Stuck in individual contributor position despite strong performance

Investment banking IB career ladder and networking
1

Background: I’m a 35-year-old guy with 12 years working at big tech companies and consulting firms. Currently working as a Senior Product Lead but hit a ceiling trying to move into management.

About 4 months back I asked this community how to get past the “no management background” problem that was blocking my career growth. I took the advice seriously and started doing tons of leadership stuff like running big projects, mentoring newer people, going to leadership workshops, and building relationships with executives.

The biggest thing I did was start working directly with a Senior Sales Director who runs my whole region. No other individual contributor in our company does this kind of thing. I thought it would help me get into sales management since those roles seem more available.

For 3 straight quarters I helped all 15+ of his department heads crush their numbers. We do monthly check-ins where I give him updates and planning for upcoming quarters. I share what works across different sales teams and made it super obvious that I want to manage people next.

He’s been really supportive and even wrote great things about me in my performance reviews. This made me look good with leadership and boosted my confidence a lot.

The Problem: Two weeks ago a Sales Manager I know well said she’s going on maternity leave by end of year. Her team is mostly new people so she wanted me to cover for her. She talked to her boss (the Director I mentioned) but told me I should ask him directly.

I had my regular meeting with him last week right after we beat targets again. Everything went perfectly when I presented our results. In the last few minutes I pitched myself for the temporary manager role. I explained how it matched my goals, reminded him about all the successful results I delivered, and even outlined my plans for 2025.

He actually laughed and said thanks but no. His reason was that in my current job I help all his teams succeed, but as a manager I’d only help one team. He said “you’re too good at what you do now.” I tried explaining how I could still support my replacement but he wasn’t interested.

This really got me down and I had to take some time off to deal with it. It feels backwards that doing excellent work is now hurting my career growth. The frustrating part is this relationship makes me visible in the company so I can’t just switch to working with a different region without losing months of progress.

I’m applying to other companies but the job market is pretty tough right now. Looking for advice from people who’ve been through similar situations on how to handle this without making things worse.

Right now I’m planning to keep doing the same work and hope a management spot opens up internally, but honestly my motivation took a big hit.

Thanks for reading this long post.

2

You’ve hit a classic trap that happens to high performers everywhere. Your director sees you as too valuable to lose in your current role instead of recognizing your potential for bigger impact. You need to strategically reposition yourself.

Stop talking about how well you do your current job. Instead, focus conversations on scalability and succession planning. The company needs systems that work without depending on one person, no matter how good they are. Position yourself as someone who builds lasting processes, not just someone who gets things done.

Start documenting and systematizing everything you do right now. Build frameworks others can follow, then slowly hand off parts of your work to prove these systems work without you. This shifts you from irreplaceable doer to strategic architect.

Next time an opportunity comes up, lead with how your management would multiply impact across teams through better processes and developing people. Don’t highlight what you’ve accomplished individually. You want to flip the perception from “too valuable to move” to “too strategic to waste in this role.”

3

Been there 3 years ago - you’re way too nice about this. Your director’s using you as his secret weapon while blocking your growth. That’s not sustainable.

Here’s what worked for me: I started talking about my development with OTHER executives, not just him. Use those relationships you’ve built! When multiple senior people start asking why a high performer isn’t moving into management, things change fast.

Also, stop waiting for internal opportunities. Use your track record to get management offers elsewhere - watch how quickly that “you’re too valuable” excuse disappears.

4

Your director’s being selfish keeping you stuck! Time to flip the script - ask for management training budget or cross-department exposure as rewards for your performance. Make staying in current role conditional on clear advancement timeline!

5

man, this sucks but ur director’s got a point - why mess with something that’s working? u need to make this promotion benefit him, not just u. train someone to take over ur current role first, then pitch the promotion again. show him how moving u up creates more value than keeping u where u are.