Keep Doing What You're Doing. It Sounds Supportive. It Isn't.

“Keep doing what you’re doing” might be the most expensive sentence a leader can say to someone who’s trying to grow. When a person asks what it takes to reach the next level and gets vague reassurance back, it doesn’t create confidence. It creates drift. I unpack why that kind of feedback feels supportive on the surface, but often becomes a detour that leaves high performers running in place.

We get practical about what to do instead. If you’re the one asking for advancement, we talk about defining what “next level” actually means to you, naming the role or outcome, and identifying the skills, visibility, and experiences it requires. I share a real example of turning “you need more experience” into an actionable development plan by mapping gaps, finding the right people to learn from, and returning to the conversation with a clear proposal and a simple question: am I on the right track?

If you’re leading people, we look at what that vague phrase can signal about planning, avoidance, and the culture you’re creating over time. The stakes are bigger than one promotion. Clarity impacts employee engagement, leadership development, retention, and succession planning, including the hidden loss of capable people who never get seen. If you want a team that stays in motion, this is the roadmap.

Subscribe to Getting To Clarity, share this with a leader who cares about developing people, and leave a rating or review so more listeners can find the show.

Transcript

The Feedback That Sounds Supportive

Debbie Peterson 0:00

Hey, hello, and welcome back. I am Debbie Peterson of Getting to Clarity, and this is another episode of the Getting to Clarity Podcast, your next clear move. And I want to ask you a question. Have you ever heard Keep doing what you're doing? You're looking to go to the next level, and you ask what you can do, and you get a blank, keep doing what you're doing. You know, it sounds supportive on the surface, but it's really not. And the person you're talking to, the leader that you're talking to, could mean it as encouragement. But if you've ever heard it after asking what it takes to go to the next level, you know that it can land very differently. Mine was a different version of that. It was, oh, you're you're doing really good where you're at. It's not motivating, it is not clarifying, it is just straight up vague. So today I want to talk to you about what that phrase is really signaling, what it costs over time, and why it might be keeping more people stuck than anyone realizes. So stay tuned. Welcome to the Getting to Clarity Podcast.

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The place where busy leaders discover how to create more success in their leadership journey with less sacrifice in their life.

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Here's your host, Debbie Peterson of Getting to Clarity.

Define Your Next Level Clearly

Turning Vague Feedback Into A Plan

The Hidden Cost Of No Path

What Leaders Signal When They Stall

Next Clear Move And Closing

Debbie Peterson 1:25

So most leaders, when they give this as feedback, they don't mean anything negative by it. But when someone asks, what do I need to do to get to the next level? That phrase is not an answer. So if you're in a leadership position and you are developing people, tune in here. Because what this really is, is it's a detour. And the person on the receiving end knows the difference. So what happens when the way forward kind of goes quiet? So for a while, that phrase can be, okay, keep doing what you're doing. I must be doing a good job. So for a while, people trust it. They assume that there is some sort of process, that someone is paying attention and that at some point they'll be notified that eventually something is going to turn up or open up. But what I want you to hear is trust like that has a shelf life and it's not as long as it used to be, especially when it isn't backed by some sort of movement. So gradually, not all at once, not overnight, something starts to shift. People will begin to question whether anything is ever going to change. And once that question crawls into their mind and it takes hold, then everything follows it because, you know, energy goes where the attention flows. If that's what they're focused on, then certainly that is what they're perceiving. So motivation can go right out the window. The energy that they put into their job can shift. What they accomplish during the day can be a little more measured and they're doing enough, right? It's not because they stop caring, but it's because they stop seeing a path. So there are trends, there are uh papers and assessments and studies out there. And it's about, you know, money. People want to be paid more money. Okay, great. Money's generally not a long-term motivator, but we need it to earn our livelihood and pay our bills, right? Um, that there is um a way forward is another one that that is really big. People want to know that there is a path, that they will be developed, that they will be trained, that there is something next, and they're gonna get help with that. So that plays into retention as well. So let me be clear on this that when someone asks this question, what can I do to get to my next level, or some variation of that question, and they get an answer, keep doing what you're doing. Um that is not a performance issue. So obviously, keep doing what you're doing. They're doing the right things. At least hopefully, that's the motivation behind delivering that answer. But what it really is, it's it's a clarity problem, and it's one that leaders can create without even realizing it, because the responsibility runs both ways. So, what I also want to share with you is to be fair, there is something that the individual can own here too. So if you've heard that phrase in response uh to inquire about what's next, if the next level is your goal, what does that actually mean? What is it that you are working toward? Is it a role? Is it an upskilling? Is it uh visibility? Is it a place on a team? Uh what is it? And be specific. That specificity helps you. So if you're, for instance, looking toward a role that you would really like to move into, what skills or experience does it require? Where are the gaps between where you are now and where you want to be? So getting clarity on this is powerful because most people never define that clearly before asking someone else to define it for them. And when you walk into that conversation without clarity, that sort of clarity, you're more likely to walk out with a vague answer. So I watched this play out in in real time. Someone who was close to me was working toward a leadership role, and they needed a specific performance rating to be eligible to move into a leadership role. And one year they came close, but they didn't get the rating that they needed. And when they asked for feedback, the response back to them was, you need more experience. You just need more experience. Well, I mean, that sounds nice. It's not you, you just need more experience, right? But what does that really mean? Because without specifics, it has no legs. There's nothing to act on. So we sat down, we worked through it, we got clear on the role that they were aiming for. We um went through and were able to gain information about okay, what experience really matters there? What is their experience? Where are the gaps between what is required and where they are? How could they start building it now? So it became less about, I want to move to that role. And it became more about this is what I need specifically to move toward that role. And then once we had that laid out, well, it became really easy to say, okay, who are the people that can help? Who are the people that you can talk to that have moved into that role or made a jump like that? Who are the people that have the experience that you need to gather to gain? And what advice or guidance can they share? So what happened was this person went back to the conversation, not with frustration, but with a proposal of sorts. Okay, this is what I think I need to work on. I've thought it through, and I see that this is what it's going to take to get to that rating. And from an experience standpoint, I think these are the key areas that I need to focus on. Am I on the right track? So, in other words, they did the legwork. And that changes everything. It moves the conversation from vague encouragement to shared ownership on both sides. So here's what that story also reveals the individual had to do that work themselves. No one handed it to them. They had to decide they weren't going to keep waiting for direction that wasn't coming. And they had waited a couple of years already. So that capacity to sense when something isn't working, to adapt, and then to take different action rather than wait is exactly what separates leaders who are ready, who want to grow from those who will stall. And it's not about being aggressive or impatient, it's about staying in motion when the path isn't clear. How can you move when the path isn't clear? That's your next clear move. So here's what's gets lost when clarity is missing. So when this pattern continues of people wanting to advance and them getting fake feedback, not specific feedback. I want you to think about high performers in uh your environment, in your workplace. And if they feel like they're running in place, what do they do? Well, they may stay, but they may also disengage. They're not going to do it overtly. Maybe it happens quietly, maybe they stop volunteering, maybe they stop uh reaching for more, maybe they do what's required and not much beyond it. But here is another more significant loss, and often that people don't recognize, or leadership in an organization doesn't recognize. Every organization has people with real capacity. They have curiosity, they have potential, but they haven't been seen yet, or fully seen, or developed yet. They're doing solid work, they show up, they're reliable, but they're not on anybody's radar as a high performer. But oh, do they have the potential to go there? But since they're not on the radar yet, no one's having a conversation with them either. So a lot of times in succession planning, you're looking one level down. But who's behind that level? So for these people, when there's no clear direction, when there's no investment and time or energy in what works, then that potential stays untapped. And over time, those individuals either just settle in where they're at, or they stop asking about what I can do to improve, or what can I do to achieve my next level? They stop reaching, they do what's required, and then maybe they quietly close the door on what they could have become. And on either side of the equation, whether it's someone who's identified as a high performer or it's someone in that untapped potential bucket, this becomes the culture. And not because anyone decided, hey, this should be the culture, but because no one decided it shouldn't. So what leaders who say it need to hear. And keep saying, you know, they say, keep doing what you're doing. It's often a signal, not about the person hearing it, but about the leader saying it. They don't have a plan. So maybe you don't have a plan for that person. It could say that you haven't thought through their next step, or maybe it means that you're avoiding a harder conversation that you really don't want to have about their capacity to get there or what it would take to get there. And none of that makes you a bad leader, but please know that that has consequences for the individual, for the team, and for the kind of department and organization that you're building over time. So developing people is one of the most important responsibilities you carry as a leader. Not promoting everyone, but giving people something real to work toward, helping them to see what's possible, being honest when the path is unclear, rather than offering vague encouragement that sounds like direction, but it's really not. Because leadership is about keeping people where they are. It's about preparing them for what's next. Even when that's within the role that they're already in, even when they say I'm good where I'm at, we all have room to grow no matter what we're where we're at or what we want next. And that doesn't happen by running in place. So if this is something that's showing up for you, for your organization, it's worth a conversation. You know, I work with leaders and teams on exactly this through my keynoting and consulting work, and you can certainly find out more at my website at www.depipetersonspeaks.com. Until the next time, here is wishing you all the clarity that you deserve and that you are ready for whatever your next level is. Take care and bye-bye for now.

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Thank you for listening to this episode of the Getting to Clarity Podcast with Debbie Peterson.

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If you enjoyed this show, please rate and recommend it on iTunes or wherever you enjoy your podcast.

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To learn more about how you can bring Debbie and her transformational clarity leadership strategies to your organization, visit Debbie Peterson Speaks.com.