Director to VP Promotion: Why High-Performing Midlife Women Get Stuck in Corporate Leadership
Feeling stuck at Director level despite years of experience and strong performance?
Executive coach Katy McFee explains why high-performing midlife women often get passed over for promotion and the simple shifts that can finally get you seen as VP material.
You’ve spent 20+ years building your career. You’re trusted, capable, and consistently delivering results. Your team relies on you and leadership praises your work.
And yet… when the VP promotion opens up, someone else gets it.
In this conversation, executive coach Katy McFee and I talk about why so many high-performing women in corporate leadership roles get stuck at the Director level, and what actually needs to change to move into executive leadership.
We cover the perception problem that blocks promotions, why being the go-to executor can hurt your chances of becoming a VP, and how to start showing up as strategic leadership instead of tactical management.
You’ll also learn how to create strategic thinking time, communicate ideas with more authority in meetings, increase visibility with senior leadership, and respond when you’re given vague feedback like “be more strategic” or “improve executive presence.”
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Key Takeaways
• Promotions at the VP level are often driven by perception, not performance, especially for high-performing women at Director level
• A simple weekly habit—protecting strategic thinking time—can shift how leadership sees your executive readiness
• Small communication upgrades (recommendations vs. questions, visibility vs. silence) can change whether your ideas land and get credited
Who This Episode Is For
This episode is for midlife women who:
• Feel stuck at Director level in a corporate career despite strong performance
• Want a Director to VP promotion path that doesn’t require burnout or overworking
• Are navigating executive presence, leadership visibility, and being taken seriously in meetings
• Keep getting vague feedback like be more strategic, build influence, or show more gravitas
Why High-Performing Women Get Passed Over for VP Promotions
Many women believe that if they keep delivering excellent work, promotions will naturally follow.
But at the executive level, leaders aren’t only evaluating your results. They’re evaluating whether you’re already thinking and communicating like a VP.
Katy calls this the perception problem: you may be highly competent and deeply trusted, but leadership still doesn’t see you as VP material because they’re not seeing enough strategic leadership, executive presence, and cross-functional influence.
The Go-To Executor Trap: Why Reliability Can Stall Career Growth
If you’re the person who gets everything done, you’re incredibly valuable. But being indispensable in execution can quietly keep you in the same role.
To move from Director to VP, leadership needs to see that you can step out of the weeds and operate at a higher altitude:
• prioritizing the biggest problems
• analyzing metrics and trends
• making recommendations that shape direction
• influencing decision-makers beyond your team
This doesn’t mean doing less. It means showing more strategic leadership.
The Weekly Habit That Builds Executive-Level Thinking
One of Katy’s simplest recommendations is to block a single two-hour time block every week for strategic thinking.
Use it to:
• review your department’s biggest challenges
• analyze performance and metrics
• identify what’s working, what’s not, and why
• develop insights and recommendations you can share upward
Protect this time like a meeting with your CEO—because in many ways, it is your next promotion meeting.
How to Communicate Like a VP So Your Ideas Land With Leadership
Katy shares two important shifts:
1. Create consistent visibility for your ideas and work
2. Use language that communicates authority and clarity
One common mistake high-performing women make is phrasing ideas as questions instead of recommendations.
Instead of:
What do you think about if we did this?
Try:
I’ve been thinking about the problem we’re trying to solve, and I have a recommendation I’d like to share.
You can be collaborative and confident at the same time. The goal is to communicate in a way that signals executive readiness.
What to Do When You Get Vague Feedback Like Be More Strategic
If you’re being told to improve executive presence, be more strategic, or build influence, Katy says that’s a telltale sign you need more clarity and a stronger plan.
Instead of leaving the conversation confused, ask for specifics.
Try:
If I were really nailing this in three to six months, what would that look like? What would change? What would you see me doing differently?
That question forces measurable expectations and gives you something actionable to work toward.
Key Topics We Cover
This conversation explores career advancement for midlife women in corporate leadership, including why women get stuck at Director level and what helps create a Director to VP promotion path. We also talk about executive presence for women, leadership visibility, communicating with authority, and how to stop spinning your wheels by shifting from tactical execution to strategic leadership.
About Katy McFee:
Katy McFee is an executive coach and the founder of Insights to Action, where she helps high-performing women finally break through the Director-to-VP ceiling. With an 18-year career in biotech and tech, including senior roles where she drove nine-figure revenue growth, Katy knows firsthand what it takes to rise in male-dominated environments. Despite years of over-delivering, she was repeatedly passed over for promotion until she discovered the real barrier: perception, not performance. By shifting how she communicated and led, she landed her first VP role and was soon recruited as an EVP.
Now, Katy’s on a mission to help high-performing women stop spinning their wheels, crack the leadership code, and finally step into the executive roles they’ve earned. She teaches ambitious women how to master executive presence, communicate with authority, and build environments where their leadership thrives. Her mission is simple: empower women to own their value, lead with confidence, and get the promotions they’ve earned.
Quiz: Are You VP Ready? | Linked In | Instagram | Website
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Disclaimer:
Belong Wellness and its members, managers, employees, contractors, and other agents or representatives are not licensed medical care providers and do not provide medical services or advice, including without limitation diagnosing, examining, preventing, treating, or curing any medical conditions. The information shared in this podcast is meant to be educational, not prescriptive. Please consult your medical doctor before making any changes to your diet or lifestyle. Further, the opinions of guests on this show do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Jessica or anyone affiliated with Belong Wellness.
