This is the final post in a four-part series on the Power Position framework. Post 1 introduced the framework; post 2 covered Passion & Interests; post 3 covered Skills & Experience.
This is the circle people resist most. Not because the questions are emotionally difficult, but because the answers require work most people haven’t done.
Once you do it, you can’t ignore what you discover.
The pattern
A mid-career woman decides she wants to pivot into organizational development, consulting, UX research, internal strategy, fractional leadership — any number of legitimate directions.
She gets clear on her interests. She takes stock of her skills. Then she builds her entire strategy around the assumption that demand exists for what she wants to do.
Six months later, she is frustrated, confused, and wondering why her strategy isn’t working.
A successful strategy cannot be built on a hypothesis that was never tested.
What market demand means
Market demand is not a feeling, “I think there’s a need for this.” It is not “everyone I talk to says it’s a great idea.”
Market demand is specific, verifiable, and current evidence that there are viable employers in your sector looking for someone with your skills and interests, at a level and salary that meets your situation.
That evidence looks like:
Job postings you can find right now, not aspirational postings you remember from two years ago.
Salary ranges on those postings that cover what you need to earn. A role you can’t afford to take doesn’t serve you.
Conversations with people doing the work that confirm the demand is real, industry trends are stable and/or growing, and the pathway from where you are to where they are can be mapped out.
Three sources that matter. One on its own is not enough.
Why this circle is a moving target
I’ve done more ongoing work on this circle than the other two. The Passion & Interests and Skills & Experience circles were clearer for me earlier on. The Market Demand circle for my coaching practice — who pays for it, at what price point, through which channels — required research, testing, and adjusting.
It still does.
I don’t say that to discourage you. I’m pointing out that this circle is not a one-time exercise. Markets change. Your positioning shifts. The question is whether you are making decisions based on evidence you have gathered, or on assumptions you haven’t examined.
If you cannot answer “is demand for this work growing, holding steady, or shrinking” with specific evidence, you have your next research task.
What counts as evidence:
Job posting volume and frequency over the past 90 days
Industry trend reports (Deloitte’s Global Human Capital Trends, LinkedIn Economic Graph, sector-specific labor reports)
Salary data on Glassdoor, Levels.fyi, Payscale
Conversations with people currently doing the work
The last one is the validation point. The first three give you the shape of the market. The last one tells you whether the shape matches the reality.
What to do when the overlap is smaller than you hoped
Sometimes you work through all three circles and discover that your overlap is small. The market is there, but pays less than you need. The skills are there, but the willingness is not. The passion is there, but the market is shrinking.
That is useful information, and data can move us forward.
It tells you what to negotiate, what to test, and what to expand. It tells you whether you need to broaden the direction, adjust the timeline, or close a specific gap before the strategy is viable.
It also tells you what to stop doing. The applications that don’t fit. The networking conversations that aren’t moving you forward. The roles you keep almost applying for and not quite pulling the trigger on.
When you can see where the overlap is and isn’t, you can stop guessing.
How to get a second set of eyes on what you’ve found
I’ve given you the worksheet, but it takes time and effort. You may have the answers, but you struggle with what they mean or what to do next.
That’s the right moment to bring in a second perspective to help you pressure-test what’s there.
I created The Power Position Review for that reason.
It’s a 45-minute one-to-one session where we discuss one circle of your choosing— the assumptions that need more evidence, the circle that needs more work—to give you a clear sense of where to focus next. You leave with specific next steps, not a vague sense of direction.
The Power Position Review is $97. Book here.
If you haven’t downloaded the worksheet yet, start there.