I’ve spent enough time in coaching conversations to know that most professionals who come to me already sense something is off. They’ve done the work. They’ve logged the hours. They’ve delivered results that — by any objective measure — should have earned them the next level. And yet, the promotion didn’t come. The recognition didn’t follow. The opportunity went to someone else. Again.
They know something is wrong. They just can’t name it.
That unnamed something is the gap. And until you measure it, you can’t close it.
One Conversation That Said Everything
Recently, a client shared a LinkedIn post with me – a clip of Viola Davis speaking about fear, self-definition, and the courage to step fully into who you are. After watching it, he sent me a simple but honest message: “I do believe there is truth to this. Unfortunately, I have never worked this into my beliefs.”
I responded: “She’s 56 and you’re 20 years younger. When is NOW the time to define yourself?”
His answer stopped me cold: “Yesterday.”
One word. Message sent. Message received.
Here’s what made that exchange different from most coaching conversations: I already knew where he was before he said it. Earlier that week, he had completed the MCP Career Readiness Assessment – a diagnostic tool I developed to measure exactly where a professional stands across the three phases of the MCP Career Strategy System™: Identify, Cultivate, and Leverage.
His scores told a precise story before we exchanged a single word:
IDENTIFY: 50% – right at the threshold. The foundation exists, but it hasn’t been fully internalized.
CULTIVATE: 64% – developing strength. Executive presence is emerging.
LEVERAGE: 54% – tools exist but aren’t fully activated yet.
OVERALL: 57% – past the starting line, not yet at the finish.
When he said “the fear is the cage” – he was describing his IDENTIFY score in his own language. He understood the truth intellectually. He just hadn’t built it into his belief system. And that distinction – knowing versus living – is often the entire gap.
Three Things I’ve Learned About Career Gaps
1. Most high-potential professionals know a gap exists — they just haven’t named it.
Early in my own leadership career, I went through a period where I could feel something was off in how I was being perceived – but I couldn’t articulate it. I was delivering results. I was working harder than the people around me. What I didn’t know was that my narrative about my own value was unclear, and that unclarity was costing me opportunities I never even heard about. You cannot close a gap you haven’t named.
2. A mirror is more valuable than more motivation.
My client didn’t need a pep talk. He didn’t need another book, another podcast, another webinar. He needed someone to hold up an honest mirror and say: here is where you are, specifically – not where you think you are, not where you want to be, but where the evidence says you are right now.
When the assessment gave him his scores, the conversation shifted. It stopped being abstract. It became about now – about the specific beliefs and narratives sitting at exactly 50% that were holding everything else hostage.
3. The professionals who advance face their gaps – they don’t wait for them to close on their own.
I played competitive doubles tennis for years with a partner named Doug – an uber competitor who taught me one of the most important business lessons I know: never compare the worst in yourself against the best in others. Know your strengths. Know your gaps. Then go to work.
The professionals I’ve watched advance the fastest weren’t always the most talented people in the room. They were the most honest about where they were – and the most committed to closing the distance between where they stood and where they intended to go.
So – What’s Your Gap?
Not what you suspect it might be. Not what your last performance review suggested. What does the evidence actually say about where you are right now – in your professional identity, your executive presence, and your ability to leverage your strengths at the level you’re actively pursuing?
You can’t close a gap you haven’t measured.
And you can’t measure a gap you haven’t faced.
My client said “yesterday” when I asked when the time was to define himself. That single word told me he was ready. The assessment told me exactly where to start. Those two things together? That’s how careers turn.
Ready to Find Out Exactly Where You Stand?
The MCP Career Readiness Assessment is the same diagnostic my client completed before our conversation – the one that told me exactly where to start before he said a single word. It measures your readiness across all three phases of the MCP Career Strategy System™: Identify, Cultivate, and Leverage. It’s confidential, takes about 10 minutes, and gives you a precise picture of where your gap actually is.
Take the MCP Career Readiness Assessment here → https://forms.gle/V19cS2X6vXnv5zAm7
Question for you: What has kept you from honestly assessing where you are in your career – and what would change if you knew exactly where your gap was? Share your story in the comments below.
