You've Been Identified for Your Next Level. Now What?

You get tapped on the shoulder for a bigger role, and for a moment it feels like pure validation. Then the meeting ends, the noise fades, and the questions show up: Am I ready? What if they see something I don’t? What if I can’t pull it off? I’m Debbie Peterson, and I walk through why that quiet doubt isn’t a warning sign, it’s often evidence that you’re taking leadership seriously.

We dig into what “being identified” really means in career growth and promotion conversations. It’s not a demand that you have everything figured out; it’s a signal of potential. The real leadership readiness work starts in the space between what others believe you can do and what you currently believe about yourself. That’s why my leadership development cohorts don’t begin with tactics or titles. We start with self-awareness: how you think, the patterns you’ve been running for years, how you handle pressure, and what you expect of yourself when no one is watching.

I also share a simple practice that makes the commitment real, our “pinky swear,” and why authentic leadership beats performance every time. Your team doesn’t need perfection; they need a leader they can trust, connect with, and follow through uncertainty and change. Before you chase more confidence, try the better question: who do you need to become to grow into what’s next?

If this resonates, subscribe to Getting To Clarity, share the episode with a leader who’s stepping up, and leave a quick review so more people can find these leadership mindset and executive coaching insights.

Transcript

Debbie Peterson 0:01

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. Because you don't have to have it all figured out. You only have to have your next clear move. And I'm going to do my best to bring that to you today. So let me ask you a question. Have you had a time where you've been identified for a new level? Or maybe this is something that you're hoping for. Sometimes it feels like an opportunity. You're excited, and it is an opportunity. But sometimes after that initial excitement wears off, there's usually something that shows up underneath. Maybe a little uncertainty, maybe a little doubt, maybe even questioning, am I ready for this? So today I want to talk to you about what really happens after you've been identified and why your readiness has a lot less to do with confidence than you might think. So stay tuned.

SPEAKER_02 1:03

Welcome to the Getting to Clarity Podcast.

SPEAKER_01 1:06

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

SPEAKER_02 1:14

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

The Doubt Voice Is A Good Sign

Why Leadership Starts With You

The Pinky Swear Commitment

Real Leadership Over Performance

The Better Readiness Question

Follow The Series And Learn More

Debbie Peterson 1:21

So I'm talking to the people who have been identified. They've been tapped on the shoulder for a next level. But even if you haven't, and this is something that you aspire to, pay attention. Because after you've been identified for your next level, now what? And that's what we're covering today. Because the work starts with you, not the job title. So someone pulled you aside. Maybe it was your manager, maybe it was a conversation that you weren't quite expecting, and they told you that you've been identified for a next level. Hmm. That's supposed to feel good. And perhaps it does at first. But if you're being honest, sometimes after that conversation ends, something else will show up, like a quiet voice that starts asking questions you're not sure that you want to answer. Am I ready for this? Do they see something I don't? What if I can't pull this off? And you don't say these things aloud, but they're still there. And here's what I want you to know: that voice isn't a sign that you're not ready. It's not a warning sign. It's actually a very good sign. It means that you're taking this seriously, and that matters. What it doesn't mean is that you aren't ready to go there. So being identified for your next level doesn't mean someone expects you to have it all figured out. Although sometimes that's how we feel about it. It means that they see potential in you, potential that you may not fully see in yourself yet. And that's okay. So there's a gap between what they see and what you currently believe about yourself. And that's where the real work begins. So every leadership development cohort that I facilitate, this is what I encounter the first time in the room. Every time a new group walks in that first session, it's the same thing. They're professional, they're engaged, they've been told, hey, this is a great program, this is an opportunity for you. But underneath that, there's some uncertainty because they don't know exactly what they're getting into. You know, some of them are wondering, how am I going to keep up with being here and paying attention and engaging like I know I'm supposed to? And then there's everything that's going on back at work, right? While they're sitting in the room. Some are quietly questioning why they were even nominated in the first place. And that usually comes out. And almost all of them say some version of the same thing. I need more confidence in myself. And that one comes up a lot. And I get it because most people assume that being identified for your next level means that you're supposed to already feel ready, confident, clear, with a full picture of what's ahead. That is not how this works. The thing that catches people off guard every single time is where we actually start when it comes to leadership development. Not with strategy, not with skills. It's not about adding to who you are. It's not about knowing how to run a better meeting or have a harder conversation, although those things are helpful. But where we start is with them, who they are actually as a person, how they think, what they believe about themselves, what the patterns are that they have been running for years, how they handle pressure, how they handle uncertainty and change, what they expect of themselves when no one is watching. So leadership isn't just what you do, it's built on who you are. And if you skip that part, if you just stack skills and titles and strategies on top of a foundation that you have actually never looked at, then leadership may run for a while, but it doesn't hold. So by the end of that first session, the room looks completely different than when we started. There are real conversations happening. People are seeing themselves more clearly, sometimes for the first time in a long time. And at graduation, which is what happened last week in one of the cohorts that I facilitate, almost without fail, someone says, I didn't know what to expect when I walked in, but I didn't expect this. Because we start with the person. That's the piece that changes everything. So before we wrap up the cohort, I ask everyone to make a commitment, not about their title or their next promotion, or about who they are going to be as a person, not just as a leader and how they support themselves to be that person. And we call it the pinky swear. And yes, we actually cross pinkies in the room because this is about making it that physical, even just a little bit silly gesture in front of other people. It makes it real in a way that a commitment, a verbal commitment, just doesn't. So that commitment matters because everything that you do with your team flows from it. The way you show up in a hard conversation, the way you handle a mistake and you are going to make mistakes, whether it's your mistake or their mistake, the way that you create a culture that either supports people or quietly just chips away at them, all of it comes from you first. Your team does not need a perfect leader. They need a real leader, someone who has a they can connect with, someone who's done enough of their own work to be able to lead without putting on a performance for them. So if you've been identified for your next level, here's what I'd ask you to sit with. Not, am I ready? Because honestly, nobody feels completely ready for something bigger than where they are right now. The better question is this who do I need to become to grow into this? Because you are ready for that. So being identified is the beginning, but what you choose to do with it and after it, especially the internal work that most of the people skip, well, that's where your leadership actually starts. And if this kind of work resonates with you, then I would encourage you to uh follow along. We're gonna do a series on this and know that this is exactly what I do with leaders and the organizations that are counting on them. So if you want to learn more about that, head on over to www.debi Peterson Speaks.com. And until the next time, here is wishing you more clarity on who you are as a person and the leader that you want to become. So bye bye for now, and we'll see you soon.

SPEAKER_02 7:57

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

SPEAKER_01 8:02

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

SPEAKER_02 8:08

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