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I have 15 years of experience in the industry, the last 7 years in leadership roles. I have many amazing colleagues who are extremely smart yet very humble.

In the last 6 months, I have that feeling of not growing on tech skills, people skills, leadership skills, or anything. It's like the same old days where I know what I want to do, what to expect, and how to handle things. I am one of those who always wants to get better, to create more impact, to help more people around me.

I have mentored many people to the level that they can take over my jobs (many of them got promoted to lead different teams.) However, I got stuck where I don't know what to do to get to the next level.

I was thinking about getting a coach or a mentor outside of my company. I also want to explore other options that I can do to improve and be better.

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    What is your current role? What progression do you want - fancier job title. manage a larger department, wider influence over implementation, greater responsibility for strategy? The more specific you can be, the better the chances of a useful answer.
    – simonc
    Commented Jun 1, 2022 at 13:23
  • @simonc I am a VPE and my org has around 150 people. My goal is to have greater responsibilities on the company strategy (my current scope represents 10-15% of the company products.)
    – Code Project
    Commented Jun 1, 2022 at 15:51
  • Sounds like maybe your current role has taken you as far as it can. Have you considered looking for different roles that will push you farther?
    – Seth R
    Commented Jun 1, 2022 at 16:18
  • I don't see where you have identified anything about your current work environment that is causing you to be "stuck". In my experience people who say things like this seem to want to be stuck for one reason or another. Stop sitting around feeling sorry for yourself and start making valuable contributions to your team and your company.
    – jwh20
    Commented Jun 1, 2022 at 19:57
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    Your goal is "to have greater responsibilities on the company strategy". Then, you need to prove that you deserve the right to have "greater responsibilities on the company strategy" by being super successful on your current role, or being the best VPE in the company. Next, present the CEO with your super vision/strategy that makes the company EXPONENTIALLY profitable in the next 5 or 10 years. Next, if the CEO believes in you and your strategy, then you will earn the right "to have greater responsibilities on the company strategy".
    – Job_September_2020
    Commented Jun 2, 2022 at 6:02

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I was thinking about getting a coach or a mentor outside of my company.

Do this. Go to your existing network and look for people that you see as "5 to 10 years ahead of me."

Buy them a coffee (or virtual coffee), be ready to offer them some free consulting from your expertise, and have a few specific questions about career growth. This can even be done over email if they are too busy to meet.

I got stuck where I don't know what to do to get to the next level.

Have you defined "the next level?"

It's usually looked upon highly to ask questions about career paths within the company. More causally, "Hey boss, where do you see my skills providing additional value to the company in the next two years?"

Pivot the answers to areas where you want to stretch and grow.

If you don't have a very clear idea of where to go after these exercises, you need to do some inner soul searching. :)

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  • +1 for "Have you defined 'the next level'?". You need to set a measurable goal. Otherwise, you can't measure how close you are to achieving the goal and which steps to take next.
    – citronas
    Commented Jun 7, 2022 at 22:16

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