At some point, a question like this shows up in my 1:1s:
When a future hiring manager glances at this role on your CV five years from now, what should their takeaway be?
It never happens in the first coffee chat. Once we understand how we work together, we zoom out and talk about the future story they want other leaders to see.
Why Call the Shot Early
At a certain level, companies aren’t hiring your tool kit—they’re hiring you to replicate outcomes you’ve already produced. “Built the X team” or “owned the Y process” sounds like a job description. “Delivered $40M in new revenue by rebuilding the onboarding funnel” tells a future boss exactly why you belong in their org.
Framing the job that way does more than prep them for the next jump. It forces clarity on what matters now. Regardless of level, outcomes will always trump output. When we align on the result we want to be proud of later, we automatically steer toward the kind of impact that multiplies through the org right now—better focus, cleaner prioritization, stronger partnerships. Those outcomes compound even if they never leave the company.
So What Will Those Future Bullet Points Be?
I ask them to reflect on what those bullet points on their future CV ought to be, and to ignore for that moment whatever may seem urgent or important. That forces a clarity of thought that is disconnected from the day-to-day and surfaces the gaps we need to close.
My job is to build the environment where they can make the bullet points they identify genuinely true. We adjust scope, pull in partners, or hunt for the metrics we need. It might mean clearing space to own messy problems, lining up the execs who need to see the work, or defending the project long enough for the impact to register. The question shows up in future check-ins: are the bullet points they named getting sharper or fuzzier?
And to be clear: it is their work and their responsibility. I can coach and unblock, but they own the story they’re writing.
When someone’s CV tells a story of meaningful outcomes, leadership roles open up faster than anyone expects—and the current org benefits because it needs those same outcomes. That’s the leverage I want them to feel, because it pushes better decisions in the day-to-day work and sets them up for whatever they want next, whether that’s a bigger role here or somewhere else five years out.
What bullet points are you creating right now to set your current and future self up for success?
P.S. If you wonder what constitutes an outcome, I’m partial to Joshua Seiden’s take in “Outcome over Output”: it’s any change in human or customer behavior that drives business results.
