“Next Level” Is Not a Promotion—It’s a Transformation The 5 Internal Upgrades You Need to Stop Playing Small and Start Leading Big

Look, everyone says they’re “ready for the next level.”

 But what they really mean is: I want the title, the check, the prestige… but please don’t ask me to radically rethink who I am, how I show up, and what I stand for.

Yeah. That’s not how it works. As someone who coaches everyone from boardroom bosses to Bulls players, I’ll tell you: the next level doesn’t start with your résumé. It starts with your presence, your story, and your ability to move a room when nothing is scripted.

Here’s what you really need to work on if you’re serious about leveling up.

1. Upgrade Your Presence Before You Upgrade Your Pitch

Executive presence isn’t about having a deep voice or owning three tailored suits. It’s about walking into the room with the kind of clarity and conviction that says: “I know who I am, and I’m not performing for you. I’m here to make a dent.”

That kind of energy? It doesn’t come from LinkedIn headlines. It comes from alignment. Alignment between your values, your actions, and your ability to sit in silence without sweating when someone says, “Tell me about yourself.”

Stat Check: According to a survey by the Center for Talent Innovation, 26% of what contributes to executive presence is gravitas—how you act under pressure and command a room.

Your Move: Record yourself speaking for 90 seconds about your leadership point of view. No script. No slides. Just you. Then ask: Would you follow that person?

2. Master the Art of the Unscripted Moment

The people who win in big rooms don’t just answer questions—they redirect them. They don’t recite—they respond. Ad hoc conversations are where presence meets performance.

The higher you go, the more spontaneous the stakes become. You’ve got to be agile in ambiguity. The goal isn’t to be right—it’s to be ready.

Stat Check: A Harvard Business Review article noted that leaders who communicate effectively in impromptu settings are 39% more likely to be promoted in a 12-month period

Your Move: Practice what we do at All365: take one theme (say, “trust”) and explain its impact on culture, performance, and personal growth—on the spot. Repetition builds range.

3. Stop Selling. Start Storytelling.

You’re not pitching. You’re positioning. The best leaders don’t sell themselves—they share themselves. They tell the story of who they are, what they’ve survived, and why it matters to the mission.

That’s why at All365, we focus on sense-making as a superpower: If you can name the moment, frame the moment, and claim the moment—you own the room.

Stat Check: Stories are 22x more memorable than facts alone, according to cognitive neuroscientist Dr. Jennifer Aaker at Stanford.

Your Move: Craft a 90-second origin story that explains why your work matters—without using the words “synergy,” “alignment,” or “leverage.” Say it out loud until it feels like you.

4. Know Your Value—So You Can Show Your Value

Here’s a hard truth: Vague leaders get vague results. If you can’t clearly articulate the value you bring, people will assign you the value that’s convenient. (And it’s usually less than you’re worth.)

Your value prop isn’t a list of what you do. It’s a lens into what changes when you’re in the room.

At All365, we help leaders identify their Apex Superpower—the thing they do so naturally that they forget it’s extraordinary. When you name that, you stop shrinking in rooms you were born to command.

Stat Check: According to McKinsey, 70% of employee perception of leadership effectiveness is based on clarity and direction, not charisma.

Your Move: Ask three trusted peers: “What’s the one thing I do better than anyone else you know?” Now reverse-engineer your elevator pitch from that.

5. Build a Practice, Not Just a Persona

You don’t rise to the occasion. You fall to the level of your preparation. The leaders who succeed at the next level? They rehearse. They reflect. They train.

When we work with Fortune 500 leaders, we make this non-negotiable: every vision must have a practice. Whether that’s rehearsing your personal narrative, simulating hard conversations, or developing a weekly “clarity cadence,”—you’ve got to prep like your impact depends on it. Because it does.

Stat Check: In a study by the Corporate Executive Board, companies with formal leadership development programs outperformed their competitors by 12% in profit and 17% in market share.

Your Move: Schedule one hour a week for “executive reps”—practice speaking, sense-making, and scenario navigation. (We do this at All365 in our Table sessions. It changes everything.)

Final Thought:

If you’re truly ready for the next level, don’t just wait for someone to tap you on the shoulder. Build the presence that demands attention. Craft the story that moves people. And develop the clarity that transforms moments into momentum.

And if you need help making that leap? That’s what we do at All365. We coach humans to become the leaders the world actually needs—present, powerful, and unmistakably themselves.

Let’s go get that next level. Not someday. Now. Click here and let’s find 15 minutes to get your started.