[primordialsoup]

Yes, by "making the switch" I was not referring to just suddenly become director material. It is basically how I can change how I learn. What you have mentioned is useful, thanks, and I am trying my best to do all of those, but how I improve is linear at best. I see others who grow better than linear, and would like to emulate them. Ultimately my goal is not to just strive towards a Director, but to become a solid performer who strategizes/works like one.

[nostrademons]

Something I noticed about how you phrased the question: you've focused on things you can control (the people and the tech), and not on the things you can't (the opportunity). You can't ignore the people and the tech, but...

Folks I know who've shot up in their career usually shot up because they capitalized on a big one-off opportunity. Their boss left and they were the obvious replacement. A brand-new startup was getting hot and needed an experienced leader with their credentials. They talked to the right person and pitched a project that ended up becoming a big hit.

These individual events are random, but hunting for them and jumping on them is not. Folks who shoot up usually have a background process that spends about 20-30% of their time seeking out information from the world around them, filtering it, and evaluating whether there could be any big opportunities there. The folks who really shoot up (Larry Page, Mark Zuckerburg, Steve Jobs, Peter Thiel, etc.) seem to spend close to 100% of their time evaluating opportunities, and delegate the people/tech stuff to others. Larry Page used to say that the hardest thing about his job was to get people to focus not on what exists, but on what should exist that doesn't yet.

You may want to start developing this background process. How much are you aware of what high-level execs in your company consider to be top priorities? Who are the most creative product & UX people in your org, and what are they working on? Are you keeping tabs on new startups in your field? When was the last time you applied for a new job? Have you had a chat with an executive recruiter any time recently?

[hazz99]

This observation of these events being random but the search/alertness to them occurring as not random is quite insightful, and beats repeating.

[okabat]

Growth rate is an output metric. I would recommend de-emphasizing the output by revisiting infrequently and stopping comparisons with others, in favor of concentrating on the inputs. The poster you respond to has a very good set of things to look for. What’s holding you back from making progress on one of those? How fast are you building trust with individuals you work with and how can you accelerate that (think about specific relationships to make it less abstract)?