Maya had been told she was “nearly there” for two review cycles. We built a 90-day case with her sponsor and changed how she reported her team’s results.
01
Where they started
Maya led a twelve-person analytics team at a London insurer. Her reviews were strong, her team’s numbers were better than most, and for two cycles in a row she was told she was “nearly ready” for director.
When we met, she had stopped believing the feedback meant anything. She was tired of guessing what “nearly” meant, and quietly wondering whether to leave.
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For the first time, I walked into my review already knowing the answer.
Maya Chen
02
What we worked on
We started by finding out how director promotions were actually decided: who sat on the panel, what evidence they looked at, and which of them had never seen Maya’s work. Two of the three panel members fell into that last group.
Over three months we rebuilt how she reported her team’s results, so the business impact came first and the effort second. She asked her manager to sponsor her case formally, and we rehearsed the conversation twice before she had it.
03
What changed
Maya went into the spring review with a one-page case that her manager presented almost word for word. She was promoted to Director of Analytics, and now runs three teams.
The bigger change, she says, is that she no longer waits to be noticed. She keeps a running note of evidence and shares it before anyone asks.