From Middle Management to C-Level: The Secret Sauce for Turbo-Charging Your Career

We all start from entry level, steadily rising the ranks, and making it to manager level. But why is it that only a select few become executives? It’s not purely hard work and years of experience, if that’s what you think.

From my conversation with Keith Powell, COO of The Athenian School and C-level executive extraordinaire, there’s a secret sauce that can fast track your promotion. It’s all about being “tapped” for an opportunity – performing on a high level, building a network with higher-ups, and being noticed by them.?

It’s not luck. While the idea sounds serendipitous, it’s mostly intentional – planned, executed, and continuously developed for years. For women and people of color especially, this secret sauce is essential in combating systemic biases and institutional friction.

SYCK Advice for Accelerating Your Career

1.Know your market value

This may be where might your acceleration journey starts, because if you discover that you’re actually underpaid, you’ll be pissed, spurring you into action of finally doing something about it.?

To know how much you’re actually worth, be friends with recruiters, and check salary.com or other transparency platforms to build a bigger picture of how much you’re supposed to be paid.

2. Make sure your marketing collateral is tight

This includes your resume, your LinkedIn, other social media, down to how you perform in interviews. These are a lot, but ultimately, everything boils down to your story. What are your passions? What motivates you? Why are you in your industry? It should shine through in your collateral.?

3. Proactively invest in your network

“This is a relationship business, at the end of the day,” said Keith. Go beyond casually making friends, and intentionally seek out select people who can help you and vice versa. Like Keith, you can list down all your curiosities, each with a corresponding person you can learn from.

It also doesn’t have to be formal. Through a coffee chat, simply ask about their jobs and offer any help you can give to make their lives easier. It’s an honest way of getting them to remember you.

One day, these people might serve as your tribe – those who can lift you up, open doors for you, and be who you confide in, especially if you’re a minority.?

4. Get sponsors

A sponsor lays the foundation for everything – your plan, progress, perspectives, and opportunities. Sponsorship is the secret sauce, the biggest thing that can move you from middle management to executive ranks, Keith shared.

One out of five white employees have a sponsor, but for black employees, that’s only one out of twenty. So how do you circumvent this?

First, you have to overperform beyond the job description. Second, find a way to tie in your passions with the company’s. It doesn’t even have to be related to your role. Whether it's providing extra training or strengthening community efforts, it just has to be unique, and can make a difference.

This earns you – and the company – high visibility, making this a powerful piece in accelerating your career.

5. Be flexible

At the beginning of your career, be the most flexible you can before you have family to consider. Say yes to new opportunities, be open to relocation, and even to that recruiter call.?

There’s no harm in entertaining interviews. It’s not “cheating.” At the very least, it serves as a practice so you can exercise that muscle. Besides, you’re in a place of power since you already have a job. The other company has to prove that they’re better, not you.

6. Don’t take the first offer

Speaking from his finance background, Keith revealed that the offer is usually given at the 30-50 percentile of what’s budgeted for you. Push more and see what they can offer you. “They’re already in love with you,” urged Keith, so there’s no harm in asking.

Statistics show that you might be able to get somewhere between three to seven percent more. If they say no, you can potentially add more short-term incentives like more vacation days.

7. Manage your employee development plan

Keith cannot stress this enough. Proactively and continuously develop a plan to rise through the ranks, otherwise you risk being stuck in your current role. On every one-on-one session with your manager, update him/her on your progress, if you’re meeting expectations, or what you need to work on, so you know you’re on track for success.

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