Being the constant fixer builds reliability, but doesn't make you promotable.

Before saying yes, ask if this is the best use of your expertise.

Create future leaders and systems, not dependence on you and your expertise.

Your goal isn't to be indispensable. It's to be seen as promotable.

It’s promotion season. Everyone smiles and congratulates the person who got promoted. Yet, some people are thinking something else entirely. They are thankful you didn’t get promoted because they desperately need you right where you are. But you are beginning to realize what they value is not your leadership. What they rely on is your labor.

This is the Competency Tax (read my Psychology Today piece about it here), the hidden cost of being dependable. The good news is that it doesn’t need to be an endless loop of despair. There are immediate steps you can take to break the cycle and start being seen as undeniable for the next promotion.

So why does this continuously happen to high performers (read more about that here)? Perhaps........

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