He didn’t say he was ready. He proved it quietly.

When I sat down with Dan Faulkner, CEO of SmartBear, he told me he was once passed over for a leadership role because he “hadn’t done it before.”

The cruelest ceiling isn’t glass — it’s being boxed in by your own expertise.

Being great at something… and never trusted with more.

Instead of waiting for permission, Dan built his own readiness.

He studied marketing at night.

He learned product and finance from scratch.

He said yes to the jobs no one thought he could handle.

That rejection didn’t end his path — it defined it.

He stopped asking for chances and started creating them.

“You’re the steward of your own career,” he told me.

“If you’re not driving it, you’re going to get the default.”

Sometimes the most powerful motivation isn’t belief from others —

it’s the doubt they hand you.

Ever been told you weren’t ready?

What did you do next?

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Follow Dan on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielfaulkner/

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