I show you how to tell promotable work from the busy work people hand you, and how to push back on it in a way that still feels good to you. Grab the free task audit template: morewomenpromoted.com/audit

Your workload is full, you're constantly busy, and you're still not being considered for that next promotion. Or you're already a leader, and you're somehow still the go-to person for taking notes, ordering lunch, or planning the Christmas party. What if saying yes to everything is the exact reason?

Women spend up to 200 more hours a year on non-promotable tasks. That's a whole month of extra work with zero career payoff.

In this episode, I walk you through why this happens, how to pick the work that actually moves your career forward, and how to push back on the rest in a way that still feels good to you. Hard work is not what creates upward mobility. Strategic work is.

WHAT YOU'LL LEARN

• Why bias and social conditioning mean women are asked to take on more non-promotable work and are more likely to say yes
• A simple test for telling promotable tasks from the red-flag ones, including a committee that turned out to be strategic
• How to run a task audit that shows you where your week is really going
• A three-part framework for pushing back, including when the ask comes from your boss or your CEO
• Why every yes is a no to something else, and the mindset shift that makes saying no strategic, not selfish

RESOURCES MENTIONED

• Task audit template: morewomenpromoted.com/audit
• Harvard research on women and non-promotable tasks: hbr.org/2018/07/why-women-volunteer-for-tasks-that-dont-lead-to-promotions
• Connect with Katy on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/katy-mcfee-3880b4a
• Weekly newsletter: morewomenpromoted.com/newsletter

Curious what it’s like to work together? Send me a message on LinkedIn or Instagram (Katy McFee) and tell me what you are working toward, and we can take it from there.

Not sure if you're ready for VP? Take the free assessment and find out at morewomenpromoted.com/quiz

Remember, there's room for all of us at the table.

Your calendar is telling leadership a story about you, and it may not be the one you want. I break down what changes when you own it, the three beliefs stealing your time, and where to start. Free workshop: morewomenpromoted.com/calender

Pull up your calendar for next week. If it's back-to-back meetings from nine to five, with Slack pings in between and your real work pushed to the evenings, what story is that calendar telling about you?

The higher you go, the less you're paid to execute and the more you're paid to think. And you are never going to have a strategic insight in the two minutes between Zoom calls. I lived this as a director: I was running from meeting to meeting and felt really useful, but when my boss asked me a strategic question about the direction of the business, I didn't have an answer.

In this episode, I talk about why your calendar is one of the most strategic things you can own for your career. This isn't about time management hacks. It's about deciding what deserves your time as a leader and protecting it.

WHAT YOU'LL LEARN

• What actually changes when you protect time to think, and why it's one of the clearest signals you're ready for the next level
• Why the leaders who seem great at thinking on their feet have usually just thought about it ahead of time
• The three beliefs that let other people's priorities take over your week
• How to figure out which work only you can do
• Where to start this week, including the promotion question to ask yourself about what should come off your plate

RESOURCES MENTIONED

• Free workshop: Own Your Calendar to Be a Strategic Leader, Monday, November 9 at noon ET: morewomenpromoted.com/calender
• MWP Podcast - 3 Delegation Mistakes Keeping You From Exec Leadership (And How to Fix Them Today): podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/3-delegation-mistakes-keeping-you-from-exec-leadership/id1799258767?i=1000747664044
• Connect with Katy on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/katy-mcfee-3880b4a
• Weekly newsletter: morewomenpromoted.com/newsletter

Curious what it’s like to work together? Send me a message on LinkedIn or Instagram (Katy McFee) and tell me what you are working toward, and we can take it from there.

Not sure if you're ready for VP? Take the free assessment and find out at morewomenpromoted.com/quiz

Remember, there's room for all of us at the table.

I bust the three myths that make VPs look like a different species: you need an MBA, another decade of experience, or 60 to 80-hour weeks. See how close you really are with the free Are You VP Ready? quiz: morewomenpromoted.com/quiz

Are you great at your job, maybe even a little bored, and still convinced there's a big gap between you and the VP table?

We put VPs on a pedestal. Even as a senior director, sitting in the same meetings, it's easy to assume they know something you don't. I did this for years. And when I finally got to the VP table, and later the EVP table, I realized my colleagues were just regular people figuring it out and doing their best. The pedestal gets built from a distance, and when you can't see what VPs do day to day, you fill the gap with assumptions.

In this episode, I bust the three myths behind those assumptions, share what happened when I discovered what the highest-paid VP on my team was doing differently, and show you what the real gap usually looks like. The good news is that it's a lot smaller than you think, and it's 100% learnable.

WHAT YOU'LL LEARN

• Why an MBA isn't what stands between you and the next level, and how to build business acumen right where you are
• Why more years in the same seat doesn't create readiness, and what boredom in your current role is telling you
• Why VPs are paid for their judgment, not their hours, and what to hand off this month so you can start acting like one
• The mindset work that matters more than any productivity hack
• What the real gap between senior director and VP usually looks like

RESOURCES MENTIONED

• W. Chan Kim & Renée Mauborgne’s book Blue Ocean Strategy: https://a.co/d/085ZdGCI
• Geoffrey A. Moore’s book Crossing the Chasm: https://a.co/d/02SBtFuM
• Clayton M. Christensen’s book The Innovator’s Dilemma: https://a.co/d/0ezMXSGc
• Stanford economist John Pencavel’s journal article: “The Productivity of Working Hours”: https://doi.org/10.1111/ecoj.12166
• Are You VP Ready? Quiz: morewomenpromoted.com/quiz
• Connect with Katy on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/katy-mcfee-3880b4a
• Weekly newsletter: morewomenpromoted.com/newsletter

Curious what it’s like to work together? Send me a message on LinkedIn or Instagram (Katy McFee) and tell me what you are working toward, and we can take it from there.

Not sure if you're ready for VP? Take the free assessment and find out at morewomenpromoted.com/quiz

Remember, there's room for all of us at the table.