My Director promotion at Amazon cited a key risk I took in a single meeting as proof of my executive judgment. In that meeting I went against the advice of our SVP to build a product. When that product succeeded, my decision was remembered and rewarded.

Many people believe success in a large company means playing it safe. But decades of experience taught me the opposite: The crucial breakthroughs in your career often come from calculated risks.

For me, that pivotal moment involved the TiVo integration. I was passionate about integrating Amazon Prime Video (then called "Amazon Unbox") with TiVo's DVR systems, but my Senior Vice President strongly disagreed, calling it a distraction.

The Risk:

• I pushed for the project anyway, stating my conviction clearly: "Unless you order me not to, I’m going to do this". This was a huge gamble, as my first promotion at Amazon was dependent on the success of this project once I made it about my own judgment.

The Reward:

• The integration worked really well and transformed the business. When the time came for my Director promotion review, the pivotal assessment captured the value of that risk: "Without Ethan, we wouldn't have TiVo".

I had worked hard for two years leading up to that promotion, but the decisive factor was a single, one-hour meeting where I swayed my superiors. Your performance at critical moments is what leaders remember.

If you want the next title, you must step up and lead differently.