{"id":19,"date":"2026-10-31T13:34:03","date_gmt":"2026-10-31T13:34:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thecareertuneup.com\/blog\/?p=19"},"modified":"2026-10-31T13:34:03","modified_gmt":"2026-10-31T13:34:03","slug":"you-got-passed-over-for-vp-now-what","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thecareertuneup.com\/blog\/you-got-passed-over-for-vp-now-what\/","title":{"rendered":"You Got Passed Over for VP. Now What?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">You did the work. You carried the team, hit the numbers, maybe even covered parts of the role before it was posted. Then the announcement went out, and it wasn&#8217;t your name.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The instinct is to react: update the resume that night, vent to a peer, or quietly check out. Don&#8217;t. How you respond in the next 30 days will shape your reputation more than the decision itself. Leaders are watching how you handle disappointment, because that&#8217;s part of what a VP does.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Step one: get real feedback, not polite feedback<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Most people ask &#8220;What could I have done differently?&#8221; and get a vague, kind answer. &#8220;You&#8217;re doing great \u2014 your time will come.&#8221; That tells you nothing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ask better questions, and ask them of the person who made the decision:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>&#8220;What did the selected candidate bring that I didn&#8217;t?&#8221;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;What would you need to see from me to be the obvious choice next time?&#8221;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;Is there anyone whose support I&#8217;d need that I don&#8217;t have today?&#8221;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Then listen without defending. If you argue with the feedback, you&#8217;ll never get honest feedback again. Thank them, take notes, and follow up in writing with what you heard. That shows maturity \u2014 and creates a record you can point back to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Step two: decode what no one will say out loud<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At the VP level, decisions are rarely about performance alone. Strong performance gets you considered. Other factors get you chosen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">What&#8217;s often happening behind the scenes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Sponsorship.<\/strong> Someone in the room advocated for the other candidate. Mentors give advice; sponsors spend political capital on you. Do you have one?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Perceived readiness.<\/strong> Leaders may see you as the best director on the team \u2014 and that&#8217;s exactly the problem. They can picture you doing your current job, not the next one.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Business direction.<\/strong> The company may be heading somewhere new, and they hired for where it&#8217;s going, not where it&#8217;s been.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Timing and optics.<\/strong> An external hire to signal change, a reorg in progress, or a commitment made before the role was ever posted.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">None of this is fair, and some of it isn&#8217;t about you at all. But knowing which factor was in play tells you what you can actually change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Step three: decide whether to stay or go<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Once the emotion settles and you have the facts, ask yourself honestly:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Is there a real path?<\/strong> Is another VP seat likely in the next 12\u201318 months, or was this the only one?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Was the feedback specific and fixable?<\/strong> &#8220;Build stronger board exposure&#8221; is a plan. &#8220;Just keep doing what you&#8217;re doing&#8221; is a holding pattern.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Do you have \u2014 or can you get \u2014 a sponsor?<\/strong> Without one, the next decision will likely go the same way.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Can you work for the person who got the job?<\/strong> Especially if they were your peer. Be honest about this one.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Are you staying out of strategy or out of comfort?<\/strong> Loyalty is valuable. Waiting indefinitely isn&#8217;t a career plan.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If most answers point to a real path, stay and be intentional about it: close the gaps, build the relationships, and make your readiness visible. If they don&#8217;t, start your search \u2014 quietly, strategically, and from a position of strength, not resentment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sometimes being passed over is the push you needed. The VP title you&#8217;re looking for may be somewhere that already sees you as ready.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The bottom line<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Being passed over isn&#8217;t the end of your executive path. It&#8217;s information. Get honest feedback, understand the real reasons, and make a deliberate choice about where you grow next.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If you&#8217;re sitting with that decision right now and want a thought partner who&#8217;s been on the other side of the table, let&#8217;s talk. Each month, I offer a limited number of complimentary strategy sessions to readers. <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/careertuneup.coachvantage.com\/event\/strategy-session\">Request yours<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Being passed over for VP stings. Here\u2019s how to get honest feedback, decode the unspoken reasons, and decide whether to stay or go.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":20,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[8,10,9,11],"class_list":["post-19","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-career","tag-career-strategy","tag-executive-careers","tag-promotion","tag-sponsorship"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thecareertuneup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thecareertuneup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thecareertuneup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecareertuneup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecareertuneup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thecareertuneup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21,"href":"https:\/\/thecareertuneup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19\/revisions\/21"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecareertuneup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thecareertuneup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecareertuneup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecareertuneup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}