Is being indispensable holding you back?

For three years, my performance reviews said “Outstanding.”

The promotion I expected never came.

At that time, I was an individual contributor leading a solution that spanned multiple products. I worked with product managers across teams to connect the pieces: personas, user journeys, back-office processes, data moving between applications, and the enhancements each product needed.

There were plenty of moving parts. I kept them together, and the solution was generating revenue.

I was already leading across teams. Moving into a management role felt like a reasonable next step.

So when it didn’t happen, I struggled to understand what was missing.

A question I hadn’t considered

I spoke with my mentors, who were Directors at the time. They offered a possibility I hadn’t considered: my manager might be worried about who would take over the role I was doing.

That was their perspective, rather than a reason my manager had confirmed. But it helped me see the situation differently.

I had been thinking about why I was ready to move forward. I hadn’t given enough thought to what would happen to the work I left behind—or how my next role would help my manager.

Making the transition possible

I started developing someone who could take over.

First, he led a release while I remained the overall solution lead. Then I gradually gave him room to lead discussions on requirements, scenarios, and use cases. Other responsibilities followed.

It was a gradual handover. He had opportunities to build confidence and become visible, with my support still available.

Alongside that, I made a clearer case to my manager for the role I wanted.

As a manager, I could manage and mentor product managers, delegate work across the team, and help them grow. That would give him more room to focus on the strategic side of the business.

That arrangement appealed to him. The conversation now included a practical benefit for him and a plan for the responsibilities I would leave behind.

There’s a balance to get right

You need to demonstrate that you can contribute at the next level while helping someone else become capable in your current role.

Handing over responsibilities gives you a chance to practise that: coaching, delegating, and helping someone succeed without taking the work back at every difficult moment.

It also asks us to examine our own insecurity. When someone else becomes good at work that made us valuable, can we give them the visibility and room they need?

If we want to lead people, helping them grow has to be part of how we work.

Preparing someone to take over won’t guarantee a promotion. You still need a shared understanding of what readiness for the next role looks like. But it makes the transition easier to discuss—and easier to imagine working.

Qwik Takeaway

Show how you can contribute at the next level, and help someone else prepare for the responsibilities you’ll leave behind. Give your manager a concrete path to discuss with you.

What helped you move forward when strong performance wasn’t leading to a promotion?