i’m a third-year analyst at a BB and want to position myself for the associate promotion cycle. the feedback I keep getting is ‘needs more leadership presence’ – but every time I try to step up, it feels like I’m either stepping on toes or coming across as trying too hard. those who successfully navigated this: how did you demonstrate strategic thinking in your technical work without looking like you’re chasing visibility? specifically, are there frameworks for deciding when to own vs. support?
promotion committees want theater, not actual leadership. saw an analyst get promoted last year because they ‘led’ the weekly internal newsletter distribution. meanwhile the guy rebuilding our valuation models got ‘needs more visibility’ feedback. take that as you will. pro tip: find a MD’s pet project and pretend it’s your passion
leadership = being the first to volunteer for the crap no one wants. next all-hands, jump on organizing the intern summer mixer. bonus points if you ‘identify operational efficiencies’ in the beer budget. suddenly you’re a ‘culture driver’ – actual technical work is just table stakes
my senior told me to alwayyys summarize key points after meetngs even if ur not running it? like say ‘just to align – these r next steps i heard’ in the chat. gets ur name out there but looks helpful not pushy!
The key is incremental ownership. Start by identifying pain points in your current workflows that aren’t politically charged. For example, I mentored an analyst who automated a weekly regulatory report that 12 MDs reviewed. By framing it as ‘saving team bandwidth’ rather than ‘leading automation initiatives,’ she built credibility to take on larger strategic projects organically. Document these contributions in your self-evaluation with metrics – hours saved, error reduction percentages. This creates an objective basis for promotion committees to assess leadership impact.
Your technical skills got you here! 
Now sprinkle in soft skills – offer to mentor new analysts. Small consistent actions build big reputations! Leadership shines through daily actions, not grand gestures
Got burned early trying to ‘lead’ a client deck – came off aggressive. Switched tactics: started asking VPs ‘What’s one thing I could take off your plate this week?’ Ended up owning appendix slides that turned into standalone analyses. Sometimes looking helpful opens more doors than looking ambitious
Analysis of last year’s promo packets shows 83% of promoted associates owned at least 2 non-core initiatives (training, process docs, ESG metrics). Recommendation: Allocate 15-20% of your time to visible ancillary projects. Track contributions quantitatively – e.g., ‘Developed 3 standardized templates reducing pitch deck prep time by 40%’