There is No Training to Become a Candidate for Leadership
Most corporate leadership trainings start after someone picks you, after a nomination. But happens before this? The main question is:
How to Become a Candidate (Before You're Chosen)
That’s the part no one teaches you. Yes, we have performance reviews, but your manager isn't your coach. It's not their goal to make you grow.
Why are some pushed and others not? I, for example, have a working-class background. In this class, you have a so-called underprivileged mindset.
Underprivileged Mindset means that you believe in hard work and that this will speak for itself. You stay humble, silent, and you don't think in strategic moves.
People from economic higher classes are raised with a privileged mindset. They know that a network is key, how to behave in higher classes of management, to ask for things they want.
As a member of higher social classes their parents are often well educated and they naturally have contacts with management, lawyers, or doctors. Their parents gave them a head start.
Back to the question: why are some pushed while others are overlooked?
And it’s where your career is truly made — or lost. Here are a few tactics on how to kick off your personal development and career.
Don’t Wait for HR or Your Manager
"Be proactive," we all know this sentence. It means not to wait till you are selected for something. It is the same with talent programs. They are reactive.
You must lead your own development before someone “notices” you.
This is the core of being (pro)active. It is a question of mindset. Don't wait to be pricked for a talent program.
Act like you’ve already been picked in a talent program. Ask yourself: What would they expect from me? Where should I grow more? What are my weaknesses?
The most important rule:
Feed the Identity You Want to Grow Into
From research, we know that everything we do is aligned to our identity. We do everything to prove our identity. A simple example:
When you think you are a loser, you will unconsciously sabotage yourself to fail and prove your losing identity.
In the same manner as a winner mindset, you will do everything to win. Even a failure will look like a win. It's all about your identity.
Do everything to feed your future identity. Rewrite your identity DNA.
You don’t grow into leadership by doing your current job better. You grow into it by thinking, learning, and acting like the next level.
How?
- Read 1 leadership book per month
- Subscribe to 2 management podcasts
- Watch interviews of great leaders on YouTube
It’s about identity wiring.
Observe the Difference Between You and the Next Level
Become aware of where you want to be or who you want to become. Stop guessing what it takes. Start watching. Start observing people who are on the next level.
Ask:
- What do they do differently in meetings?
- How do they talk, prepare, and make decisions?
- What are they NOT doing anymore?
Audit the gap between your current habits and their standards. Then do the research on how to close this gap.
Pro Tip: Use ChatGPT for the research.
Spend Time with People at the Next Level
"Surround yourself with people that push you to do better. No drama or negativity. Just higher goals and higher motivation. Good times and positive energy. No jealousy or hate. Simply bringing out the absolute best in each other." - Warren Buffett
Exposure changes your expectations. The more time you spend with people one level above you, the more your behavior evolves. We can learn so much.
How?
- Join cross-functional projects
- Attend higher-level meetings as a listener
- Ask for shadowing opportunities
You rise to the level of the room you’re in. That simple.
The worker class people hesitate because it feels unnatural. Because it's like they don't belong into this room. Privileged people feel natural in such rooms.
The head start, you remember.
Find a Mentor Who Is Where You Want to Be
Having a mentor is again a great example of the differences between privileged and unprivileged mindsets. The privileged are used to asking for help and guidance.
The underprivileged are used to fighting their way through because of the law of the stronger. The ego becomes big over time, hence it doesn't fit into the picture to ask somebody for support.
But a mentor is your shortcut to clarity. Trust me, ask people to be your mentor. They will accept.
Once you have a mentor, ask:
- “What got you into your first leadership role?”
- “What would you do differently in your 30s/40s?”
- “What signals did you intentionally send to be noticed?”
You don’t need 10 mentors. You need one good one.
Invest in a Coach If You’re Serious
The absolute shortcut in personal development is a coach. The job of a coach is to develop you in your career, and they guide you to the next level.
Yes, a coach costs money, but to be honest, you invest 2000€ and within a year or two you will be promoted and get a raise of 8000€. Do the math.
A good coach helps you accelerate:
→ Identity clarity
→ Communication
→ Strategic thinking
→ Positioning
You don’t get promoted for being capable.
You get promoted for being seen as ready.
🔚 Summary
Companies don't offer training for this. You often need to be nominated, but how? You don’t become a leader when your manager nominates you. Leadership is a choice. You become a leader when you start behaving like one — before anyone's watching. Kick off your personal development journey because this decision determines whether you become nominated or not. Don’t wait to be chosen. Choose yourself. Then make it impossible to ignore.