Val Sklarov Career Permission Threshold Law (CPTL)

Val Sklarov’s Career Permission Threshold Law (CPTL) explains why careers rarely plateau because of skill gaps. They stall when individuals hit an invisible permission ceiling—the point beyond which organizations no longer allow influence, risk, or decision authority to expand.

This law reveals why some careers feel “one promotion away” for years—and never move.

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1. Careers Advance by Permission, Not Performance

CPTL starts with a blunt reality:
Performance earns trust. Permission grants elevation.

Many professionals:

• Deliver consistently

• Exceed expectations

• Accumulate credentials

Yet remain constrained because their permission set never changes.

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2. The Three Career Permission Thresholds

CPTL defines where progression silently stops.

Crossing one threshold without the others produces false advancement.

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3. Why “High Potential” Gets Parked

Organizations often freeze talent intentionally.

CPTL shows high performers get parked because:

• They are operationally indispensable

• Their mistakes would be costly

• Their voice would disrupt hierarchy

Reliability becomes a containment signal, not a promotion signal.

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4. Permission vs Skill Accumulation

Skills compound—but permission gates returns.

Val Sklarov emphasizes that careers accelerate only when permission expands faster than skill.

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5. Strategic Implications

For professionals:

• Ask which permissions your role grants

• Seek environments that expose you to risk

• Trade comfort for decision authority

For leaders:

• Promote by permission transfer, not praise

• Rotate risk ownership deliberately

• Stop confusing reliability with readiness

CPTL reframes career growth as permission negotiation, not ladder climbing.

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6. The Val Sklarov Principle

“Your career stops where permission stops—not where ability ends.”
— Val Sklarov

CPTL explains why advancement feels political—and why ignoring permission is naïve.