Latest / Executive Careers with Fexingo: VP, C-Suite, and Senior Leadership Career Strategy / How Senior Leaders Use a Career Audit to Reset Strategy
Transcript
- Lucas: Luna, I want to ask you something that might sound almost too simple for Episode 100. Luna: I'm listening. Simple is usually where the leverage is. Lucas: When was the last time you sat down and did a formal, structured assessment of your own career — not a performance review, not a compensation negotiation, but a real audit of where you are and where you're going? Luna: Oof. Honestly? I do a loose version every year around my birthday, but it's more like journaling than a framework. I'm guessing you have a more rigorous system in mind? Lucas: I do. And I think it's one of the most underused tools in senior leadership. Most executives are so busy steering the ship that they never check if they're in the right ocean. If today's episode helps even one person avoid a wasted year, it's worth it. Lucas: And honestly, if today was worth a coffee to you, that's the link — buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. That kind of support is what keeps this show ad-free and lets us do episodes like this. Luna: Yeah, I think listeners who've gotten value from past episodes know that. And we don't say it often, but it makes a real difference. Lucas: So back to the audit. I was talking to a COO at a Fortune 500 industrial company — she runs a division with about eight thousand employees. Every December, she locks herself in a conference room for four hours with a binder, no phone, and she runs what she calls a career audit. Luna: Four hours? That's a serious commitment. What does she actually look at? Lucas: Four buckets. First: financial health — not just total comp, but trajectory. Is her equity vesting pattern aligned with her next likely move? Second: network density — she maps every person she's interacted with meaningfully in the past six months, grades them by depth and reciprocity. Luna: So she's quantifying her network. That's interesting. Third bucket? Lucas: Skill relevance. She lists the top five capabilities that made her successful this year, then asks: will these matter in two years? She got caught off guard once when a board told her her operational expertise was less valuable than her ability to manage geopolitical risk. She didn't see it coming. Luna: That's the blind spot most senior leaders have — they assume the skills that got them there will keep them there. But the game changes. Lucas: Exactly. Fourth bucket is personal satisfaction — and this one's the hardest because it's subjective. She rates her energy level for each major responsibility on a scale from one to five. Anything below a three, she asks: can I delegate it, redesign it, or eliminate it? Luna: I love that. Most executives only look at the first bucket — comp — and then wonder why they feel hollow after a promotion. Lucas: There's also a 2025 study from Korn Ferry that backs this up. They surveyed 1,200 senior leaders and found that the ones who conduct a formal annual career audit are 40 percent more likely to make intentional career moves — meaning they left a role because they chose to, not because they were pushed or burned out. Luna: Forty percent is huge. And it suggests the audit itself is a forcing mechanism for clarity. If you don't write it down, you can ignore it. Lucas: That's the key. The COO I mentioned — she says the hardest part isn't the analysis, it's the honesty. She once had to admit to herself that she'd been coasting for eighteen months because a family situation took priority. The audit helped her see that, and she made a deliberate choice to stay, rather than feeling stuck. Luna: That's a better outcome than most people get. They stay out of inertia and then resent the job. She stayed intentionally. Lucas: Right. So let's talk about how to actually do this. I'd suggest three steps. Step one: block a half-day. Not an hour. You need uninterrupted time. Step two: use a template — I'll link one in the show notes — that covers the four buckets we mentioned. Luna: And step three? I'm guessing it's about sharing the results with someone? Lucas: Yes. Share the output with a trusted advisor — your partner, a coach, even a peer in a different industry. The act of articulating it forces you to clarify. And they can spot rationalizations you can't see. Luna: I've seen a version of this in action. A friend of mine who's a chief marketing officer at a tech company does an audit every June. She realized her network was 90 percent internal — she had almost no external relationships. She spent the next six months building those, and it led to a board seat. Lucas: That's a perfect example. The audit revealed a gap she didn't feel day-to-day. She felt busy, she felt effective internally, but her career capital was unbalanced. Luna: One thing I'd add: don't do the audit in the same week you're making a big decision. You need distance. The COO you mentioned does hers in December, well before any annual planning or compensation conversations. Lucas: Great point. And avoid the trap of turning it into a to-do list. The goal isn't action items — it's insight. You might finish the audit and decide to do nothing different for six months. That's fine, as long as it's a conscious choice. Luna: So the audit is really a tool for intentionality. It's the opposite of the reactive career management that most executives default to. Lucas: Exactly. And I think it's especially valuable for senior leaders because the higher you go, the less honest feedback you get. No one tells the CEO that their skills are becoming obsolete. You have to build your own feedback loop. Luna: I want to challenge one thing though. The audit is retrospective — it looks at the past year. How do you make it forward-looking? Lucas: Good question. The fourth bucket — personal satisfaction — is actually forward-looking because it asks: does this role energize me for what's next? But I'd add a fifth bucket: the market. What's changing in your industry? What new demands are emerging? The COO I mentioned scans for regulatory shifts, technology disruptions, and competitor moves. Luna: So the audit becomes a strategic document, not just a personal one. It connects your career to the external environment. Lucas: Exactly. And that's where most executives stop too early. They'll do the financial and skills assessment, but they won't look at the market. And then they miss the window. Luna: What about the emotional side? I imagine sitting with your own data can be uncomfortable. What if the audit shows you're on the wrong path? Lucas: That's the most valuable outcome. If you're on the wrong path, you want to know now, not in three years. The COO told me her audit once revealed she was over-indexed on execution and under-indexed on strategy. She hated that insight, but it drove her to seek a different role within her company. Luna: So the audit isn't just about staying — it's also about leaving at the right time, with a plan, not in a panic. Lucas: Absolutely. And to wrap, I'd say: make this an annual habit. Same time each year. Build it into your calendar. And if you're a senior leader, consider doing it with your direct reports too — it sends a signal that intentional career management is part of your culture. Luna: That's a powerful way to model strategic thinking. I might start doing this myself. Thanks for the push. Lucas: It's Episode 100. Felt like the right moment to talk about something that can fundamentally change how you approach your career. And if you do the audit, let us know what you found.