“ Some Managers Climb the Ladder. The Best Ones Lower It.”
Careers don’t begin with strategy. They begin with someone lowering a ladder—or quietly pulling it up behind them.
We like to think organisations are fair, structured places. They’re not. Progress depends less on process and more on people—who notices you, who backs you, and who decides you’re worth a risk.
And here’s the uncomfortable bit.
We often assume those who’ve experienced racism, sexism, ageism, homophobia or discrimination related to disability will naturally help others like them climb. Sometimes they do. Often brilliantly. But not always. If it was hard to get here, why risk your position? Why draw attention to yourself by backing someone else?
Add another awkward truth: mentoring follows familiarity. People tend to support those who remind them of themselves. Which helps explain why access to informal mentoring—the kind that really makes a difference—is so uneven.
Research is clear on one thing: people with mentors progress faster. The problem isn’t mentoring. It’s who gets one.
In my own career, the most valuable support was informal. A former line manager who took my calls, challenged my thinking, and helped me navigate my first management role. No scheme. No paperwork. Just experience, shared generously.
I also worked for someone who believed if you had time for development, you clearly didn’t have enough work to do. Courses, project groups, secondments—all things you squeezed in on top of the day job. Many organisations still operate like this: we value development, just not enough to make space for it.
So how do people actually get a leg up?
Make yourself visible. Volunteer for the work others avoid. Senior managers spot ambition because they recognise it in themselves.
Get close to opportunity. Project groups and secondments are the unofficial ladders—broadening your experience and, crucially, who knows you.
And build relationships. Find a mentor—but don’t confuse status with value. They don’t need to be senior or in your field. They do need to be honest, accessible, and willing to share what they’ve learned. And you need to listen.
Not all ladders are equal. Some are solid step ladders. Others are rope—wobbly and exhausting. Some have missing rungs. And sometimes you realise the ladder is leaning against the wrong wall.
The higher you climb, the more it costs. By forty, many decide they’re high enough. Those who keep going often pay elsewhere. I did.
Also: ladders wobble. If your mentor falls out of favour, you may wobble with them.
So why are some managers better at developing people?
Because they see it as the job. They lower the ladder deliberately—offering stretch work, sharing credit, and making space for growth. They don’t hoard opportunity.
Most organisations say they value talent. Few can name the managers who actually produce it.
That’s the missed trick. Identify them. Back them. Build secondments and projects around them. Reward them for growing others, not just delivering results.
Because talent doesn’t just rise. It’s lifted.
And Yeats was right.when he said “ all ladders start from the rag and bone shop of the heart”. The instinct to offer a rung—or remove it—doesn’t come from policy.
It comes from the heart.
So when you climb, ask yourself: will you pull the ladder up—or lower it for someone else?
Blair McPherson former Director author and blogger blairmcpherson.co.uk
