Stop playing it safe to drive career growth

YOU'VE probably been told to be patient, prove yourself or trust the process and you do. You work hard, deliver and keep things running smoothly. Without realising it, you start playing it safe professionally.

- TIFFANY UMAN

Taking on assignments that stretch your skills will show decision-makers you're ready for the next step in your career.

You take on projects you've already mastered. You wait to be noticed instead of speaking up. You prioritise reliable productivity and hold back on the ideas that could actually set you apart because you worry they haven't been perfectly worked out yet.

But while playing it safe might protect you from mistakes, it will also prevent you from growing. It keeps you comfortably dependable, and not recognised in the way you deserve. Moreover, it quietly convinces decision-makers that you're great where you are, and not quite ready for what's next. This is the trap I see many career-driven professionals in the corporate sector fall into one that often costs them both promotion and tangible long-term career progression.

Most professionals don’t stall because they lack capability. They stall because they have unknowingly become too good at being comfortable. Of course, this is not a deliberate strategy; being “too” dependable and reliable often creeps slowly but surely into your professional persona. You become the steady hand and the go-to team player - but not the one your executive team pictures leading the next big initiative.

Every time you hesitate due to an unwarranted lack of confidence, you're reinforcing the perception that you're not ready for more. And decision-makers will start to assume you're content where you are.