Latest / The Internal Move Podcast with Fexingo: Lateral Roles, Internal Transfers, and Staying at Your Company / How to Use an Internal Transfer to Reset Your Reputation
Transcript
- Lucas: When you move to a new team inside your own company, you get a new manager, new projects, maybe a new title. But there's one thing you do not automatically leave behind: your reputation. Luna: And sometimes that's fine — if you were known as the reliable person who always delivers. But what if you were the person who pushed back on everything, or the one who always needed extra time? Lucas: Right. And that label can follow you even if you are genuinely trying to start fresh. I've seen people move laterally and spend six months fighting a perception they thought they'd escaped. Luna: So how do you actually reset how people see you? Because just saying 'I'm different now' doesn't really work. Lucas: It does not. And the research on first impressions and recency bias tells us why. People anchor on the earliest or most vivid data they have about you. So if your old reputation is a strong signal — like 'she's the firefighter who only shows up in a crisis' — that signal drowns out anything new you do, unless you are deliberate about creating new signals. Luna: So you're saying it takes more than just doing good work in the new role. You have to actively manage the perception shift. Lucas: Exactly. And I want to borrow a term I first heard from a career coach I interviewed last year: 'reputation debt.' The idea is that if you've built a certain brand over time — intentionally or not — you have a debt to pay down before people will see you differently. The bigger the gap between your old reputation and the new one you want, the more deliberate work it takes. Luna: That's a helpful framing. So what's the first step? Audit your current brand? Lucas: Yes. And I'd say do it honestly. Ask yourself: what three words would most of my colleagues use to describe me? Then ask a trusted peer or two the same question. You might be surprised. I had a friend in supply chain who thought she was seen as 'strategic,' but her teammates described her as 'the person who catches errors.' That's very different. Luna: And that mismatch is the starting point. She wanted to be seen as a big-picture thinker, but her daily actions — double-checking every order — had branded her as a detail person. Lucas: Right. So step two: once you know the gap, you need to signal the new priority through early, visible choices. When she moved into a product role internally, she deliberately stopped reviewing every spec line by line. Instead, she started asking questions about customer impact in team meetings. Small shift, but people noticed. Luna: And that's the key — it has to be visible. You can't change a reputation quietly. People need to see the new behavior, ideally in a context where they expected the old one. Lucas: Exactly. The third step is reinforcement. One signal is not enough. You need to consistently demonstrate the new behavior over several weeks. And here's the tricky part: if you slip back into the old pattern even once, it can reset the clock. Recency bias works both ways. Luna: So you have to be pretty disciplined. Especially in the first 30 to 60 days of a new internal role. Lucas: Yes. And I'd add one more tactic: change the 'where' and 'who' of your work. If you always sat in the same corner of the office or always had lunch with the same people, change that. Physical cues reinforce identity. If you're now on a different floor, use a different meeting room. It sounds almost too simple, but it works. Luna: It's like staging a scene. You're giving people new visual data to associate with you. Lucas: Exactly. Now, there's a risk here — overcorrecting. If you were known as the quiet analyst and you suddenly start dominating every meeting, people will see it as inauthentic. The reset has to feel like an evolution, not a complete personality transplant. Luna: So it's about amplifying strengths you already had but didn't show, not faking something entirely new. Lucas: Right. And that's where the audit really helps. You might find that you already have moments of strategic thinking — you just need to make them more frequent and more visible. Start by doing more of what you're already good at, in the new context. Luna: What about people who are moving from a role where they had a really negative reputation — like they were seen as difficult or combative? Can a lateral move truly reset that? Lucas: It's harder, but possible. I've seen it happen. The key is to address the old reputation head-on with your new manager early. Not in a defensive way, but as context. Something like: 'I know in my previous role I was known for pushing back hard on timelines. In this role, I want to focus on collaboration and finding solutions. If you see me slipping, call me on it.' That does two things: it shows self-awareness, and it gives the manager permission to see you differently. Luna: It also signals that you're not trying to hide your past — you're proactively managing it. Lucas: Exactly. And the new manager becomes an ally in the reset. They can reinforce the new narrative in conversations with other stakeholders. 'I know Sarah used to be the one who always fought scope creep, but she's been great at finding compromises on my team.' That carry weight. Luna: So the reputation reset is partly about changing your behavior, but also about changing the story that gets told about you. Lucas: That's a perfect way to put it. And I think that's why internal moves can be such powerful career levers — you get a chance to rewrite the story with a new audience, while still benefiting from your institutional knowledge. Luna: Alright, so let's talk about the timing of the reputation reset. When should you start? Before the transfer is official, or only after you've started in the new role? Lucas: I'd say before, if possible. The moment you know you're moving, you can start signaling the change subtly. For example, if you're moving from finance to marketing, you might start attending a few marketing team meetings as a guest, and ask questions that show your new orientation. That way, when you arrive officially, some people already have a slightly updated impression. Luna: That's smart. It's like a soft launch of the new you. Lucas: Exactly. But the real heavy lifting happens in the first 90 days. And I want to be realistic: you probably won't fully reset everyone's perception in that time. But you can shift the needle enough that the new narrative starts to take hold. After six months, if you've been consistent, the old reputation should be fading. Luna: What about people who move into a role where their old reputation might actually be an asset? Like, if you were the detail-oriented person moving into a quality assurance role — do you still need to reset? Lucas: Good question. In that case, you don't need a full reset, but you might need to refine or expand your brand. You don't want to be seen as just the detail person — you want to be seen as the person who balances detail with big-picture thinking. So you'd still take the same steps, but the goal is evolution rather than overhaul. Luna: That makes sense. And I think there's a risk in assuming your reputation will automatically transfer in a positive way. I've seen people assume they'll be seen as the expert because they were in a related role, but then they get frustrated when the new team doesn't immediately defer to them. Lucas: Right. And that's a version of the same problem — you're expecting your reputation to precede you, but reputations are context-dependent. The team you join has its own history and norms. They need to see your value in their context, not just inherit it from your previous team. Luna: So you have to earn it again, even if you're moving sideways. Lucas: Exactly. And that humility is actually part of the reset. If you come in acting like you already know everything, you'll confirm any negative stereotypes people might have heard. But if you come in curious, asking questions, and showing that you're there to learn and contribute, you build a new positive reputation from day one. Luna: I want to circle back to something you said earlier about changing your physical environment. Have you seen that make a real difference? Lucas: I have. I worked with a woman who moved from a back-office role to a client-facing role. She intentionally moved her desk to a different floor, started using a different coffee shop in the building, and even changed her Slack profile picture to something more professional. She said it helped her get into the mindset of the new role, and people commented on the changes. Luna: It's like method acting for your career. Lucas: Ha, exactly. And it's not about being fake — it's about aligning your external signals with your internal intention. When people see you differently, they start treating you differently, and that reinforces the new identity. Luna: Alright, I think we've covered a lot of ground. Let's take a quick beat — if you're finding this useful, we want to mention something. This podcast is ad-free and relies on listeners who find value in it. If we've helped you think through a career move or decision, a couple of dollars a month is genuinely what keeps these going — buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. It makes a real difference. Lucas: Yeah, it's that simple. And it allows us to keep digging into topics like this without any sponsor influence. So if you've gotten something out of the show, that's the place. Luna: Okay, back to reputation. One last thing I want to ask: what's the biggest mistake people make when trying to reset their reputation during an internal transfer? Lucas: I think the biggest mistake is trying to do it alone and in secret. People think if they just work hard and do a good job, the reputation will take care of itself. But it won't — not quickly, anyway. You need to be explicit about the change you're making, and you need allies who can vouch for you. Luna: So it's a combination of action and communication. Lucas: Exactly. And the communication doesn't have to be a big announcement. It can be as simple as saying to a colleague: 'I'm really excited to focus more on strategy in this role.' That plants a seed. Then when they see you doing strategic work, they connect the dots. Luna: That's a great note to end on. Thanks, Lucas. Lucas: Thanks, Luna. And to our listeners — if you're planning an internal move, spend some time thinking about the reputation you want to build, not just the role you want to get. It might be the most important part of the transition.