Different levels of a career track have different expectations. One obvious difference is in the scope and scale of the job. While important, those are not the most important.

There are at least two more important ways that the job changes at higher levels. The first is in how the job is specified. At the lowest levels, what you specify is activities or tasks. Do this, do that, etc. Individuals at these levels will be productive, but often the purpose of these levels is learning by doing. Typically at this stage they’re executing someone else’s plan.

As you ascend to the middle levels, the job should specify the output. What should you be producing or delivering? To what standard? You are expected to know enough of the how at this point that the how doesn’t need to be given to you. You get the goal, and you’re expected to figure out the how for yourself. That’s in part to reduce the load on your manager, but it’s also because you may know how to do it better than your manager does.

Once you get to the higher levels, the job becomes about outcomes. You define what should be produced and delivered to achieve the desired outcomes. It doesn’t matter if you define “good” deliverables or execute well. If it doesn’t achieve the desired outcome, you failed.

The second way the job specification changes is in how specific it is. Lower levels will enumerate precisely what activities are to be performed and how. Definitions of the middle levels, focusing on outputs, will tend to be shorter. Briefest of all will be the descriptions of jobs at the most senior levels. At the top is the CEO’s job, which comes down to “make the company successful.”