You’ve just been promoted or shifted into a new role. Maybe you’re a Senior Manager stepping into a Director position. Or you’ve gone from being a trusted team lead to suddenly sitting at the leadership table.
And here’s what you notice almost immediately:
- The things that made you successful before don’t seem to work the same way.
- Your boss or peers are evaluating you differently than you expected.
- For the first time in years, you might be facing a “meets expectations” rating instead of the “outstanding” you’ve grown used to.
The natural question that pops into your head is:
“Is it me? Am I suddenly not performing at the level I thought I was?”
Or…
“Has the environment changed?”
This is one of the most common challenges leaders face when they move up. It feels like the ground shifted under your feet, and you’re left wondering if you’re slipping — or if the playing field is simply different now.
Here’s why this is challenging.
Up to this point in your career, the formula has been pretty simple: do great work, get noticed, get rewarded. You master your responsibilities, outperform expectations, and you get promoted. Then you repeat the cycle.
But at some point — often when you hit the Senior Manager, Director, or VP levels — the rules change. Suddenly, doing more of what got you here doesn’t cut it anymore.
You may might get frustrated by:
- The “meets expectations” shock: After years of “outstanding” reviews, your first review in a new role comes back as “meets.” You haven’t failed. You haven’t slacked off. But it feels like a punch in the gut.
- The enterprise lens: In your old role, you were evaluated against your team or function. Now you’re measured against everyone at your level across the enterprise. That’s a massive shift — and most leaders aren’t prepared for it.
- The delegation trap: You know how to solve problems quickly. It takes you 30 seconds. But if you keep doing that, your team doesn’t grow. Worse, you get stuck in the weeds instead of learning the new, higher-level responsibilities.
- The identity crisis: You used to be “the best” at what you did. Now, you’re a beginner again in a new environment. That can shake your confidence and even make you question whether you deserved the promotion in the first place.
This tension between personal performance and environmental expectations creates confusion for most leaders at some stage of their career.
Here’s what’s important to understand:
It’s not that you suddenly became “worse” at your job. And it’s not that you don’t deserve your role.
The mistake is assuming that the rules stay the same at every level.
- It’s not about grinding harder. You can’t just work longer hours or micromanage your way back to “outstanding.” That’s not the game anymore.
- It’s not about being the smartest person in the room. At higher levels, your ability to develop others and shape strategy matters more than your ability to personally fix things.
- It’s not about quick wins. Short-term problem-solving doesn’t build long-term credibility. You need to show you can think at the enterprise level — across functions, across priorities, across the big picture.
So when your responsibilities change, the key is not to blame yourself or the environment in isolation. It’s not “either/or.” It’s both.
The environment has shifted. And your approach must evolve with it.
What do you do?
So how do you navigate this transition? How do you know what’s you, what’s the environment, and what to do about it?
Here are the steps that make the biggest difference:
1. Reframe the “Meets” Rating
If you’ve just been promoted and you’re staring at your first “meets expectations,” don’t panic. This isn’t unusual at senior levels.
Why? Because now you’re being measured against enterprise-level peers who have been in their roles for years. Chances are you’re not going to be the top performer on day one. And that’s okay.
Think of it as a buffer year — a chance to learn, build relationships, and develop enterprise-level skills without the crushing pressure of having to be “the best” right away.
2. Shift From Doing to Teaching
Your instinct will always be to just fix things. It’s faster. It’s easier. And it makes you feel competent.
But if you keep doing that, you’ll create a team that depends on you for every small decision. That keeps you trapped at the functional level instead of freeing you to operate strategically. Instead:
- Resist the urge to rewrite or re-engineer the solution.
- Ask probing questions. “Why did you structure it this way?” “What problem are you really trying to solve?”
- Share the why, not just the what. Explain your thought process so your team can replicate it.
This is slower at first. But long term, it’s the only way to scale your leadership.
3. Understand the Enterprise Context
When you step into senior leadership, your world expands beyond your function. Suddenly, you’re judged not only on how your team performs, but on how well you align with the broader enterprise. That means:
- Building relationships with peers in other functions.
- Learning to see the ripple effects of your decisions across the company.
- Balancing your team’s performance with the needs of the whole organization.
This is a shift from “local” to “global” optimization. Your team may not run at 99% anymore — but the enterprise will run better because you’re contributing at the right level.
4. Redefine Success for Yourself
Part of the struggle is psychological. You’re used to being “outstanding.” You’re used to being recognized as the best. Now, success looks different:
- Success is building credibility with peers.
- Success is earning trust by showing you can think enterprise-wide.
- Success is developing people who can do what you used to do, so you can focus on what’s next.
It’s not about outperforming at the same game. It’s about playing — and winning — a different game.
NOTE FROM DREW
One thing I didn’t mention above, but I want you to really think about:
Don’t confuse motion with progress.
When responsibilities shift, it’s easy to fall into the trap of staying busy with familiar tasks just so you feel productive. But at higher levels, the real progress happens in the quiet, often invisible work: building alliances, asking better questions, and aligning on strategy.
If you want to accelerate your growth, force yourself to carve out time for those “invisible” tasks. They may not give you the same instant gratification as fixing a problem in 30 seconds, but they’re what make you valuable at the enterprise level.
And if you want support as you make this transition, I invite you to join the Free Tier of our community. It’s a space built for tech leaders and professionals like you who are navigating promotions, executive presence, and career growth.
You don’t have to figure this out alone. Come connect, learn, and grow with others on the same path.
