Minal Nebhnani Coaching - Ummuted , Promotion Mindset

Are you "Promotion-Ready"... Or Just Overworked?

Thu, 05 Feb 2026 20:23:50 -0600

(3-4 mins)

There was a point in my career when I was back in NYC and working at the William Morris Agency (now WME) when I was convinced that I was just one more late night away from being promoted. If I just delivered one more project flawlessly, put out one more fire quietly and stayed the reliable one for one more week, I was in.

I was working hard. Like, really hard. The kind of hard where your life calendar is empty because your work calendar is too full, your Slack never stops, and people trust you with everything because you always say yes and you always get it done. And yet, nothing moved for me.

I remember sitting at my desk one evening, laptop still open, thinking, “If they can just see how much I’m doing, they’ll have to promote me, right?” You can interchange this with, “If they just see how hard I’m trying, how much I’m sacrificing, how fill in the blank here, then I will get what I deserve.” That was the logic. Effort equals advancement and exhaustion equals readiness.

It made sense to me because that’s how I was raised in my South Asian immigrant household. Keep your head down, do good work (it better be better than everyone else), don’t complain, don’t ask for more and someone will notice.

Well, the truth, and I learned this the very hard way, is that someone rarely does.

What I didn’t understand back then is that being overworked is not proof that you’re promotion-ready. It’s often proof that you’re very good at your current job and very unclear about your next one. I worked in HR and so I was in the rooms when promotion decisions were being made. “Who is the busiest?” is not the question being asked. The question that everyone is trying to solve for is, “Who can operate at the next level?” Those are not even remotely the same thing.

I see this all the time, especially with high-performing first and second gen professionals. We’re the dependable ones, the safe ones, the ones who get handed more because we can handle more. We become essential where we are, which feels flattering until we realize it’s also keeping us stuck.

Over time, the job quietly expands. More responsibility, same title, same pay. And we tell ourselves, “This is good. Growth is happening.” But growth without direction is just more work.

I used to think being promotion-ready meant being indispensable. Also not true. Also learned the very hard way. What I eventually learned is that promotions don’t go to the people who make themselves indispensable in the role. They go to the people who make it clear they’re already thinking beyond it.

That shift is uncomfortable. It feels a little arrogant. Who are you to act like your manager or better yet, your skip? It means pulling back from pure execution and starting to show judgment, talking about impact instead of effort, risk being seen instead of hiding behind productivity. And yes, that can feel scary - because it is, especially if you’ve been taught that asking for more, naming your ambitions, or stepping out of line makes you look ungrateful or arrogant.

But here’s the thing. If you’re exhausted, resentful, and quietly hoping someone rescues you with a promotion, that’s a signal. Not to work harder but that you need to change how you’re positioning yourself.

Promotion-ready doesn’t look like burnout, being overly accommodating or being intensely reliable. It looks like clarity. Clarity about what level you’re operating at, the value you bring, and where you’re going next.

So if this week you’re feeling stretched thin and telling yourself, “Once this dies down, then I’ll focus on my growth,” pause and ask yourself one honest question. Am I actually being prepared for the next level or am I just being used at this one? If something clicks when you ask that, you’re not alone. And you’re not behind. You’re just at the part where working harder stops being the answer.

I’d love to hear - where are you and where do you ultimately want to be? I really do read every reply.

🔥 If you know someone who works themselves to the bone but still isn't where they want to be, this one’s for them so please forward along.

And if you haven’t subscribed yet, join Unmuted here 👇🏽 to get next week’s issue. You don't want to miss it!

👋🏽 Hi! I’m Minal - a Career Success & Leadership Coach for 1st & 2nd gen professionals (immigrants, children/grandchildren of immigrants and professionals of color). I teach you how to translate your hard work into actual words your manager, skip and the C-Suite respect and reward, so your efforts turn into recognition, promotions, and pay raises ranging from $10K-$60K vs. a quick compliment, a pat on the back, and more work to do. All without working harder, finding a new job or pretending to be someone you're not. If you’re reading this and thinking, “Heck yeah… I need this,” reply to this email and let’s explore what working together could look like.

See you next Friday,

Minal

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Another Certification? Hell no!

Thu, 05 Feb 2026 14:22:09 -0600

(3-4 mins)

Working at Salesforce, I was surrounded by brilliant, talented and incredibly hard-working colleagues. My boss was inspirational, Marc was legendary and it felt like everyone around me had clarity, direction and purpose. They were also cool. They had hobbies and interests and lives outside of work. And while all of this sounds like I was living the dream, for a while, it felt like a nightmare.

When I first started, I felt insecure, dumb and incredibly boring. I was constantly looking up ways to make myself sound smarter, more interesting and much more attuned to the SAAS/tech world. I went down the research rabbit hole. I Googled, I YouTubed, I Reddited. I looked into classes, coaches and certifications.

Not because I needed anything in particular, but because I thought whatever I would learn/understand/become, would make me feel like I belonged more. My imposter syndrome was off the charts and that mean little voice in my head kept whispering, “You need to be more.”

So I signed up for things. Plural. Cooking courses I didn’t finish, dancing lessons I didn’t have time for, cloud platform and SAAS certifications I didn’t need, and one coach that was so misaligned with who I was and how I operated that I just quietly stopped showing up and pretended it was a scheduling issue. I secretly hoped each and every one of these would hand me the missing piece that would finally make me feel legit.

But here’s the truth. I spent a lot of time and way too much money for nothing. None of it made me feel smarter or more confident or like I belonged. If anything, it backfired because it made that mean little voice in my head even louder. Now the bar kept moving and there was always another acronym to learn, another framework to master and another way I should be showing up if I wanted to “keep up” with everyone around me. It felt unattainable and overwhelming - because it was.

And meanwhile, the people I admired most weren’t doing any of this. They weren’t collecting credentials or trying to sound impressive. They weren’t actually trying to do or be anything. They were just comfortable with who they were and confident in what they brought to the table.

Reflecting back on this it makes perfect sense. Growing up in a South Asian immigrant household, education wasn’t just encouraged, it was stuffed down our throats. Degrees meant safety and stability, certifications meant credibility and if you’re overqualified, no one would dare question or doubt you. So when I felt uncomfortable at work, my instinct wasn’t to speak up confidently or own my perspective. It was to go back to what I knew: study harder, prepare more, collect more proof. The irony in all of this was that I already had what I was chasing. I had the insight, the experience and the expertise. I also had the coolest life experiences.

At that point in my life I had lived in Africa, India, Europe and the Middle East and had traveled even more. I could cook, I could dance, I could speak multiple languages and I could tell you about the Maasai Mara in Kenya, where to find the most incredible paella in Madrid and how not to get left behind at the full moon party in Sentosa.

What I didn’t have was the confidence to let myself shine. Looking back, I probably needed therapy but since that also wasn’t a thing in my South Asian immigrant household, I settled for confiding in a few close colleagues.

When I stopped trying to be more and started grounding myself in who I already was, the nightmare I was experiencing started to shift to something more tolerable until it really did become the dream.

So today when someone tells me that they’re thinking about another certification, my first question is always the same: What are you hoping this will fix?

If you genuinely want to learn something new because it excites you, amazing. Go for it. But if you’re using credentials to quiet self-doubt, to earn permission, or to feel worthy of being there, you’re solving the wrong problem.

Take it from me. You don’t need another certification, you need to trust that what you bring to the table already has value and you just need to let people see it. You have to see it for yourself first though. That’s the work. And while it’s definitely scarier and more effort than clicking “Enroll,” the payoff will last for the rest of your life.

So, if you’re currently hovering over an “Enroll Now” button, maybe pause for a minute and ask yourself what you’re really hoping it will give you. And if you feel so inclined, reply and tell me … I read every reply.

See you next week,

Minal

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