Build clarity when none exists.
Most companies say they care about career growth.
Then you ask what that actually looks like, and you’re met with a vague development plan, a competency matrix from 2017, or the classic advice to “just keep doing good work.”
Helpful.🙄
If you’ve ever felt like you’re supposed to be progressing but no one can quite explain how, you’re not imagining things. Many organizations don’t have a real career roadmap. And even the ones that do often design them for roles not for people who occupy them.
Which leaves you in an awkward spot: ambitious, capable, motivated… and mostly on your own.
Here’s the reframe that matters: a strategic career roadmap doesn’t have to come from your company. In fact, the most useful ones rarely do.
A roadmap isn’t a promise of promotion. It’s not a rigid five-year plan. It’s a working hypothesis about where you’re heading, what you’re building, and how today’s work connects to tomorrow’s opportunities.
And you can create one, even in a messy, fast-moving, underdefined environment.
1️⃣ Zoom out, not up.
Ask “What kind of professional am I becoming?” not just “What’s the next role?” Pay attention to the problems you’re trusted to solve, the decisions you’re looped into, and the rooms you’re starting to enter—even informally. That’s signal.
2️⃣ Name your through-line.
Not a title, but a theme. Maybe you’re known for turning complexity into clarity, leading without authority, or bringing sound judgment when things are unclear.
3️⃣ Use the through-line to choose wisely.
Does this project strengthen that muscle? Does this role move you closer or just keep you busy?
4️⃣ Get honest about what’s missing.
Most career stalls aren’t about effort. They’re about exposure, language, or leverage.
This is where your roadmap becomes practical. You can turn it into small, strategic moves: volunteering for the right kind of work, having clearer conversations with your manager, documenting impact in real time instead of trying to remember it later.
One important note: your roadmap should be revisited, not worshipped. Careers change. Life intervenes. New interests emerge. A good roadmap adapts not lock you in.
So here’s the question to sit with: if no one handed you a career plan tomorrow, what would you choose to optimize for over the next year? And what’s one small move you could make this month to support it?
Until next time…
Mal
Founder, The Ideas Accelerator
Helping you grow your career with strategic insight and smarter tools.