6 Career Questions: How to Deliver For YOU in 2026

This week I had the pleasure of interviewing Tanya Graham, Group Executive Digital & Transformation at icare on my podcast, Her Ambitious Career. If you haven’t subscribed to the show yet… what are you waiting for?!! –> Head to ApplePodcasts and subscribe so you never miss any of our weekly eps!

In this week’s conversation, Tanya shares an absolute HEAP of valuable career advice – you can tune in here: Ep 205 – Fast-Track Your Path to the C-Suite with Broader Career Experiences

There were STACKS of take-outs from the conversation, to support your own leadership journey, whether you have ambitions for the C-suite or not.

 

To summarise, Tanya’s key points were:

1.      Be really intentional about showing up for yourself in your career

2.      Nurture a broad network

3.      Make sure opportunities are aligned with your own values and ambitions

4.      Seek out as many broad experiences as you can e.g. working in different countries; getting exposure to risk; leading change; being involved in transformation initiatives; having P&L responsibility; improving processes; developing and retaining key people (the list goes on)

 

So, you might be thinking right now… “Woah! This is all super interesting but… it all sounds a little overwhelming! Where do I even start??”

…which is exactly where an experienced Executive Career & Leadership Coach, like me, comes in.  😊

 

Just as Tanya refers to needing a Personal Leadership Map to help you be more intentional about your career, at Illuminate we support you in our career & leadership coaching program Roadmap to Senior Leadership, to do exactly that:

It’s about being really bold and setting yourself stretching goals… not just for your role but for YOU too.

And then breaking it all down into bite sized steps.

So that it becomes simple and clear exactly what your first step needs to be.

What I find…

Is that a lot of the women I coach, from mining and medical research to finance and consulting, are absolutely FABULOUS at hitting their KPIs and being really, really good at what they do.

But that’s only one side of the coin.

The other side, that I find a lot of women miss, is learning how to take that step back and identifying how to MAXIMISE all that hard work you have already done… and converting it into real outcomes for you.

 

Outcomes like:

• Fresh leadership opportunities

• Opportunities to add deeper value to the business

• New ways to gain visibility

• Building critical stakeholder relationships

• Becoming known for your expertise

• Being invited to critical discussions

• Being more influential in your communication

• Expanding your commercial experiences

• Speaking at events and conferences

• Chairing committees

These types of ‘strategic play’ are what will help you build your career faster and with far greater impact.

 

A great first step is to take a deep breath … and a decent step backwards: we want to get ‘out of the weeds’ and take a more objective look at where you’re at.

To start, you could ask yourself a series of bigger questions, like:

• Am I making the impact I want to make right now?

• If not, what’s getting in my way?

• What kind of leader do I want to be?

• What value do I want to bring to the table and be known for?

• What expertise or experience gaps do I have?

• Who do I need in my network to help me get where I want to be?

This first, bigger-picture questioning step is about focusing on your own STRATEGY, instead of your own ACTIVITY.

 

Because doing MORE of the same hard work might not be the solution. You have already proved yourself 10x over, am I right?

Perhaps it’s time to take a fresh approach that will get you fresh, exciting results.

Are you finding all this really interesting and you want to learn more?

 

How I can help you…

1.      Check out my blog and podcast: both are filled with a stack of free career support for women seeking new leadership roles

2.      Book a free 15-minute Career Strategy Call with me today. Talk me through your ambitions for 2026 and what’s currently blocking that progress. And let’s help you leave with a plan to regain control of your career, help you re-energise and feel fully confident in how to make stronger asks in your career in 2026.