The Momentum Audit

"You can handle it."

It's one of the most trusted voices in corporate America. It's also terrible at career advice.

Should I take this role? You can handle it.

Should I stay? You can handle it.

Do I even want this? You can handle it.

That isn't an answer. Being able to endure something tells you almost nothing about whether you should choose it.

If you've built a career one practical decision at a time and lately wondered whether it still fits, that question deserves validation, not suspicion. It doesn't mean you made mistakes. It means you have more information now than you did when you started.

And information is something you can use.

In my new Influential Women article, I share a simple diagnostic I call the Momentum Audit. Four layers to separate in your own career, or in someone you lead:

1. Chosen. What did you deliberately select?

2. Adapted. What did you make work because circumstances required it?

3. Accrued. What landed on you because you could carry it?

4. Throughline. What curiosity has followed you through every role, regardless of title?

The insight is in the proportions. When "Accrued" dwarfs "Chosen," you're succeeding on momentum.

One question worth asking before every promotion, including your own: "Do you want this, or are you good at it?"

Competence tells you what a person can do. Curiosity tells you where they're headed.

What's the throughline that has followed you through every job you've had?

The article also covers what leaders get wrong about curiosity and five questions to take into your next talent conversation. Links in the first comment.

#leadership #careergrowth #womeninleadership