Phase 1 made you clear. Phase 2 made you seen and connected. Phase 3 builds the case for your target and puts it in front of the person who decides. It starts with the quiet line between doing your job well and leading. On one side of it you finish your tasks. On the other you own a result: you carry it whether or not anyone tells you to, you make the calls it needs, and people stop having to chase you for it. The people who get tapped for more are almost always already standing on the leading side of that line, often without a title that says so.
You don't have to wait to be handed an outcome. You can claim one, and for your target, you want one that proves you already operate at the level you're aiming for. Somewhere in your work there's a result that matters and has no clear owner, or one you're already half-carrying without the credit. This week you pick it, say out loud that you've got it, and make one real decision on it instead of asking permission you don't actually need.
That last part is where it gets uncomfortable, and where it counts. "Should I do A or B?" hands the call back to someone else. "I'm going with A, flagging in case you'd steer otherwise" keeps the call yours. Same information, completely different standing. This week you practice the second one, on the outcome that matters to your target.
Name the outcome you'll own, today. Write one result your team needs that has no clear owner, or one you're already doing pieces of, ideally one that maps to your target. Use script 1 to write it as an outcome ("X is reliably happening"), not a task ("I do X").
Claim it out loud. Tell the person who'd care that you'll take point, script 2. Low-drama, no big speech. The goal is that one more person now knows this result is yours, ideally someone on your target map.
Make one call like the owner. Take a decision you'd normally escalate and instead decide it within your judgment, then tell people the decision, not the question. Script 3.
Word for word, ready to use. Edit any script to make it yours, then copy it.
"I own [outcome], which means [the result that's true when it's going well]." A task is "I update the tracker." An outcome is "the team always knows where the project stands."
"I'd like to take point on [outcome]. I'll [what you'll do] and keep you posted. Anything I should know before I run with it?"
Instead of "Do you want A or B?" say: "I'm going with A on [thing], because [one reason]. Flagging in case you'd steer otherwise." Then proceed unless someone steers.
For your own notes: split your work into "Tasks I do" and "Outcomes I own." If the second column is thin, move this week's outcome into it. That column is the case you're building.
Your Friday email carries the reply template. These are the prompts inside it.
Coming into phase 3 behind? Start here. Do move 1 and move 2; claiming the outcome is the catch-up, the owner's call can wait a week.
Stuck, or something not working? Pick what fits.