Dear Ella: Is this the fast track or the more-work track?
Dear Ella,
My boss has started pulling me into more senior meetings, asking for my opinion on things outside my role, and giving me harder assignments.
I’m flattered. I’m also suspicious.
I’ve been around long enough to know that being good at your job can earn you the exciting opportunity to do even more of it.
How do I know if I’m actually being developed for something bigger?
Signed,
Cautiously Flattered
Dear Flattered,
Ah, the corporate courtship phase.
More access. More interesting work. Important people suddenly want to know what you think.
Could be love.
Could be unpaid labor with excellent lighting.
The tricky part is that both can look flattering at first.
There is a difference between being given harder work because they are preparing you for more authority and being given harder work because you are exceptionally good at making problems disappear.
One is development.
The other is Tuesday.
So don’t try to read the tea leaves from the work itself.
Look at what is changing around the work.
Are you getting access you didn’t have before? Context that used to sit above your pay grade? More room to make decisions instead of simply execute them? Are senior people putting their credibility behind you when you aren’t in the room?
Most importantly, is anyone getting curious about where you want to go?
Because development should not be a one-way transfer of value.
If the organization is increasing what it asks of you while also increasing your access, authority, exposure, and options, I would be cautiously flattered too.
If only the workload is growing, congratulations.
You may not be on the fast track.
You may simply be very good at carrying things.
And companies do love a woman with excellent upper-body strength.
Ella’s note: A bigger workload is not evidence of a bigger future.
