Latest / The Promotion Memo with Fexingo: Getting Visibility, Sponsors, and Executive Presence / How a Career Sourcing Log Landed a Promotion
Transcript
- Lucas: So, Luna, there's this idea that's been floating around in career circles called a sourcing log. It's usually a supply chain thing, but Priya, a marketing manager at a mid-sized SaaS company, turned it into a promotion tool. Luna: A sourcing log for your career? That sounds like a very product-minded way to think about a promotion. Lucas: Exactly. Priya was up for a director role — she had the experience, the results, all of it. But she kept getting passed over for people who were, frankly, less qualified. So she built this log to track where her value was actually visible. Luna: Visible — that's the key word. Because it's not just about doing good work, it's about who knows you did it. Lucas: Right. And the log had three columns. People, projects, and skills. For each, she'd note who she'd helped, what she'd delivered, and what she'd learned. The idea was to see, at a glance, where her stock was rising. Luna: So it's like a career radar. But how does that actually translate into a promotion? I mean, it's not like she just shows the log to her boss and gets a raise. Lucas: No, it's more subtle than that. She used it to find gaps. For example, she realized she'd been helping her peers but not the VP of product. So she started volunteering for cross-functional projects that would get her in front of that person. Luna: So it's a way to be intentional about visibility, not just hope it happens organically. Lucas: And here's the thing — she also used it to prepare for her performance review. She walked in with a one-page summary of her log, showing the people she'd supported, the projects she'd led, and the skills she'd built. It was like a portfolio, but focused on relationships and outcomes. Luna: That's smart. A lot of us walk into reviews with a list of tasks, not a story of impact. Lucas: Exactly. And the log forced her to be honest about her weaknesses. She noticed she had zero entries under 'executive presence' — no presentations to senior leadership, no visibility in the C-suite. So she asked her boss for a slot in the monthly all-hands to present her team's results. Luna: That's a bold move. But it worked, didn't it? Lucas: It did. She got the promotion six months later. And she told me the log wasn't just a tool — it changed her mindset. She went from feeling like a victim of the process to being in control of her own narrative. Luna: Honestly, if today's episode helps you think about your own career — even for a moment — that's worth a coffee to me. If you feel like it, you can buy us one at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. It's a small way to keep this show ad-free and we really appreciate it. Lucas: Yeah, and it genuinely helps us keep doing deep dives like this. Okay, so back to Priya — the log wasn't just about the columns, it was about the cadence. She reviewed it every Friday for fifteen minutes. That consistency was what made it work. Luna: Weekly check-ins. That's a practice most people skip. We set goals once a year and never look at them again. Lucas: Right. And she'd ask herself three questions each week. Who did I help? What did I learn? And what's one thing I can do next week to raise my visibility? That last question was the kicker. Luna: So it's not just a log, it's a springboard for action. You're not just tracking, you're planning. Lucas: And that's where the promotion actually came from. Three months before the promotion cycle, she had a conversation with her boss. She didn't ask for the director title outright — she asked, 'What would I need to show you to be ready for that role?' And she used her log to back it up. Luna: That's a great way to frame it. It's not demanding, it's partnering with your boss on your own development. Lucas: And her boss gave her specific feedback — she needed to own a larger budget and lead a cross-functional initiative. So she added those to her log as goals, and then she made sure every action she took was aligned with them. Luna: It's like she turned her career into a product roadmap. Each quarter, she had a theme and clear metrics. Lucas: Exactly. And by the time the promotion cycle came, she had a log full of evidence — not just promises. She could show exactly how she'd grown and where she'd added value. That's hard to argue with. Luna: I love that she didn't just wait to be noticed. She engineered her own visibility. Lucas: And that's the takeaway, really. A promotion isn't a reward for good work — it's a recognition of your impact, and you have to make that impact visible. A sourcing log is one way to do that systematically. Luna: So if you're listening and feel stuck, maybe start with that first column — just list the people you've helped recently. You might be surprised at the pattern you see. Lucas: And then turn that pattern into a plan. That's what Priya did, and it worked. Thanks for joining us on this episode of The Promotion Memo.