In today’s fast-paced workplace, promotions and new roles often come with more ambiguity than guidance. Shveta Miglani, author of Navigate Your Career, believes that success in these transitions depends not on working harder, but on working smarter—with intention, evidence, and emotional intelligence.
“The first 90 to 180 days are the most concentrated period of signal you will ever get about a role,” Miglani explains. “You’ll learn who matters, what really moves the business, and where the hidden constraints sit.” She urges professionals to treat this window as a “compressed diagnostic and design cycle” where the goal is to learn quickly, test hypotheses, and translate early evidence into a time-bound agenda that others can endorse.
One of the most common missteps she sees is the assumption that past success guarantees future results. “The biggest mistake when stepping into a new role is assuming yesterday’s playbook will win today,” she says. “Treat onboarding as a concentrated, evidence-gathering sprint: set explicit learning goals, map the people and processes that move outcomes, and convert early observations into a prioritized agenda that balances quick wins with capability-building.”
Miglani’s approach is deeply strategic, but also refreshingly human. She emphasizes the importance of shifting from “doing to orchestrating” when stepping into a promotion. “Move your energy from individual outputs to shaping systems, aligning stakeholders, and building others’ capabilities,” she advises. That means redefining success metrics to reflect team and organizational outcomes, delegating with clarity, and instituting repeatable processes that sustain impact after you move on.
Decoding company culture is another critical skill, especially for new hires. Miglani encourages professionals to treat culture as observable data. “Scan strategy docs and org design to form hypotheses, watch meeting dynamics, email norms, and recognition rituals to test them, and reverse-engineer three recent high-impact decisions to reveal incentives and risk tolerances.”
This kind of disciplined curiosity also helps strike the right balance between humility and confidence. “Set 30- to 60-day learning goals, show up with hypothesis-driven questions, and document what you learn so recommendations are evidence-based,” she says. “Pair each learning checkpoint with a timebound, provisional proposal that frames tradeoffs and a smallest-viable experiment, signaling direction while inviting feedback.”
Trust-building, especially in hybrid environments, is another area where Miglani offers clear guidance. “Trust is earned through predictable behavior and visible reliability,” she says. “Begin by delivering on small, early commitments and by setting clear, simple norms for communication and decision-making.” She recommends using “mixed-modal touchpoints—short synchronous huddles to build connection paired with concise asynchronous updates for clarity.”
Mentorship, too, plays a pivotal role in career navigation. Miglani suggests mapping the people who influence your top three outcomes and choosing six to eight candidates who can open doors, challenge assumptions, and broaden your perspective. “Rank them by how additive they are to your work—those who change resourcing, validate or refute key assumptions, or expand your vantage point come first.”
When it comes to managing up, her advice is both tactical and empowering. “In the first 30 days clarify your manager’s priorities and constraints, capture them in a one-page alignment brief with your 30/90/180 focus and the decisions you need, and establish a predictable cadence that fits their style.”
Ultimately, Miglani’s book is a call to action for professionals ready to lead with intention. Her closing prompt distills the essence of her framework: “Define the one place where my contribution will most accelerate team and business outcomes; identify the specific skills and relationships that will let me deliver that contribution at scale; choose two measurable actions I will complete in the next 30 days that materially increase team momentum and two measurable actions I will complete in the next 90 days that create sustainable business impact.”
In Navigate Your Career, Shveta Miglani offers more than advice—she delivers a blueprint for transformation. Her frameworks help professionals decode complexity, build trust, and deliver results that matter. Because in the end, career success isn’t just about showing up—it’s about showing up strategically.