Stop Waiting for Your Turn - Playing it Safe is Costing us Career Success

Waiting around for someone to recognize our worth isn’t a strategy. It's a gamble. And most of the time a losing one.

When I began my career, I was told that success looked like this - first, you become an analyst, then a senior analyst, and so on, moving up one step at a time in a well-defined hierarchy.

In other words, keep your head down, work hard, and wait your turn. And at some point rewards will follow.

But as I focused on stepping on one rung than the next, my males colleagues were bypassing all the steps - the same ones I was trying to maneuver one at a time! They weren't waiting for promotions to be handed to them or for someone to acknowledge their hard work. They were advocating for themselves, strategically networking, and positioning themselves as the right fit for the next big opportunity.

I don't blame them of course - I was the one who had assumed the rules were mandatory!

Over the years I have learned, real growth comes from taking calculated risks, speaking up, and positioning yourself as the high-impact leader I know I am. And if an organization or position no longer aligns with my leadership or my aspirations, then it is ok to seek alignment elsewhere.

Someone tapping us on our shoulders or someone recognizing us without us asking for it is a nice feeling. No doubt. But leaders are busy. You may be waiting a long time to feel that feeling if you are not proactive. I am not saying be arrogant or entitled. But own your achievements and showcase them. Don't wait.

You must steer your career, don't hope someone will steer it for you.

If you are someone who has been conditioned to think like I was—to believe that if you simply do a good job, someone will eventually recognize your efforts—you’re taking a huge gamble with something as important as your career. The idea that hard work alone will automatically lead to growth, recognition, and higher compensation is a comforting story, but it’s not a strategy.

Think about all the things you don’t control in a large, complex organization—a massive behemoth where decisions are often made far above your head. You may have done an outstanding job, exceeded expectations, and delivered impressive results, but then there’s a sudden change in the leadership structure, or the company shifts to a new vision for the future. Suddenly, all the hard work you put in and all the successes you achieved may no longer carry the weight they once did.

The reality is that if you keep waiting for recognition or advancement in such a ever-changing environment, you could be waiting indefinitely. You’re still the same highly skilled, talented professional you’ve always been, but the people who valued your contributions—the ones who were in a position to advocate for you—may no longer have the influence they once did. Or worse, they may no longer be there at all.

If you want to achieve real progress in your career, you need to be in control of it.

Unsolicited recognition, promotions, or pay raises are certainly nice when they happen, but they should be viewed as windfalls. These are not part of the primary goal.

The real goal is to clearly define where you want to go, how much money you want to make, and to take deliberate, strategic moves that drive you in that direction. This means identifying the roles and responsibilities you want to step into, understanding what it takes to get there, and proactively positioning yourself for those opportunities.

And remember those can come from your current organization or you have to seek the opportunities at a new organization. Either way is ok. So if things change in your current work environment, don't be caught off guard. You will know exactly what to do next because you have already mapped out where you want to go.

The only person who can truly drive your career forward is you. Do not leave your success to chance or the changing tides of your organization’s direction.

Dorothy Mashburn is on a mission to empower women of color (and allies!) to steer their career journey and confidently negotiate their value. She can be reached here .