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Progress Your Career: A Formula That Works

  • personal995
  • 3 days ago
  • 7 min read

Updated: 11 minutes ago



Everyone wants to “get ahead” in their career. But the truth is, most people approach it the wrong way, or don't want to do the work.


They chase shortcuts. They mimic others. They jump into roles they aren’t ready for.


It works for a while. Until it doesn’t.


Real career progression, the type that compounds over your lifetime, follows a formula. A simple one. But not always an easy one.


It begins with building your craft. Then learning to communicate. Then mastering the commercial game.


Each step matters. Each step builds leverage. And each step must align with who you are.


This is the formula that works.


"To get what you want, you have to deserve what you want. The world is not yet a crazy enough place to reward a whole bunch of undeserving people." Charlie Munger


What’s in this article?




Introduction: Simple, but not easy



At the start of your career, it’s tempting to rush. Titles, promotions, recognition. Your ego wants them now.


But career progression is not about chasing every shiny opportunity. It’s about building circles of mastery that compound.


First, you establish credibility. That’s the technical circle.


Then, you learn to multiply your impact through people. That’s the communication circle.


Finally, you learn to scale your impact through systems, money, and markets. That’s the commercial circle.


Miss one? Your career stalls.


Get all three? That’s when your work creates outsized results. And opportunities start chasing you.




Step 1: Master Your Craft (The Technical Circle)



Every career begins here. The work. The actual skill.


If you’re an engineer, it’s engineering. If you’re a designer, it’s design. If you’re in finance, it’s numbers.


This is where you prove you can understand and execute.


The key is to pick a craft that aligns with who you are.


If you’re analytical, lean into analysis. If you’re creative, lean into creation. If you’re operational, lean into execution.


When you do, your work feels natural and your growth accelerates.


Without this base, no one takes you seriously. People can smell when someone’s trying to skip the hard yards.


So first: get technically good. Very good.


That credibility becomes the foundation you’ll stand on for the rest of your career.


Books to guide you:


  • So Good They Can’t Ignore You by Cal Newport - on building rare and valuable skills instead of chasing passion blindly.

  • Mastery by Robert Greene - on the timeless path to deep expertise.

  • The Practice by Seth Godin - on showing up daily, committing to the process, and doing consistent work that matters.


“The time that leads to mastery is dependent on the intensity of our focus.” Robert Greene





Step 2: Learn to Communicate and Influence (The Communication Circle)



Once you’ve proven you can do the work, the next step is proving you can multiply it and make things happen.


This is where communication, influence, and negotiation come in.


Again beware to first understand yourself. Most people learn these skills in a way that doesn’t fit them. They copy others. They put on a mask. And it feels fake.


Instead, the key is to learn communication that aligns with your personality.


If you’re empathetic, lead with listening. If you’re logical, influence through clarity and reasoning. If you’re charismatic, use your enthusiasm and energy.


Do you connect better one-on-one, to small groups or large audiences? The written word, digitally or in-person?


Communication is not about being someone else. It’s about amplifying the best parts of you, in a way that helps others trust, follow, and collaborate with you.


At this stage, you go from being a “good worker” to someone others want to work with and for.



Books to guide you:


  • Behave by Robert Sapolsky - on the deep biological and psychological forces that shape why people act the way they do.

  • How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie - timeless for understanding, supporting and influencing people.

  • Never Split the Difference by Chris Voss - negotiation lessons from an FBI hostage negotiator, highly practical in business.


“You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you.” Dale Carnegie





Step 3: Add Commercial Understanding (The Commercial Circle)



Now you add real leverage.


When you add commercial acumen, understanding how money, markets, and strategy work, you begin to see the bigger picture.


Suddenly, you don’t just complete tasks. You connect them to outcomes that matter: revenue, cash flow, return on investment, efficiency, scale, and growth.


And again, it has to align with you.


If you’re curious about numbers, lean into finance. If you’re strategic, learn market dynamics. If you’re operational, study how processes create profit.


When your technical credibility and communication skills meet commercial insight, you become rare and valuable.


That rarity is what makes your career compound. It’s what puts you in the room for bigger opportunities. It’s what creates scale.


Books to guide you:


  • The Personal MBA by Josh Kaufman - a distilled guide to business, strategy, and value creation.

  • Good to Great by Jim Collins - lessons on what makes businesses thrive (and how you can contribute at scale).

  • Warren Buffett's (Berkshire Hathaway's) Letters to Shareholders - invaluable lessons in value creation, micro-economics, capital allocation, and long-term thinking.


“The key to investing is not assessing how much an industry is going to affect society, or how much it will grow, but rather determining the competitive advantage of any given company and, above all, the durability of that advantage.” Warren Buffett





Step 4: Overlay with Being → Doing → Having



Now to pull it all together.


Most people flip the formula. They chase titles, salaries, and recognition (Having) before they’ve built the habits, skills, and character (Being) and take the required actions (Doing) to support them. That’s why so many stall or burn out.


Real life works the other way:

  • Being – Become the person who can handle the responsibility. Someone disciplined, curious, and aligned with their values.

  • Doing – From that foundation, do the work, build skills, influence others, and create commercial value.

  • Having – Only then do the titles, salaries, and opportunities arrive naturally.


This model overlays each of the three circles:

  • Technical mastery isn’t just about the work. It’s about being the kind of person who takes their craft seriously, and consistently doing the work required.

  • Communication isn’t just tactics. It’s about being someone trustworthy and authentic, and consistently doing taking steps to continual build trust and influence.

  • Commercial skill isn’t just spreadsheets. It’s about being someone who sees the bigger picture, and doing the difficult decision making required.


When you progress this way, success stops being about chasing and becomes about being and doing.


Books to guide you:


  • The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey - on character-first effectiveness.

  • Meditations by Marcus Aurelius - on building inner strength before outer success.

  • Atomic Habits by James Clear - on aligning who you are with what you consistently do.


“But until a person can say deeply and honestly, "I am what I am today because of the choices I made yesterday," that person cannot say, "I choose otherwise.” Stephen Covey





To Summarise: Progress Your Career



The formula is simple:


  • Technical Circle – Prove you can do the work.


  • Communication Circle – Prove you can work with and lead people.


  • Commercial Circle – Prove you can scale and compound results.


  • Being → Doing → Having – Overlay it all with the mindset of becoming first, then doing, then having.


Now, be patience and stick with it. If you execute this formula thoughtfully, with care and dedication to continually improve, you will do well over time.


And most importantly you will receive the internal joy of doing important work well.



“First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do.” Epictetus


Useful Member's Links: Aspect 36: Holism & Aspect 37: Peace & Joy



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All the best. Take care of yourself and each other.




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