The Day I Realized “Doing My Job” Wasn’t Enough
You see that title, right? Promotion opportunity. Sounds like sunshine and roses, but let me tell you, it hit me like a truck. I’ve been clocking in for years, thinking if I just did my work well—if I delivered every single sprint item—the universe would eventually hand me the keys to the next level. Wrong. Absolutely wrong.
The whole thing started back in April. It wasn’t some grand announcement. It was noise. I was grabbing coffee and overheard a conversation between two senior directors that was absolutely not meant for my ears. They were talking about the upcoming Q3 realignment. My department was getting split, and a new ‘Head of Operations Efficiency’ role was opening up. And they were already discussing candidates. Guess whose name never came up? Mine. I was sitting right there, running the machines that kept the whole damn ship afloat, and they were talking about bringing in some outside consultant or fast-tracking someone from finance who had never even debugged a system past 5 PM.
Initial Shock and Pivot
That moment triggered a complete system reboot in my head. I walked back to my desk and realized I hadn’t been practicing career growth; I’d been practicing comfortable maintenance. If I wanted that job, I couldn’t wait for them to notice my hard work. I had to force the issue. This wasn’t about being liked; this was about becoming the only person they could possibly trust to fill that role. This is where the whole “Virgo” planning kicked in—I needed cold, hard data and a structured campaign.
Phase 1: Deep Dive and Gap Analysis (The Data Collection)
The first thing I did was map out the job description that didn’t even officially exist yet. I knew what the problems were. The new Head of Ops would need to fix three main things: scaling infrastructure, the messy vendor contract renewals, and the perpetually failing cross-team communication pipeline. I broke down those three issues into actionable requirements.
I started observing the current state like a forensic investigator. I didn’t ask permission. I just started digging.
- I pulled all the historical infrastructure failure logs for the past six months, focusing on the root cause analysis reports.
- I shadowed the finance team for two days, just sitting in on their weekly syncs, specifically listening to how they talked about tech spend versus ROI.
- I interviewed five people on other teams (who were not my direct reports) about their biggest communication frustrations with our current system. They were happy to vent, and I just listened and logged the patterns.
After a week, I had a 15-page document outlining exactly why the current system was a dumpster fire and exactly what skills and relationships the new Head would need. My internal score for myself? I was hitting maybe 60% of what was required, mostly technical. The politics and financial oversight were missing.
Phase 2: Targeted Practice and Exposure (The Execution)
Knowing my gaps, I immediately started fixing things that weren’t technically my problem, but which directly related to the new role’s requirements. This wasn’t passive work; this was performance art designed for an audience of two (the directors I overheard).
Action 1: The Vendor Fix. One major vendor contract was up for renewal, and the current process was known to be chaotic. I drafted a parallel contract review process, including a risk assessment matrix, that was cleaner than what Legal usually produced. I didn’t send it to my boss. I waited until the existing renewal process started hitting snags, and then I casually walked over to the Director of Finance (one of the people I overheard) and said, “Hey, I noticed this recurring issue with the renewal structure. I put together a quick draft workflow that might save a couple of weeks.” I didn’t ask for credit; I asked for feedback. It immediately positioned me as thinking about money and process, not just code.
Action 2: The Communication Bridge. That cross-team communication issue I logged? I didn’t suggest a new piece of software. I designed and facilitated a small, targeted bi-weekly “interface meeting” between my team and the marketing development team. I made sure to send the minutes—highlighting clear, quantifiable improvements in handover time—directly to both directors as an FYI. Again, subtle, but showing I could lead beyond my direct domain.
The Realization and The Payoff
This calculated campaign ran for about three weeks. I had forced my way into conversations I would have usually been straight up ignored in. I was showing them the solution before they even defined the problem fully. I stopped waiting to be invited and started showing up as the person who already owned the responsibilities.
When the official job description finally landed, I had already executed solutions for about 80% of the core problems listed. When HR emailed me asking if I wanted to formally apply, I didn’t just send my CV. I sent the 15-page gap analysis and the summarized results of my three-week campaign, titled: “Pre-emptive Operational Adjustments: Addressing Q3 Priorities.”
The final realization wasn’t getting the promotion, though I did get it. The real epiphany was understanding that a promotion isn’t a reward for past work; it’s an early assignment for future work. They don’t hire the person who can do the job; they hire the person who is already doing the job, just without the title. I stopped waiting for May’s horoscope to tell me good things were coming, and I built the damn opportunity myself.
