A 10-question test to take before you volunteer for anything else
Receiving extra responsibilities can look like a sign that your employer trusts you. Often it is. At other moments it may mean you've simply become the person everyone turns to for help, which differs from being the person someone is actively backing for growth.
That distinction carries real weight, because sponsorship is unevenly spread. The 2025 Women in the Workplace report from McKinsey and LeanIn found that 31% of women starting out have a sponsor versus 45% of men, and that promotions to manager ran 93 women for every 100 men. Extra tasks with no sponsor and no next role attached do not lead anywhere. Such roles lead nowhere while appearing productive.
Answer each of the ten statements below with a simple yes or no. Stay honest with yourself, because nobody else will see how you score. The quiz takes about four minutes. The conversation it prompts takes roughly ten, and it is the one many women in Southeast Wisconsin keep postponing for a year.
The evaluation
1. A senior person has said out loud which role I am being groomed for.
2. Your latest assignment included at least one concrete element, such as a title, a budget, real decision rights, or a team to lead.
3. Each quarter I make sure to present my work to executives who sit above my manager.
4. Whenever someone mentions a "next step," there is at least a loose deadline attached.
5. My manager has described me to others as "the person who will be running" a particular function.
6. When the new responsibility arrived, something else was taken off my plate.
7. Discussions about promotions at my company mention the work I was given, such as revenue targets, a P&L, a product launch, or a turnaround.
8. I keep a written development plan, and at least one other person has looked it over.
9. Asking a Waukesha or Brookfield manager what blocks my path to promotion yields concrete answers instead of a vague "keep doing what you're doing."
Question ten. I am aware of whether my name is raised in talent reviews, and I know who speaks up on my behalf when it is.
Your score
Eight to ten yeses: Clear path. Someone in leadership is intentionally investing in your growth. Your job is to make the argument for you easy to present, which means logging your accomplishments and keeping the timeline clear.
Four to seven yeses: Hazy path. Some of what you're doing is genuine development, and some of it is simply drift, and your manager might not be able to tell them apart. At your next one-on-one, pose this question: "Which role is this work getting me ready for, and when will we review it?" Jot down the reply along with the date. If you get a fuzzy reply twice in a row, read it as a refusal that no one wants to state openly.
Score of 0 to 3 yes: Parking lot. Your reliability is the reason the work keeps coming to you, and because so little of it is visible, the promotion keeps passing you by. Limit new commitments this month to work that matches one of the items in questions 2, 5 or 7. Then find a sponsor. Begin by requesting targeted guidance from a senior leader, then check back in with them once you have acted on it. Local groups such as TEMPO Milwaukee or Milwaukee Women inc. can help you meet those leaders.
The next move for each band
Choose the three "no" answers that would be easiest to shift to "yes" within 90 days. Frequently these gaps come down to questions 3 and 9, both of which you can address this week.
Across all the questions, how many points did you end up with? Share this with the woman on your Milwaukee or Southeast Wisconsin team who is quietly absorbing everyone else's workload, and invite her to take the quiz as well.