To those with managerial experience who strive to do more, the climb does not always matter. It’s more about finding a way to scale your impact to thrive in your career.

I work with many seasoned managers who are hungry to do more, learn more, and challenge themselves while finding new ways to contribute to their organizations without climbing the ladder. In many cases, they’re not interested in taking on the headaches of senior management, so promotions aren’t primary drivers.

If you truly want to thrive and scale your impact, you’ll invest in yourself and do the heavy lifting essential for growth.

Six areas to develop to scale your impact and thrive

(With pointers to resources for you to go more in-depth.)

1. Managing (and developing managers)

Shifting from a front-line manager to a manager of managers (MOM) is surprisingly challenging. The managers you develop require careful selection, ongoing coaching, and, importantly, a willingness for you to let go. One of the big mistakes too many MOMs make is struggling to let go of their work and effectively micromanaging their new managers. Developing as a MOM is a challenging growth experience. There is a sea change in responsibilities, and it’s tricky.

2, Learning to lead outside the lines

It’s easy to develop myopia and focus exclusively on your function, group, or silo. In reality, your ability to scale your impact will take place mainly outside the lines and boundaries of your formal organizational group. Those motivated to scale their impact must cultivate the skills of diplomats and coalition builders while growing their networks with individuals and groups in power. I call this Gray-Zone leadership, and any individual motivated to grow their impact must master the skills essential for success in the gray-zones.

3. Developing as strategists with the ability to turn ideas into actions

This area—developing as a strategist—is likely the most abstract of the skills those seeking to scale their impact must cultivate. It’s also the most important. Gaining a seat at the strategy table in your organization requires understanding how your organization creates value for customers and generates profits. To do this, you must master the tools of strategy and cultivate your strategic foresight. Effectively, you need to learn to think critically and differently about the world and how it impacts your world.

Critical thinking is essential, as is the ability to turn ideas into insights and actions, and then guide the adoption of those insights. Strategy initiatives are experiments manifested in agile projects. The ideas mostly never work as planned, yet the insights gained and the adjustments made to improve outcomes are critical. You scale your impact by cultivating the skills to help your organization align, execute, and renew.

4, Reframing your view on and approach to power and politics in your organization

If you want to scale your impact, you don’t get to say, “I don’t want to play those games.” Of course, I don’t want you to play games, but learning about and engaging with your organization’s political environment is essential to scaling your impact. (Again, a return trip to the Influence section here.)

Reality says that wherever a group organizes, a political environment emerges. Some groups and individuals decide what gets done and who does what. So, what does a person who wants to do more or climb higher without compromising their values do?

First, reframe your definition of organizational politics as organizational relationships, and let go of the fear that you will need to engage in smoke-filled backroom discussions. That’s not how it works. Instead, focus on building your influence and cultivating clean power. This reframe is essential for finding ways to climb or contribute.

• Strive to build relationships with those in your sphere who influence what gets done and who does what.
• Connect with people in your network, particularly those who assert the influence I described above, and learn what initiatives, goals, and programs are important to them. Knowledge is indeed power.
• Recognize the power of reciprocity in our organizations and grow your Reciprocity Account. Effectively, if you do something for someone for an initiative vital to them, they’ll owe you one.
• Become great at leading outside the lines, as I mentioned above. Importantly, make sure you treat the people helping you as heroes.

5. Strengthen your decision-making muscles

As a child, my mother reminded me, “You are what you eat,” which pushed me to eat more vegetables. The corporate equivalent is “You are only as good as their perception of your decision-making skills.”

It’s a fact of life that someone must choose you to take on that big initiative or lead the special project team. Their choice is a function of their trust in your ability to make good decisions, particularly in the face of ambiguity and uncertainty. It’s imperative to learn to frame and reframe problems as you make decisions. You need to understand the biases and traps that too many fall into. And, importantly, it’s essential to revisit your decisions and identify what worked and where your assumptions or thinking might have led you astray.

Remember, they choose you to do more because they trust you to make the right decisions. It’s essential to strengthen your decision-making skills.

6. Cultivate your leadership courage

For every individual striving to contribute at a higher level, there are moments of truth when you either lay it on the line or shrink in the face of a meaningful challenge. I count a few key moments in my career where my decisions placed me in (career) harm’s way but were essential to the organization and our team. From derailing a bad merger to betting the firm on a new strategy to crying b.s. on a CEO not upholding the firm’s values, these were all situations where I might have been fired. Fortunately, I had earned the trust of the people in power to make significant, effective decisions and gained their support.

Your decision dilemmas will differ from mine, and their scale will vary relative to your level and role. However, you will be tested if you strive to scale your impact. Find the leadership courage to do the right thing or go home.

The Bottom Line for Now:

There’s more to scaling your impact, but that’s a good list to start with. It’s possible to thrive in your career without climbing the ladder. Whether you are developing as a manager of managers or serving as a senior leader navigating your firm’s existential issues, all of the above apply, just to different degrees. Leading formally and informally at scale, developing your strategic thinking skills, operationalizing ideas, strengthening your coalition-building, and facing the realities of your organization’s political environment are all key areas to focus. It’s heavy lifting.

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The Manager of Managers and Emerging Executive Accelerator programs teach and coach you for each of these important areas and more. Additionally, some of the world’s leading experts join us to share their ideas and approaches. Check out an upcoming cohort or drop me a note at [email protected] to discuss a program for your team.