The Career Flywheel: Four Power Moves to Accelerate Your Career

Being brilliant in the present is the most underrated career move you can make.

Last week’s chat with Declan Allen left my brain fizzing. You know when someone drops a truth so simple it almost sounds obvious, but you can feel it rearranging things in your head? That was one of those moments.

Declan said,

“You don’t get noticed for saying you want to lead. You get noticed for getting things done.”

And honestly, I haven’t stopped thinking about it.

Because that one sentence captures something I’ve seen time and time again in the workshops I run: so many brilliant people are so focused on what’s next that they miss the power of what’s now.

🖐 Million-Pound Fingers

In one of those workshops, I was working with a demand planning team - the people who keep whole businesses running but rarely get the glory. At one point, I looked at them and said, “You’ve got million-pound fingers.”They all looked at me like I’d lost it (fair), but it’s true.

Every tap on that keyboard, every forecast, every update, could make or lose the business millions. If they get it right, then products are where they need to be at the right time, but if they get it wrong, then warehouses are full of wasted stock or shelves will sit empty.

And when they realised that, you could feel the shift in the room. They weren’t just “doing their jobs.”They were moving the dial.

That’s the moment you stop being a task-doer and start being a difference-maker.

The Career Flywheel

This idea ties beautifully into what we call the Career Flywheel - a system that turns good intentions into tangible progress. It’s made up of four moves:

1. Make It Matter,

2. Spot and Solve,

3. Find your people, and

4. Be Seen.

In episode 20 of 'Little Moves, Big Careers, ' we explored the first two, which are summarised here, too. These are the foundations of every thriving career.

1. Make It Matter: Add Value, Not Motion

There’s a gap between

• What you’re paid to do,

• What’s expected of you, and

• What you’re capable of.

Most people sit comfortably in the first two. They meet the brief, hit deadlines, tick the boxes… and quietly wonder why no one’s noticing.

That’s because careers aren’t built in the “expected” zone. They’re built in the gap - that messy, stretchy space between competence and possibility.

And the people who grow fastest are the ones who mind that gap and make it matter.

They don’t just ask, “Did I do my job?”They ask, “Did I make a difference?”

2. Spot and Solve – Clarity in the Chaos

It’s not enough to work hard; you have to work on the right things.

So many talented people are drowning in noise - chasing shiny new projects, polishing PowerPoints, or perfecting reports that no one reads. They confuse movement with progress.

Spot and Solve is about cutting through the fog and saying,

“Here’s what actually matters and here’s what we’re going to do about it.”

That’s the kind of clarity organisations crave. That’s leadership, long before your title changes.

To start doing this, you need to create friction and slow things down just enough to think. I know friction has a bad reputation (it sounds confrontational), but we don't need a bunch of echo chambers in work. We need people who are confident and focused enough to challenge. To create that friction and slow things down just enough to ask, "Is this right?" We all have too much to do, so it is vital that we are challenging if we are doing the right things and working out how to do things better.

You’ll be amazed at what happens when your team stops spinning and starts thinking.

Your Bold Move

This week, Mind the Gap. Ask yourself:

• Where am I just doing what’s expected?

• Where could I add real value?

• What’s one “noise” habit I could drop to make space for better work?

Because when you start making it matter and spotting what really needs solving that’s when your flywheel starts to turn.

🎧 Listen to Episode 20: “Million-Pound Fingers and the Career Flywheel”on Little Moves, Big Careers wherever you get your podcasts.

Then go find your million-pound moment.

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