Well said.
There is a concept I’d like to add to your repertoire, which 34ish years ago I watched a very savvy and experienced late-career woman use in coaching a man who took the advice and went on to become a senior VP leading a key multi billion dollar product business in a big company.
The concept is simple: “You need to make a decision about whether you want to become a ‘they’. I hear you saying ‘they ought to this’, and ‘they ought to that.’ The people in those [executive] roles are just people, and [can’t individually do as much as you think]. To make a difference there, you have to become a ‘they’. It comes at a price: you will have to publicly support and implement directions and decisions you don’t agree with. That’s simply the price of being a ‘they’.”
Which is the next step after leading an organization, regardless of whether one is on the management ladder (this applies lower) or on the technical ladder (this is still true, but applies a level or so higher than it does on the management ladder).
