity.

I wanted to work with startup CEOs, so I went where they were. 
I introduced myself. 
I asked bold questions. 
I followed up with why I'd be great at the VP level. 

One conversation turned into an offer months later.

The last piece was developing real executive skills.

Not buzzwords. Not "acting confident."
Actual VP-level leadership.

Executive presence.
Strategic communication.
Influence without overwork.

So when the opportunity showed up, I didn't have to get ready.

I was already operating at that level.

If you're waiting to get picked, stop.
If you're hoping your work speaks for itself, it won't.

Here's the only roadmap you need:

- Build leverage early
- Promote yourself with clarity
- Grow the executive skills *before* the title

This is the strategy most high performers are missing.

Want to learn it? Start here: https://lnkd.in/gG8GnY4Y

I didn't get to VP by playing it safe.
I got there by screwing up, course-correcting fast, and refusing to stay stuck.

Here are 5 mistakes I made on the way up -
and I'd make every single one again:

(1) Waiting to feel 100% ready
If you're waiting for certainty, you'll miss every opportunity that matters.
Readiness isn't a milestone - it's hindsight.

Start before you feel qualified.
You'll grow into the role faster than you think.

(2) Trying to do everything myself
Being the go-to "doer" didn't make me a leader.
It made me a bottleneck.

The day I started delegating, my influence grew.
Leaders don't hold the work - they create capacity.

(3) Staying too long in the same role
I thought loyalty would get rewarded.
It didn't.

Staying put stalled my growth.
Moving on expanded it.

Sometimes the biggest promotion is the one you give yourself.

(4) Believing I was underqualified
I let self-doubt shrink my ambition.
I thought confidence came from having all the answers.

Turns out confidence comes from trusting you'll figure it out.

That shift changed everything.

(5) Waiting for permission
No one was going to tap me on the shoulder.
No one was going to say, "Now you're ready."

I had to make the case.
Ask for the seat.
And show them why I belonged in it.

The truth?

Your mistakes won't stop you.
Avoiding them will.

Success is built on messy action -
not perfect timing, perfect skills, or perfect confidence.

Learn fast.
Move forward.
Repeat.

👉 Want the full strategy behind how I actually got to VP?
Grab it here: https://lnkd.in/gG8GnY4Y

I didnt get to VP by playing it safe

The first time someone told me I wasn't "VP material," I believed them.
The second time, I applied anyway.

When that VP role opened up, I knew I wasn't the safe pick.
I didn't have the title.
I hadn't done the role before.
And on paper, I looked like a stretch.

But I was done letting other people write the ending of my career story.

So I took the shot.

I walked into that interview fully aware of everything I wasn't...
and focused on everything I actually was.

I wasn't trying to deliver a flawless performance.
I wasn't pretending to be perfect.
I wasn't checking boxes I didn't have.

I did something more useful:
I showed them exactly how I would solve their problems.

Real plans.
Real insights.
Real leadership.

I stumbled once or twice - of course I did.
But confidence isn't about being polished.
It's about being clear.

And clarity is what landed.

A few hours later, the CEO texted me:

"You're not the cookie-cutter VP.
We want you."

That message changed how I thought about every future opportunity.

"VP material" was never about credentials.
It was conviction.
It was the ability to walk into a room and show them who you already are - before the title reflects it.

So the next time you're about to talk yourself out of an opportunity...
pause.
Ask yourself a better question: Why not me?

And go for it.

♻️ Share this with someone who keeps doubting themselves.

The hardest lesson about leadership I’ve ever learned:


When I first stepped into senior leadership, I thought being a strong leader meant being hands-on.

I was in every meeting.
Answered every message.
Reviewed every document.

If something went wrong, I fixed it.
If something needed to get done, I took it on myself.

And for a while, it helped me stand out.
Until it didn’t.

Because eventually I realized something that changed everything:

I wasn’t leading.
I was over-functioning.
I wasn’t a VP.
I was a glorified (overpaid) IC.

The team couldn’t move unless I weighed in.
Projects were stuck because I was stretched too thin.
And I was so deep in the weeds I had no space to think like an executive.

That’s when life taught me a hard lesson:
One that almost cost me my job.

Leadership isn’t about doing everything.
It’s about creating the space to lead.

You cannot step into VP roles if you’re still proving your value through effort.
In fact, you’re proving they made the wrong choice.

I was lucky.
My manager took me a side and said: “stop being a superhero”.
And as painful as it was to hear...
It was the wake up call I needed.

So I swallowed my pride and started doing less.
Yes. Less.

Less solving - more guiding.
Instead of giving my team answers, I started asking questions.
They learned how to find the answers.

Less doing - more driving.
No more “5 minute” email rewrites or stepping in on my team’s work.
They got tons of feedback and chance to improve.

Less “How” - more “Why”.
Instead of my way of the highway... give direction.
My team got to be creative and even get better results.

The more ownership my team had, the more room I had to think strategically, influence decisions, and operate at the right level.

If you’re a Director doing it all, hear this:

You don’t need to do everything.
You need to get out of the weeds and start leading. 
You need space to think, not more tasks to juggle.

The role you want requires the leadership you’ve been avoiding.

And the moment you stop being the fixer and start being the one who sets direction?

You finally look like an executive.

I was the doer for YEARS. It’s a hard habit to break.
You can start here: https://lnkd.in/gG8GnY4Y

Most career advice is designed to help you fit in.

Be likable.
Be helpful.
Keep your head down.

That advice works if your goal is to be solid.
It fails if your goal is VP.

Here’s the real problem.

Most high achievers don’t realize they’re using the wrong strategy.

Everyone around them keeps saying:

“Just keep doing what you’re doing.”
“You’re doing great.”
“Your time will come.”

But look closely.

Very few of those people actually made it to VP.
They’re repeating advice they inherited, not advice they tested.

Alex Hormozi calls this the ignorance tax.

If you don’t know how to build a $1M business, every year you miss it costs you $1M.

Careers work the same way.

Every year you don’t know how promotions actually work,
you pay in time, money, energy, and stalled momentum.

That’s the real cost.

Not effort.
Not talent.

Ignorance.

My work exists for one reason:
to help people stop blending in and start being obvious.

Obvious choice.
Obvious leader.
Obvious bet.

You can keep paying the ignorance tax.

Or you can learn the strategy that changes the trajectory.

I break it down here: https://lnkd.in/gG8GnY4Y

Every year, I choose one word to guide me.
For 2026, the word came fast (while I was at the gym):
Expansion.

I started this practice years ago after reading a book that asked a simple question:
What would change if your year had a theme instead of a checklist?
It stuck with me.

2025 became the year of systems.
I redesigned how I work.
I built foundations that let me breathe.
I created structure where there used to be pressure.

But 2026 feels different.
It feels like the year where something inside me is ready for more - not in a "hustle harder" way, but in an identity way.

I can feel myself stretching.
Growing past the edges of who I've been.
Reaching for goals that once felt too bold to say out loud.

It's not just the business that's expanding.
It's me.

My capacity.
My vision.
My drive.
My sense of what's possible.

There’s something building under the surface and I’m trying to give myself room to explore it instead of forcing it into a plan too soon.

What I've learned is that choosing a word isn't about the word.
It’s stepping into a version of yourself you’ve been preparing for quietly.

And I know many of you are stepping into bigger versions of yourselves too.

So if you chose one word to guide the leader you're becoming in 2026, what would it be?

12 career lessons I learned from my husband the entrepreneur, that landed me my VP role:

1. Clarity comes from doing. 
You don’t think your way into growth, you act into it.

2. It’s okay to not fit the mold. 
When you do what everyone does, you get what everyone gets. Average.

3. You’re not “not ready.” You’re just under-practiced. 
Put in more reps.

4. Mistakes aren’t failures. They’re data. 
Use them to iterate, not to shrink.

5. No one owes you a shot. 
You build leverage by creating undeniable value.

6. Pressure is a privilege. 
When it shows up, lean in, not out.

7. If feedback stings, ask why. 
If it’s true, grow. If it’s not, let go.

8. You’re the product. 
Improve it, market it, invest in it.

9. There are no rules for how fast you rise. 
But you get to own your pace.

10. Make the bet on yourself first. 
No one invests if you’re not already in.

11. A no doesn’t mean stop. 
It means find another way in.

12. You only lose when you stop trying. 
Keep moving, keep learning, keep shipping.

While most people around me didn't understand why I was so ambitious
And told me to "dream smaller" and be realistic...

My husband encouraged me to keep going
To believe in myself and chase my dreams

And become the next version of myself

Sometimes that meant giving me a hug, sometimes a kick in the butt.

These lessons were priceless.
So much so that they became the foundation of my coaching.

I call it: 
Thinking and acting like an entrepreneur, to win the corporate game.

Want to see it in action? Start here: https://lnkd.in/gG8GnY4Y

Here’s the fastest way to tell if you’re actually on the VP track:
If your company had to promote someone to VP in the next 6–12 months, would your name come up in the first 30 seconds?

Most high performers say yes.
Reality usually says no.

Not because they’re underperforming.
Because they’ve mistaken execution for readiness.

The people who get promoted to VP aren’t the hardest workers.
They’re the easiest to justify.

When I got promoted to VP, nothing magical happened at review time.

The decision was already made because:

- Senior leaders saw me as capable of owning more than my current scope.
- My work told a clear story, not a long one.
- And I had sponsors who could advocate without hesitation.

That’s the difference between being a reliable doer and executive material.
That is what “VP ready” actually looks like

Before you sprint into another year of “heads down, get it done,” do a 3 minute audit:

1. Do you know who actually influences VP promotions in your org?
2. Have you made your ambition and value explicit to them?
3. Could they sell your case in one clean sentence?

If the answer is ‘no’, you might be on the “reliable doer” track, not the VP track.

It doesn’t mean you’re behind. 

You’re just playing the wrong game.

I break down exactly how VP promotions actually work and how to position yourself for them in my free masterclass.

If you’re serious about making the leap, that’s your next move.
https://lnkd.in/gG8GnY4Y

Here's what happens when you stop fighting self-promotion:

Your boss starts repeating your ideas in meetings.
Your skip-level VP suddenly knows your name.
You're no longer the "best kept secret" on the team.

Because here's the truth no one wants to say out loud:
"Let the work speak for itself" does not work.

No one hears it.
No one sees it.
No one rewards it.

Staying quiet isn't humility.

It's self-sabotage.

And it makes it way too easy for people to overlook you.

If you want traction, you have to flip the script:
Speak value, not volume.
Speak impact, not activity.
Speak out loud, not "when someone asks."

If you're not sure where to start, here's your first move: https://lnkd.in/gG8GnY4Y

Heres what happens when you stop fighting self

They just hired a VP above you.

Your stomach drops.
You replay the last 6 months in your head.
You wonder if you misread your own readiness.

Because it is one thing to not get promoted.

It is another thing entirely to watch the company fill the role you thought you were growing into.

Here is what no one talks about:
If your manager leaves, or there is a reorg, or a leadership gap opens...
and no one even considers you as a contender...
that is data.

Painful data, yes.
But data you can use.

Being layered is not always about your capability.

Sometimes it is politics.
Sometimes timing.
Sometimes you were simply not visible to the people making the decision.

But most often, it is this:
They do not see you operating at the next level yet.

So here is what you do next, at a high level:

1. Do not take it personally.
Treat it as a business signal, not a character judgment.
 
2. Get clarity from leadership.
Ask: "If I want to be considered for this role in the future, what would you need to see from me?"
 
3. Build visibility on purpose.
If your promotion rests on the perception of one manager, you’re vulnerable. Get more sponsors.

4. Make a choice. 
Stay or go, but not emotionally, strategically. 
Getting layered hurts.
But it is also a turning point if you let it be.

If you want to become the person who gets considered next time, keep following me.

And if you want a faster path, watch my free masterclass on becoming visibly VP ready: https://lnkd.in/gG8GnY4Y

They hired a VP above you and didnt even consider you

Someone less qualified than you is getting promoted right now.

Not because they're better.
But because they're visible.
While you're still waiting to be noticed.

Let's fix that.

No more hoping.
No more watching peers leapfrog you while you "keep your head down."

In today's workplace, performance isn't the differentiator.
Perception is.
The people who rise aren't just capable -
they're seen as leaders.

Do you look like a decision-maker?
A strategic thinker?
Someone who owns outcomes, not tasks?

Because when performance is assumed,
positioning is what gets you picked.

And if you're already operating at a senior level...

Stop waiting for someone to tap you.
Start making yourself impossible to ignore.

Promotions aren't earned in silence.
They're earned in visibility.

I learned that the hard way.

Ten years ago, I was overdelivering, overworking, and still overlooked.
My growth had completely stalled.

I was exhausted - but the exhaustion wasn't the worst part.
It was the invisibility.
Watching others move forward while I stayed stuck.

So I stopped waiting.
I started advocating for myself.
And everything changed.

Visibility isn't bragging.
It's strategy.

Build it on purpose.
Every week.
Every room.

If you're ready to stop blending in...
Steal my strategy: https://lnkd.in/gG8GnY4Y

Your career is not what you do.
It’s who you become in the process.

Most people describe their careers by titles and tasks.

What they worked on.
What they delivered.
What they achieved.

But when I look back at my own career,
that’s not what actually changed me.

What changed me was who I had to become along the way.

I became someone who could make decisions without perfect information.

Someone who could sit in uncomfortable rooms and stay grounded.
Someone who could take up space without apologizing for it.
Someone who speaks their mind with confidence.

Those changes didn’t happen all at once.

They happened slowly. Repeatedly. On purpose.

And that’s the part people underestimate.

The real transformation isn’t the title you earn.

It’s the confidence you keep.
The judgment you trust.
The way you carry yourself into every room after.

Titles come and go.
That version of you doesn’t.

And once you’ve become her (or him)
no one can take that away.

And that right there?
That’s how you create lasting change.

The title is temporary. Who you become is permanent.
In my free 25-minute masterclass, I’ll show you how to build the kind of confidence and executive presence that makes promotions a byproduct: https://lnkd.in/gG8GnY4Y

Most Directors are only doing one of the three.
And that’s why promotions feel slow or completely out of reach.

01 Value
This isn’t your job description.
It’s the business outcomes you create this quarter.

If you can’t clearly link your work to the company’s biggest priorities, leaders won’t see you as strategic—no matter how strong your execution is.

02 Audience
Your manager is not your only audience.
Promotions are decided by a group of leaders, many of whom you may never formally meet.

If skip-levels, cross-functional leaders, and sponsors don’t know your impact, you’re not even in the consideration set.

03 Packaging
This is where most Directors get stuck.
If you communicate in tasks, details, and timelines, leaders won’t see you as VP-ready.
VPs communicate in outcomes, risks, patterns, and decisions.

When you get all three right, 
promotions start happening faster.
When you only get one right, you stay busy, but stuck.

This is the difference between being seen as reliable...
and being trusted with what’s next.

Graduate corporate life for entrepreneurial freedom — without jeopardizing your income or family 💚 | Pod: UncageYourself.FM 🎧

Directors. VPs. Executives.
Ready to go Corporate → Founder in ONE Year?

This is the smart path out — without blowing up your life.

We help corporate veterans turn their employer into an investor, compress their job by 50%, and launch a 1-of-1 premium business.

Corporate becomes a short-term asset — not a lifelong trap.

The system is called Corporate Graduation™.
And it works.

You’ve built a strong corporate life. But you’re likely facing 2+ of these:

1) Your time isn’t yours.
2) Work consumes everything.
3) Family & health get leftovers.
4) You’re just going through motions.
5) You know you’re meant for more — but have no idea what.

It’s costing you — emotionally, physically, financially.
You feel stuck. Fading.

That was me.
Divorced. Burnt out.
Later — remarried, rebuilt, and free.

I made my employer my investor.
Cut hours in half.
Launched a business around my genius.
Graduated corporate life — forever.

Now I help others do the same.

Corporate Graduation™ is the system.
165+ have used it to:

✅ Compress their job into 20 hours/week
✅ Exit with runway, not regret
✅ Build a premium service business that reflects who they are
✅ Create leverage through proprietary IP, not more hours

This is how you build your founder future — without burning bridges.

This isn’t about dabbling.
It’s about reclaiming your life.
For your family. Your future self. Those you’re meant to serve.

No “passive income” BS.
Just active transformation — with revenue, clarity, and agency.

Ready to graduate?

👉 DM me “GRADUATE.”

Matt Doan

I left corporate 4 years ago.

Here’s what actually changed:

1) Mondays have energy again.
I wake up early because I want to. Not out of discipline or obligation, but out of genuine excitement for the week ahead. That feeling was gone for years in corporate. Now it’s normal.

2) The Sunday dread disappeared.
That quiet weight that used to settle in by Sunday afternoon — the sense of re-entering a system that didn’t fit — lifted once I started building something I actually owned.

3) My wife became my partner — in a new way.
Cecilia and I now talk about clients, strategy, and impact together. We’re building something side by side. Corporate never could have offered that, and it’s deepened our marriage in ways I didn’t anticipate.

4) My kids see a different version of me.
They see energy instead of depletion. Engagement instead of exhaustion. They’re watching what it looks like to build something you care about... not just talk about it.

5) My health followed my work.
When work creates energy instead of consuming it, everything else responds. Sleep improved. Stress dropped. At 41, I have more capacity than I did at 35.

6) I’m building skills that compound.
Psychology. Sales. Marketing. Persuasion. Category design. These aren’t corporate skills. They’re human skills. They don’t expire when roles or markets change.

7) I finally understand who I am.
Not my title. Not my employer. Me. The founder path forced me to confront things I could avoid for years in corporate. On the other side was clarity I never found climbing the ladder.

This isn’t about hating corporate.

Corporate gave me my Career Capital:
judgment, pattern recognition, credibility.

But it couldn’t give me ownership.

That required a different structure.

---

For those who've outgrown their container.
Jan 19 → https://lnkd.in/esvq8nuY

I messed up a lot in 2025.

9 mistakes shaping everything in 2026:

It's been four years since I left BCG. Four years building Corporate Graduation™. This year made one thing clear: being a founder isn't a career — it's a complete reconstruction of how you live.

Here's my honest accounting:

IDENTITY MISTAKES

1) Positioning to be the authority instead of being it.
I kept "getting ready." Waiting for permission that was never coming. Authority isn't granted — it's declared. In 2026, I'm done preparing. I AM the authority in my space.

2) Tolerating small stages and obscurity.
I've been playing too small. Nothing remarkable is done alone — I need multiplier partners. Stages that reach millions, not hundreds. I've talked about "going big" but haven't truly lived it. Obscurity isn't noble — it's a bottleneck.


FOCUS & ENERGY MISTAKES

3) Saying yes to too many things.
Scattered focus = scattered results. I know this. I teach this. I still violated it. Every diluted yes was a no to what actually mattered.

4) Being distracted around my family.
My wife and four kids deserve my presence, not just my proximity. Too often I was physically there, mentally elsewhere. Unfinished tasks follow you into the evening. In 2026: fewer priorities, cleaner endings, real presence.


RESOURCE MISTAKES

5) Not asking enough of my team, coaches, mentors.
I invested tens of thousands in people who could help me — but didn't nearly extract the full value. I made too many excuses to myself.

6) Over-investing but under-implementing.
I was a collector of insights instead of an executor. The gap between what I know and what I do became too wide. In 2026, implementation is what matters.

7) Being too ad hoc with AI.
Random prompts. No system. I treated AI like a convenience instead of infrastructure. This year, I'm architecting it into how I think, create, and operate.


LEADERSHIP MISTAKES

8) Not pushing my clients hard enough.
They didn't join the Corporate Graduation™ program for slow and incremental. They came to compress a decade into a year. My job is to install new fire — and make them feel the cost of not showing up powerfully.

9) Not being bold enough in what I said.
I softened hard truths. Hedged when I should have declared. Here's what I held back: The work world is being restructured. AI is here. The old playbook is dead. Corporate is a burning platform. I'm done holding that back.

---

These mistakes cost me time, money, energy, presence.

But they gave me clarity.

My "hard lines" for 2026: 
Stop preparing. Start declaring.
Stop tolerating small. Start building big.
Stop over-investing. Start implementing.
Stop holding back. Start saying what must be said.

Which mistake hits home for you?

---

PS - Corporate → Founder this year? 
matthewdoan.com/2026

Monday, your Career Capital starts compounding.

Or it doesn't.

One-time, special event:
https://lnkd.in/esvq8nuY

Here's what most people miss about workshops like this:

It's not information.
It's decision-making.

You slow down and show up.
You become a captive audience — to yourself.
You stop scrolling. Stop reacting. Stop drifting.

And for the first time in months (maybe years), 
you do the actual work:

1) You stop making excuses for your delay
2) You uncover your Career Capital
3) You decide how to deploy it
4) You see what's possible beyond the role
5) You start forging a path no employer could match

That's not just inspiration.
That's the compound effect, taking hold.

Imagine where you'll be 90 days from now.

Not just "thinking about it."
Not merely "planning to start."

Actually in motion.

Energy returning.
Clarity sharpening.
Your family feels the new you.

This is what Corporate Graduation™ looks like.

Those who've already committed to Monday aren't hoping for answers. They're giving themselves permission to move.

One decision.
One workshop.
A new trajectory.

The Career Capitalist™
Monday, January 19
$50: Live + Recording + Assets

One time only.
See you inside.

https://lnkd.in/esvq8nuY

---

PS - Registrants get the IP Builder GPT, Corporate Graduation Readiness Scorecard, category design tools, case studies, and a private 1:1 Founder Game Plan call. Recording included.

The moment I knew corporate couldn’t hold me.

5 lessons it took too long to learn:

For a long time, I couldn’t name what was wrong.

I was progressing.
Respected.
Trusted.

But every time my thinking stretched a little too far — every time I tried to hold a bigger picture — it was quietly contained.

Not shut down.
Just… redirected.

That’s when the tension started.
Not dramatic.
Just constant.

Here’s what I eventually learned.

---

1) Big thinking can be praised and still be unwelcome.

I’d offer a strategic view and hear, “That sounds good.”

Then came the quiet clause:
“But we’re not taking that outside.”

I wasn’t wrong.
My imagination just didn’t fit the system’s design.

---

2) Being valued doesn’t mean being usable.

I was told my work mattered.

But my judgment had nowhere real to land.

When your best thinking can’t move anything, it doesn’t disappear. It withers.

---

3) Side outlets are signals, not solutions.

Publishing in HBR.
MIT Sloan.
The Atlantic.
Think tanks. External channels.

Those weren’t mistakes. They were proof I was trying to breathe outside the box.

What I didn’t see at the time:
External validation was a symptom, not a cure.

Every byline was evidence of capacity the system couldn’t absorb. I kept finding outlets because the main channel was blocked.

Useful moves.
Never satisfying.

---

4) Breakthroughs aren’t about talent. They’re about ownership of environment.

Everything clicked when I sat in a room full of founders.

They had Career Capital too. Decades of it.

The difference was simple:
They didn’t need permission to create.

They built conditions where judgment could compound.
They said yes to themselves.

---

5) Staying longer has quiet, compounding costs.

The financial ceiling was obvious.

The real toll was energy.
Family.
Self-trust.

Saying yes to work that wasn’t me.
Knowing I could be far more impactful — and accepting I wasn’t.

---

That’s when I stopped asking how to optimize my role.

And started asking a harder question:

Where does my Career Capital actually belong?

That question led me out of corporate.

Four years later, I’m a founder.
Still answering it.
On my own terms.

---

PS - If you’re standing at the edge of that question, don't miss what's unfolding here: https://lnkd.in/eDEkDVb2

If corporate feels a bit "too small" lately, 
you're not imagining it.

That feeling usually shows up when your Career Capital has outgrown the container it's in.

Most people respond the same way.

They start with business logic.
Offer. Niche. Monetization.

Or they quietly reach for passive income.

Passive income won't solve under-leverage.
Only owned Career Capital does.

That's why so many smart exits stall.

The real issue isn't effort.
It's missing conditions.

You can't access, package, and deploy Career Capital into founder leverage if you don't first create:

Space.
Then Self.
Then System.

A recent client — VP in ops — followed this sequence. It changed everything:

1) Compressed his corporate load by ~50%
No drama. No bridges burned. No reputational cost.

2) Reclaimed control of time
Now works 3–4 focused hours/day. Deliberate. Surgical.

3) Restored personal leverage
Energy returned. Health improved. Relationships at home strengthened.

Only then did the founder work begin.

He codified his Career Capital into language, frameworks, and IP.
He clarified category direction.
He ran his first program and delivered real results.

Corporate became optional because leverage was no longer trapped inside the role.

That's real Corporate Graduation.
Not escape. Not dependency.

Leverage.

---

If you want to do this work in the right order, I'm running a live, private, one-time workshop:

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗿 𝗖𝗮𝗽𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘀𝘁™
Monday, January 19
$50 (Live + Recording + Assets)

Included with registration:

• IP Builder GPT (to structure your Career Capital)
• Corporate Graduation™ Readiness Scorecard
• Category-claiming exercises you can reuse
• Case study pack + common traps guide
• Private 1:1 Founder Game Plan call

See you on the inside:
https://lnkd.in/esvq8nuY

Has work stopped creating energy for you?
This isn’t burnout.
It’s worse.

Most senior pros describe something quieter.

Disinterest. Going through the motions. Sitting in meetings you've sat in a hundred times, solving problems you solved three years ago. Doing "good work" without feeling engaged by any of it.

(After 15 years, this is how I felt about cybersecurity.)

Work used to create energy. It used to sharpen you. Stretch you. Feed the rest of your life.

At some point, that flipped.

Now it drains energy — and nothing meaningful is replacing it.

That state is not neutral.

When work consumes energy instead of creating it, the deficit shows up everywhere. In patience at home. In health. In imagination. In your sense of building toward a future that's actually yours.

What's really happening underneath is simpler (and more damaging) than most people want to admit:

Your Career Capital — years of judgment, experience, pattern recognition, and hard-earned capability — is going undeployed.

Not unused. Undeployed.

You're applying a fraction of what you've built inside a system that can't fully use it. And when Career Capital isn't exercised meaningfully, it doesn't just sit idle.

It decays.

The most dangerous response here is waiting. Waiting for a reorg. Waiting for renewed motivation. Waiting for something external to force clarity.

Energy doesn't come back on its own.

If work no longer creates it, you have a responsibility to create conditions where it can.

That doesn't require a drastic leap. 

But it does require an environment where your thinking actually matters again — and people who understand what you're navigating.

I'm hosting a private workshop next week for people who recognize this moment and want to think clearly about what to do with the Career Capital they've built.

Details: https://lnkd.in/esvq8nuY

The cost of waiting is quiet. 
But it compounds quickly.

I didn’t know how valuable I was until I stepped outside the corporate system.

Not because I lacked confidence inside.

But because the environment couldn’t show me.

That’s why I built The Career Capitalist™:
https://lnkd.in/esvq8nuY

Happening Monday. A live, private workshop designed to surface, package, and deploy your Career Capital into founder leverage.

Inside corporate, your value gets filtered.

Your judgment gets diluted by consensus.
Your instincts get buried in approval chains.
Your best ideas get spent in meetings that go nowhere.

You’re performing.
Contributing.
Delivering.

But not seeing the full picture of what you’ve built.

It took stepping outside for me to realize:

Every story I lived through → raw material
Every pattern I recognized → deployable insight
Every hard-won lesson → Career Capital to be claimed

And it’s why I hear this constantly from clients once the conditions change:

“Corporate feels simple now. Almost optional.”
“I finally feel in control of my days.”
“I didn’t know I had this much to offer.”

That last one makes me so proud.

Because most people don’t lack value.
They lack the conditions to see it clearly.

Corporate systems are too constraining to reveal what you’ve actually accumulated.

You have to put yourself in founder conditions.
Where your thinking is deployed on your terms.

That’s when Career Capital stops being theoretical.

And starts compounding.

---

Details for The Career Capitalist™
Monday, January 19
$50 (Live + Recording)

Included:
• IP Builder GPT
• Corporate Graduation™ Readiness Scorecard
• Category-claiming exercises
• Case study pack + common traps guide
• Private 1:1 Founder Game Plan call

https://lnkd.in/esvq8nuY

This is a one-time, private event for people who are done playing small inside a big system.

Burnout isn't the real problem.

You've reached a structural mismatch.

After years in the arena, you've built something substantial.

Pattern recognition.
Lived experience.
Relationships.
Reputation.
Judgment.
Talent.

Taken together, this is your Career Capital.

It's stacked. It's real. And it's valuable.

The problem is that the system you're in can only use a tiny fraction of it.

Not because you're capped.
Because the environment is.

Corporate systems are designed for efficiency, predictability, and control. They define a role, reward you for staying inside the lines, and call it success.

Over time, that role becomes a box.
And then a box within a box.

No matter how much Career Capital you accumulate, the system can't meaningfully expand to meet it.

Even changing teams.
Even changing companies.
Even "one more promotion."

The system is the system.

So while your Career Capital keeps compounding, its expression gets constrained.

Your best ideas die in approval chains.
You're solving problems you solved three years ago.
Work that energized you now = going through motions.

That's when the tension starts.

Not because you're ungrateful.
Not because you've lost motivation.
And certainly not from a lack of ambition.

But because you've outgrown the container—which will never change enough to hold who you're becoming.

This might be your first quiet signal that something else is required.

Not a better role.
But a different relationship with corporate altogether.

And a deliberate decision about where your Career Capital will compound.

---

PS - I'm writing deeply about Career Capital this month. The first long-form essay drops on Substack this Saturday — it's about the hidden tax you pay by staying put and what happens when you stop tolerating it.

Subscribe: https://lnkd.in/eDEkDVb2

Career Capital doesn’t sit idle.

It either compounds — or quietly decays.

Inside corporate, decay is the default.

Not because you’re underperforming.
Because the system is designed to consume judgment, not multiply it.

Your experience gets spent in meetings.
Your insight gets diluted by consensus.
Your best instincts get buried under endless “alignment.”

Over time, something subtle but costly happens.

You’re still “successful,” but your optionality shrinks.
Your leverage flattens.
The work takes more energy and gives less back.

That’s not burnout.

That’s Career Capital being used up instead of built on.

Here’s the distinction most people never make:

Most professionals let their Career Capital decay inside systems they don’t own.

Founders decide — deliberately — where it compounds.

Not louder.
Not riskier.
More intentional.

They choose where their judgment is deployed — and who benefits from it.

At some point, the question stops being:
“How do I make this role better?”

And becomes:
“Where does my Career Capital actually belong?”

That question changes everything.

---

PS - I’m writing deeply about Career Capital this month. Saturday’s Corporate Graduation essay breaks down the hidden math of staying put — and what most pros never calculate.

https://lnkd.in/eDEkDVb2

The quiet frustration you feel isn't burnout.

It's trapped leverage.

Your career capital is decaying right now.

Not because you're losing skill.
Because you're not deploying it.

Yesterday I ran The Career Capitalist™ workshop.

Here are the five ideas that hit hardest.


1) Career capital is stored energy.

Years of judgment, pressure, and decision-making accumulate as untapped power. But stored energy doesn't stay neutral. If it isn't released into the right environment, it implodes.

Career capital needs motion, leverage, and somewhere to be used (hint: someone else's system won't do.)


2) Career capital must become a compounding asset.

Your career capital can only compound when converted into something you own. Left unconverted, they get spent linearly through effort.

Ownership is the difference between earning repeatedly and compounding over time.


3) Labels suffocate career capital.

SVP. Director. Consultant. Coach. Speaker.

These are pre-priced containers with fixed ceilings. The market decides what they're worth.

Labels come with limits. Founders build the room.


4) Career capital has a window.

Experience is sharpest when it's recent, relevant, and energized. Delay too long, and it decays.

Not from lack of ability. But from missing your window of opportunity.


5) You must intentionally package and deploy it.

Unpackaged career capital goes to waste. If you don't turn it into assets — frameworks, language, IP, owned systems — it never compounds.

It just leaks out through time, effort, and obligation.

---

This is what I wish I understood five years ago.

Career capital isn't something you simply have.

It's something you either convert and compound.
Or you quietly lose it.

---

PS - If this resonates, doors are open for the February cohort of our Corporate Graduation™ program. DM me "LEVERAGE" for details.

Your career capital has a shelf life.

If you don’t claim it, it dies.

Most people assume experience compounds automatically and forever.

That once you’ve earned judgment, pattern recognition, and credibility, it stays available, waiting patiently for whenever you’re “ready.”

That’s not how it works.

Career Capital behaves like any other form of capital.

If it isn’t surfaced, packaged, and deployed while the window is open, it decays.

Corporate environments are very good at using your best thinking. They are terrible at helping you own it.

So the decay is quiet.

Your instincts sharpen, but only inside meetings.
Your judgment matures, but stays behind the logo.
Your leverage increases, but never sees daylight.

Over time, a dangerous gap opens.

You are highly capable.
And increasingly under-deployed.

Directors, VPs, and executives feel this most.

Not because they lack opportunity.
But because they’ve outgrown permissioned contribution and haven’t yet claimed authority.

The people who notice this early make a different move.

They don’t rush.
They don’t panic.
They don’t freelance their way out.

They slow down long enough to extract what they’ve actually earned.

They turn experience into language.
Judgment into frameworks.
Reputation into owned direction.

They understand one simple truth.

Capital that isn’t claimed gets spent by someone else.

That’s why I built The Career Capitalist™.

A one-time, live workshop for Directors, VPs, and execs who know they’re sitting on real leverage and refuse to let it expire unused.

This isn’t about quitting faster.
It’s about learning how to own what you already have before the window closes.

The Career Capitalist™
Private workshop + recording + working tools
Monday, January 19

Secure your spot: https://lnkd.in/esvq8nuY

This experience is built to create motion, not inspiration.

---

If this resonates, trust the signal.

Hidden Career Capital doesn’t unleash itself.
It gets claimed — or it withers.

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Matt Doan

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The Battle

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