Latest / The Promotion Memo with Fexingo: Getting Visibility, Sponsors, and Executive Presence / How a Leadership Narrative Landed a VP Promotion
Transcript
- Lucas: So you've got the results. You've hit every target. But when promotion time comes, someone else gets the nod. Why? Because your impact isn't tellable in a single story. Luna: That's the gap a leadership narrative closes. It's not a resume and not a brag list—it's a strategic document. Lucas: Exactly. Today we're looking at Sarah Chen, a product director at a fintech company called LendFlow. She had been managing a team of twelve for three years, launched two major features, and her revenue attribution was solid. But when she went for the VP of Product role, she kept getting the same feedback: 'We need to see more strategic leadership.' Luna: Which is code for 'We can't picture you in the bigger role.' So she built a narrative to paint that picture. Lucas: Right. She wrote a two-page document called her leadership narrative. The key structure: section one was the 'before' state—what problem she inherited. Section two was her actions, framed as decisions, not just tasks. Section three was the quantified outcome. And section four was the leadership behaviors she demonstrated—things like cross-functional alignment, risk management, and mentoring. Luna: I want to hear more about the 'decisions not tasks' shift. Because that's where most people fall short. Lucas: Yeah. Sarah told me she used to write things like 'Led the migration to cloud infrastructure.' But in her narrative, she wrote 'Chose to migrate to cloud after a six-month vendor analysis, saving three hundred thousand dollars annually and reducing downtime by forty percent.' She framed it as a judgment call, not a checklist item. Luna: That immediately signals executive thinking. You're not just executing—you're choosing. Lucas: And that's exactly what broke through. Her VP told her later that the narrative made it 'obvious' she was already doing the job. It removed the guesswork for him. Luna: Let's talk about the fourth section—leadership behaviors. That's often the hardest to write without sounding arrogant. Lucas: Sarah used a pattern: 'I noticed X gap, so I initiated Y process, which resulted in Z culture change.' For example, she saw that her team's retrospectives were shallow, so she introduced a structured 'start stop continue' framework. Within two quarters, the team's velocity improved twenty percent and attrition dropped to zero. She didn't say 'I'm a great leader'—she showed it through the outcome. Luna: That's the gold standard. You let the results do the talking. And it's concrete enough that anyone can verify. Lucas: Now, the donation segment — if this kind of career strategy is useful to you, the reason we can keep producing these episodes ad-free is listener support. You can find us at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. Every contribution goes straight into research and production. Luna: Yeah, it genuinely helps. And we love hearing that these stories are making a difference in people's careers. Keep them coming. Lucas: So back to Sarah's narrative. She showed it to three mentors before submitting. One told her to cut half the words and let the numbers stand alone. Another said to add a personal origin story—why she cares about fintech inclusion. She ended up with a two-page document that was dense but scannable. Luna: Did she use it during the interview or just submit it with her promotion packet? Lucas: Both. She included it in the packet, and she referenced it in her interview. When they asked about a time she led through change, she didn't scramble—she turned to page two and walked them through the cloud migration story. It gave her confidence. Luna: I can see how that reduces interview anxiety. You're not inventing on the spot—you're sharing a rehearsed narrative. Lucas: Exactly. And the narrative also forced her to link her work to company strategy. She mapped every achievement to one of LendFlow's three strategic pillars: customer acquisition, operational efficiency, or regulatory compliance. That made it impossible for execs to say her work wasn't strategic. Luna: So the narrative is also a persuasion tool. It frames your contributions in the language your audience cares about. Lucas: Correct. Sarah's VP later admitted that before seeing the narrative, he thought of her as a great product manager—not a VP candidate. The narrative closed that perception gap. Luna: For someone listening who wants to try this, what's the first step? Open a blank doc and start listing wins? Lucas: Almost. I'd say first, identify your target role's top three leadership competencies. For Sarah, it was strategic vision, team development, and cross-functional influence. Then, for each competency, find one or two stories that serve as proof. Write each as a mini case study with context, decision, impact, and behavior. Luna: That's four parts per story. It's systematic enough to force clarity. Lucas: Right. And don't try to cram everything in. Sarah's first draft was seven pages. Her final version was two. Less is more when every sentence earns its place. Luna: What about people who aren't in product? Could a finance manager or a marketing director use the same structure? Lucas: Absolutely. The leadership behaviors are universal. A finance manager might write about designing a new forecasting model that reduced variance by fifteen percent. A marketing director could highlight a campaign that grew share of voice in a new segment. The format adapts to any function. The key is showing judgment, not just execution. Luna: And that's how you get noticed. One document that tells your story better than your title ever could. Lucas: Exactly. Sarah got the VP role, and she still updates her narrative annually. She says it's her career compass—it reminds her what she's aiming for and what she's already accomplished. Luna: That's a good habit. A living document, not a one-off. Lucas: Yeah. So if you're aiming for a promotion where the leap is about visibility and strategic influence, a leadership narrative could be the tool that makes the difference. Luna: And we'd love to hear if you try it. Reach out on social—we're @Fexingo on most platforms? Or you can support the show at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. Either way, keep building your case. Lucas: Next episode, we're looking at something a bit different: how one employee used a 'career exit interview'—with themselves—to figure out what was missing. That should be interesting. Luna: Looking forward to it. Until then, keep writing your story.