Hope isn't a career strategy

A client got back in touch with me recently. We'd worked together a few years ago and, after a lot of thinking, she'd decided it was time for another conversation.

When we first worked together, we got really clear on what she wanted from her career. She was already someone her organisation valued. She was good at what she did, well regarded and had built the sort of reputation most people would be pretty happy with. The plan was to position her for the next step.

A few years later, she was still there. Still doing great work, still being told she had a bright future and, most importantly, still waiting.

For the past 18 months she'd been hearing some version of, 'It's coming.' The promotion. The opportunity. The next step. Nobody had ever told her she wasn't capable. In fact, quite the opposite. Every conversation reinforced the idea that she was on the right track.

The problem was that nobody could really explain what 'it' was anymore.

That's the thing I've found myself thinking about ever since we spoke.

What exactly is it?

Because 'it's coming' sounds incredibly reassuring. It keeps us hopeful. It encourages us to hang in there a little longer. Another six months. Another performance review. Another restructure. Another budget cycle.

Before you know it, you're waiting for something nobody has ever actually defined.

One of the hardest career lessons I've learnt is that 'good enough' can be far more dangerous than 'obviously wrong'.

If a workplace is toxic, most of us know something has to change. If it's brilliant, we're usually happy to stay. It's everything in the middle that keeps us stuck. Comfortable enough to tolerate. Frustrating enough to drain us. Full of just enough promise to convince us that if we hang in there a little longer, things will eventually work out.

Years ago, I found myself acting in a leadership role after my manager resigned. I'd stepped into the role before, knew it well and was encouraged to apply for it permanently. It all felt like the natural next step.

Then the weeks became months.

The feedback was positive. I was told to be patient. Every conversation gave me another reason to believe I was getting closer, when in reality I had no idea where I stood.

Looking back, I can see I accepted a deal that sold me short. I was doing the work without the title, carrying the responsibility without the salary and waiting for someone else to decide my future.

Eventually, the role went to someone else.

At the time it felt like a kick in the teeth. Looking back, it was one of the best things that could have happened because it forced me to stop waiting for one opportunity and start looking at all the others I'd been ignoring.

One of my favourite lines from The Shawshank Redemption is, 'Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies.' I believe that.

But I've also learnt that hope works best when it's paired with action.

Hope, on its own, isn't a career strategy. At some point it needs to be backed by a plan, a decision or a difficult conversation. Otherwise, we can spend years waiting for a future we've imagined rather than one we're creating.

Sometimes the bravest thing we can do isn't waiting a little longer.

Sometimes it's deciding we've waited long enough.

One of the patterns I've noticed lately is that people often mistake encouragement for progress.

Being told you're doing a great job is wonderful. Hearing that you're highly valued feels good. Being told you'll be considered when the time is right can be genuinely reassuring.

None of those things, on their own, tell you whether there's actually a plan.

Having worked on both sides of the fence, this is something I've thought about a lot. I've coached hundreds of people through career transitions, but I've also spent years working with organisations on employee experience, engagement and succession planning.

The organisations that do this well aren't hoping their future leaders magically appear when someone resigns. They're identifying talent, investing in it and creating pathways for people to grow.

It's a little bit (or a lot) like dating.

If someone is genuinely interested in building a future with you, they don't usually leave you wondering where you stand. They make their intentions known because they're well aware someone else could come along and snap you up.

The same is true of good employers. They know talented people have options, so they invest in them, communicate openly and give them reasons to stay.

Promotions can't always happen immediately. Budgets, restructures and changing priorities get in the way. What can happen immediately is an honest conversation.

If you've been hearing 'It's coming' for months, or even years, I'd be asking a few questions.

What does the pathway actually look like?

What skills or experience do I still need to demonstrate?

When will we review this again?

You don't need every answer mapped out in minute detail. But you do deserve to know whether you're working towards something real, or simply waiting and hoping it'll all fall into place.

If you've got to the point where you're thinking, 'Maybe I'm not part of the plan after all,' then it might be time to put yourself back on the market. Or, to continue the analogy, back in the dating pool. Just don't make the mistake of dating potential.

We've all ignored the red flags because we've convinced ourselves someone will change. We tell ourselves they'll become more communicative, more reliable or more invested. Sometimes they do. More often, they don't. Maya Angelou famously said, 'When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time.' I reckon that's pretty solid career advice too.

The same applies to employers. If an organisation consistently shows you that development isn't a priority, that promises rarely become reality or career conversations never seem to go anywhere, pay attention. Equally, if it invests in its people, develops talent, communicates openly and genuinely lives its values, pay attention to that too.

That's where an employee value proposition (EVP) comes in. If you've never heard the term before, you're not alone. Outside of HR and People & Culture teams, it's not something most people come across.

An EVP is the promise an organisation makes about what people can expect in return for choosing to work there. Salary is part of that promise. Flexible working might be too. But so are culture, leadership, career development, wellbeing, diversity, equity and inclusion, recognition, learning opportunities and the policies that tell you what an organisation really values, from volunteer leave to miscarriage leave.

In other words, don't just look at the job. Look at the whole package.

Before you commit to an organisation, spend some time understanding its promise. Not the polished version on the careers page, but the one reflected in the way it treats its people. Just like dating, it's actions, not intentions, that tell you whether a relationship has a future.