Last week on the podcast ( https://managingacareer.com/127), we explored a career moment almost everyone encounters if they stay in the game long enough. Early on, progress comes from taking responsibility, delivering reliably, proving you can be trusted with more. Then one day the measurement changes. The path forward is no longer about what you can personally carry across the finish line; it becomes about what you can help others achieve. Responsibility built the foundation; influence becomes the multiplier.

That change can feel uncomfortable… even threatening. The people you now need to guide used to sit beside you. They may still feel like your inner circle. Pushing for results risks feeling controlling. Delegating risks disappointment. Letting go of the work that made you successful can feel like giving up the very identity that got you here. So the question becomes practical and emotional at the same time; how do you earn confidence as someone who produces outcomes through others rather than through your own hands?

Today we are going to explore a surprisingly safe training ground. A place where you can experiment with direction, clarity, feedback, and expectation setting without damaging relationships or reputations. We are going to talk about using AI as a practice field for leadership.

Why I Created This Podcast

I know this transition intimately because I wrestled with it myself -- and ultimately, it's the reason I created this podcast.

For a long stretch of my career, I was the person people counted on when something difficult landed. I could untangle the mess, close the gap, rescue the timeline. I prided myself on being generous with my time and quick with solutions. If there was a scoreboard, my name felt near the top.

And yet… I stopped moving.

I asked what I needed to do to advance. I expected something concrete; a certification, a bigger project, longer hours, sharper technical depth. Instead I received advice that felt vague and frustrating. I was told "Be more strategic". At the time, my thinking was "What does that even mean?"

What I eventually realized, much later than I wish I had, was that the standard had changed while I was still playing the old game. I kept proving I could personally execute, personally fix, personally deliver. But the next level required evidence that I could create results through other people. I was clinging to the work because I could do it faster and better. Handing it off felt inefficient. It felt risky. It felt like lowering the bar.

Letting go turned out to be the skill.

Here’s the part that should excite you. The practice environment available now is radically different from the one I had when I was learning this lesson. You have access to something that allows you to rehearse direction, delegation, coaching, and accountability whenever you want.

You have AI.

Leadership as a Practice Field

So let’s bring this down to earth.

If leadership is the requirement, then we need repetitions. Not philosophy… not inspiration… reps. The same way execution excellence came from doing the work again and again, influence grows from practicing how we set direction, clarify expectations, evaluate tradeoffs, and guide performance.

The challenge is that most workplaces are not designed as classrooms. Every attempt happens in public. Every mistake has witnesses. Every unclear instruction can slow a project or strain a relationship. That pressure makes experimentation feel dangerous, which is why so many capable people retreat back into doing the work themselves.

What if you had a place to practice where none of that risk existed?

Before we jump into the exercises, we should get specific about the capabilities that separate strong individual contributors from trusted...

You're being rewarded for ownership… and punished for it at the same time.

Do you know the difference between Ownership and Leadership?

Imagine a group setting up camp.

The leader points and establishes intent. Tents should go in that area. The cooking space belongs over there. Water access matters. Safety matters. Time matters. Then the leader steps back and lets the team work.

The owners move into the mechanics. They pitch the tents securely. They build the fire ring correctly. They store food so animals cannot get to it. They check the knots, test the setup, and make sure the plan becomes reality.

If the leader starts hammering every stake, the campsite might still come together, but scale disappears. Direction collapses into labor.

If the owners try to set direction without alignment, effort scatters.

Both roles are essential. They are simply different jobs.

Some people build careers by getting really good at placing tents.

They know how to pick up the gear, move fast, secure the lines, and make sure nothing collapses overnight. Give them a spot and they will turn it into something solid and dependable. Organizations love these people. They are reliable. They are trusted. They are promoted.

But, there's a moment in many careers that feels confusing, frustrating, and strangely personal. Progress slows down. Recognition changes. Opportunities that once came easily start requiring a different kind of effort. It is tempting to interpret this as politics or favoritism or bad luck.

Success is no longer measured by how well you pitch the tent; it is measured by whether you chose the right terrain in the first place. Wind exposure. Water access. Safety. Distance. Tradeoffs. The questions get bigger and the answers determine whether everyone else succeeds.

Many talented professionals keep perfecting their tent placement long after the company has started looking for terrain selection. The expectations have shifted, but no one announced the new rules. The behaviors that created momentum earlier are...

I was reading a post on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7423016998617473025/) by Jason Feifer (https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasonfeifer/), the Editor in Chief of Entrepreneur Magazine. In a recent article, Jason was interviewing Gary Vaynerchuk (https://www.linkedin.com/in/garyvaynerchuk/) about how marketing has changed, specifically through a redefinition of the mid funnel. The traditional idea of a funnel still exists, but where and how momentum is created has shifted.

In the post, Jason shared a story that stuck with me. Heinz once posted a simple image on Instagram about a fictional keg of ketchup. It wasn't clever. It wasn't polished. It wasn't even particularly strategic. It was, by most standards, a "stupid" idea.

But it caught.

The post went viral, and instead of ignoring that signal, Heinz leaned into it. They took what worked, refined it, and eventually turned that one throwaway idea into a full marketing campaign tied to the Super Bowl. A joke became a brand moment.

What really hit me was this; the exact same approach can unlock your own career growth.

I've talked about marketing yourself before, all the way back in Episode 018, Selling Yourself (https://managingacareer.com/18 ). At its core, marketing is about understanding the needs of your customer and aligning your product to those needs. In your career, the "customers" are the leaders who influence your advancement, and the "product" is you.

Traditionally, career growth follows a familiar funnel. You build awareness through visibility (Episode 081, Visibility - https://managingacareer.com/81 ), you demonstrate value over time, and eventually that narrows down to the "purchase" decision; a promotion, a bigger role, or expanded scope.

But this is where Gary's insight becomes so useful. The traditional funnel doesn't work the same way anymore. In the modern world, social has become the mid funnel. That means you don't have to start with a perfectly crafted brand or a fully formed strategy. You can start by testing ideas.

Simple ideas.

Rough ideas.

Even ideas that feel dumb or unfinished.

If an idea hits, you work it in the lower funnel; executing, refining, and proving it delivers results. Once it's proven, you expand it upward, where it becomes part of your reputation and your brand.

That's exactly what Heinz did with a silly idea about a keg of ketchup…and it's a playbook most professionals never realize they can use.

When it comes to their careers, most people have traditionally focused on the ends of the funnel; either the upper funnel or the lower funnel.

In the upper funnel, the goal is recognition. You bring big ideas to meetings. You look for moments to contribute something bold. You try to get your name and your thinking in front of leaders who matter. There's an element of performance here; a desire to stand out. At its worst, this looks like jumping up and down and shouting, "NOTICE ME!"

In the lower funnel, the belief is almost the opposite. You expect your work to speak for itself. You execute…and you execute well. You hit deadlines. You deliver quality. You take pride in being reliable and consistent, trusting that results will eventually turn into recognition.

In reality, both