Dear Reader,
Last week, I told you the uncomfortable truth: You have to reduce to regain freedom. I shared how my family moved from a 4-bed dream home in Ascot to a cramped 2-bed flat just to stay in London.
At the time, it felt like a retreat. But I wasn’t just staying in a city; I was staying in a Decision Center.
This brings us to the third step of the ladder: E — Enter a Bigger Room.
Aberdeen vs. London
For seven years, I was based in Aberdeen. It’s a great operational hub, full of brilliant technical minds and it was where i got the foundational experiences that served as a springboard for the rest of my career.
But London? London is our HQ where the strategy is architected. It’s where the VPs walk the corridors and where the global direction of the company is decided.
When I moved, my daily environment shifted. I went from a room where we discussed how to execute, to a room where we discussed why we were moving in a certain direction.
Suddenly, the people I used to only see on global webcasts were the people I was standing behind in the coffee queue.
By simply being in the room, my standards changed. My vocabulary changed. My understanding of what was “possible” expanded because I was witnessing high-level decisions in real-time.
The “Exposure” Effect
While in London, an opportunity arose to lead a global Community of Practice for 700 members.
That opportunity didn’t exist in Aberdeen. It wasn’t because I lacked the skills—I had the same MBA and the same technical expertise in both cities. It was because I was finally in the room where that specific need was identified.
If you are the smartest, most ambitious person in your current circle, you aren’t “winning”—you are stagnant. You need a room that makes you feel a little bit “unqualified.” You need an environment that challenges your pace and your standards.
“Your potential is often capped by the room you choose to sit in.”
Your Week 3 Architecture Task
In 2026, proximity isn’t just about physical location (though that matters); it’s about the quality of the conversations you have access to.
Take 10 minutes today to audit your “Rooms”:
- The Professional Room: Are you in the operational hub or the decision center of your industry?
- The Peer Room: Does your immediate network talk about problems or projects?
- The Mentor Room: Who is two levels ahead of you that you can “accidentally” run into this week?
Reply to this email and tell me: What is one “Bigger Room” you need to enter this year? Is it a new office, a high-level mastermind, or a different department?
Don’t stay in a room where you’ve already hit the ceiling. Move.
Jonathan Edet | The Faceless Coach | A movement for leaders rising from faceless to Architects of purpose.
P.S. To see the visual map of how I moved from the "operational center" to the "decision center"—and exactly how it accelerated my career—catch the full breakdown in the Masterclass here:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56B5jjW1gNo
Next week: Next week, we get tactical on Asking for Alignment. I’ll share the exact "support vs. lead" audit I used to stop being a backup plan and start being the first choice.
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