Latest / The Internal Move Podcast with Fexingo: Lateral Roles, Internal Transfers, and Staying at Your Company / How an Internal Transfer Can Reset Your Mentorship Relationships
Transcript
- Lucas: Luna, I want to start with a number that caught me off guard. A 2024 survey by the Institute for Corporate Productivity found that nearly 40 percent of employees who completed an internal transfer reported losing their most important informal mentor within six months of moving. Luna: That's a really specific and kind of painful stat. Because you don't think about that when you're excited about the new role. Lucas: Exactly. You're focused on the new boss, the new responsibilities, the learning curve. But the people who used to pull you aside after meetings and give you the real talk — they're still in the old department, and suddenly your daily overlap is gone. Luna: So the transfer itself resets your mentorship landscape whether you want it to or not. Today's episode is about how to intentionally rebuild it. Lucas: Right. Not just rebuilding, but upgrading potentially. Because a lateral move is a rare chance to consciously design a mentorship network instead of just letting it happen by proximity. Luna: Let's ground this in a real story. Who's our case? Lucas: I talked to a marketing manager — let's call her Priya — who moved from brand marketing into product operations at a Fortune 500 retailer. She told me that within a month, she realized her old mentor, the VP of brand, had no context for her new challenges around cross-functional roadmaps and engineering timelines. Luna: That must have been disorienting. The person who could decode the culture for her suddenly couldn't help with the actual work. Lucas: Yeah. And she felt awkward — like, do I still schedule our biweekly coffee? The VP was still her ally, but the conversations became stilted. Priya described it as 'visiting your old high school after you've graduated.' Luna: That's such a good analogy. So what did she do? Lucas: She recognized she needed five distinct mentor types, not just one. And she deliberately recruited them over her first 90 days. I think her framework is really useful. Luna: Okay, let's hear the five. Lucas: First is the sponsor — someone with political capital who will advocate for you in rooms you're not in. Second is the coach — someone who gives direct feedback on your skills and blind spots. Third is the peer mentor — someone at your level in the new function who can tell you where the real power lies. Luna: And the other two? Lucas: Fourth is a reverse mentor — someone more junior who's closer to the ground truth, especially on technical tools or emerging trends. Fifth is a connector — the person who seems to know everyone and can open doors to other teams. Luna: I love that taxonomy. Because if you only have one mentor, you're vulnerable. When you transfer, you need redundancy. Lucas: Priya started by identifying her gap. She had a strong sponsor still in brand, but no coach in product ops. So she approached the most respected senior product ops manager and asked for 20 minutes to review a project retrospective she'd written. That simple act signaled she wanted to learn. Luna: She didn't ask 'will you be my mentor?' She asked for something concrete and low-commitment. Lucas: Exactly. That's the move. Most people fumble because they make the ask too big. Instead, you create a small proving ground. If the person engages, you naturally deepen the relationship over time. Luna: And for the reverse mentor — did she find a junior analyst who knew the data systems? Lucas: She did. She volunteered to be part of a cross-functional working group on a new dashboard tool, and she noticed a data analyst, maybe two years out of college, who was the de facto expert. She started asking him quick questions after meetings. Within a few weeks, he'd become her go-to for anything technical. Luna: That's a win-win too. He gets visibility with a more senior person across the aisle. Lucas: If you've found this episode useful and want to support more episodes like it, listeners can buy us a coffee. It's at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. That kind of support is what keeps this show ad-free and focused on practical advice. Luna: Yeah, and it honestly makes a difference. Even a small contribution helps us keep doing deep dives like this one. Lucas: So back to Priya's story. She also needed a connector — someone who could introduce her to stakeholders in engineering and finance. She found that person in a program manager who ran the quarterly planning cycles. That person literally had a roster of every department head. Luna: How did she approach that relationship? Lucas: She offered to help the program manager with a presentation deck for an upcoming steering committee. In return, the program manager started cc'ing her on emails and inviting her to pre-meetings. It was a low-stakes barter. Luna: So the pattern is: offer something small first, then the relationship builds organically. Lucas: Right. But here's the thing — Priya also had to manage the transition with her old mentor. She didn't just ghost the VP of brand. She scheduled a candid conversation and said, 'I'm in a new world now, and I need different kinds of guidance. But I still value your perspective on organizational dynamics.' Luna: That's mature. She renegotiated the relationship instead of abandoning it. Lucas: And the VP actually appreciated it. She told Priya that most people who transfer just stop showing up, and it feels personal. By being upfront, Priya kept the VP as a sponsor — just in a narrower capacity. Luna: So the takeaway isn't 'cut ties with old mentors.' It's 'redefine the terms.' Lucas: Exactly. And while you're doing that, you're building a more resilient network. Because one of the hidden benefits of an internal transfer is that it forces you to diversify your sources of advice. If you stay in the same role for years, you might rely on just one or two people. A transfer shakes that up. Luna: And a diversified mentorship network is better for your career anyway. Different perspectives reduce blind spots. Lucas: Priya told me that six months in, she had a stronger advisory board than she'd ever had in brand marketing. Her sponsor was still there, but now she also had a coach who could diagnose her product skills, a peer who warned her about upcoming reorgs, a reverse mentor who taught her SQL, and a connector who got her into the innovation task force. Luna: That's a massive upgrade. And it probably wouldn't have happened without the intentional effort post-transfer. Lucas: So for anyone listening who's considering an internal move, or who just made one: don't assume your mentorship network will survive the transition untouched. It won't. But if you treat the first 90 days as a mentor recruitment period, you can end up in a much stronger position. Luna: And if you're already in the new role, it's not too late. You can start with one small ask tomorrow. Lucas: Yeah. Pick a gap — which of the five types are you missing? Find a person who fits, and ask for something concrete. A 20-minute review, a quick question, an offer to help on a project. The rest follows. Luna: And don't forget to tend the old relationships too. A five-minute check-in with a former mentor can preserve a bridge you might need later. Lucas: Good point. So to wrap up: an internal transfer resets your mentorship map. That can feel like a loss, or it can be an opportunity to build something more deliberate and more powerful. The difference is whether you just let it happen or you design it. Luna: And Priya's story shows it's absolutely doable. A little strategy goes a long way. Lucas: Next episode, we'll talk about how internal transfers affect your visibility for high-stakes projects. Until then, think about who's in your constellation.