Latest / The Promotion Memo with Fexingo: Getting Visibility, Sponsors, and Executive Presence / How One Employee Got Promoted by Building an Influence Map
Transcript
- Lucas: So we've talked a lot about building visibility — stakeholder maps, career dashboards, executive summaries. But here's something we haven't touched: the difference between who has authority on paper and who actually decides things. Luna: Right, the org chart versus the real power map. And that gap can kill a promotion if you don't understand it. Lucas: Exactly. Today I want to tell you about a product manager I'll call Sarah. She worked at a large consumer goods company — think the kind that makes everything from toothpaste to frozen pizza. She was a mid-level PM, strong performance reviews, but she kept getting passed over for director roles. Luna: What was she missing? Her numbers were good? Lucas: Her numbers were fine. But when she asked her manager for feedback, he said something like: 'You're great at execution, but people in the broader organization don't associate you with strategic decisions.' And that's the key — she had no influence beyond her immediate team. Luna: So she needed to build cross-functional influence, not just deliver projects. Lucas: Right. And she did it by building something she called an influence map. Over about three months, she identified twelve people across marketing, supply chain, finance, and sales who were not her bosses but who had real sway over promotion decisions. Luna: How did she figure out who those people were? That's the hard part. Lucas: She started by asking three questions about every senior person she interacted with. One: who do people go to for approval before making a decision? Two: whose opinions get cited in meetings — like 'well, Jen in marketing thinks this'? And three: who gets pulled into strategy discussions that are above their pay grade? Luna: Those three filters probably narrowed it down fast. Most companies have a handful of unofficial power brokers. Lucas: Exactly. She landed on twelve names. Then she did something really smart — she tracked their stated priorities over 90 days. Not guessing, but actually writing down what they said in all-hands meetings, in emails, in hallway conversations. She used a simple spreadsheet: person name, their top three goals, and a column for how her current projects connected to those goals. Luna: So she mapped her work to their priorities. That's a classic rule of three — every major deliverable should connect to at least three influential stakeholders' objectives. Lucas: Exactly the rule of three. So for example, one of her twelve was the VP of supply chain, who had a goal to reduce stockouts by 15 percent. Sarah was working on a feature that improved inventory forecasting. She made sure to invite that VP to a demo, sent a one-pager linking her feature directly to his stockout metric, and asked for his input. Luna: That's smart — she's not just delivering, she's making sure he sees the connection and feels ownership. Lucas: Right. Over three months, she repeated that process for all twelve. She didn't try to be friends with everyone; she just made sure each influencer saw her as someone who helped them hit their numbers. And when the director role opened up, three of those twelve people independently mentioned her name to the hiring committee. Luna: That's the power of influence — you don't have to lobby for yourself if other people lobby for you. Lucas: She got the promotion with a 30 percent compensation bump. And the hiring committee later told her that what sealed it was the breadth of support she had from people in different functions, not just her own manager. Luna: Which brings up a good point. If we've helped you think through a promotion strategy like this one, that's exactly what listener support makes possible. These episodes stay ad-free because people who find them useful chip in at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. Lucas: Yeah, it's a way to keep the content coming without sponsored breaks. And honestly, knowing it's useful to you is the main reward for us. Luna: Alright, back to the influence map. One thing that stood out to me was that Sarah didn't just identify influencers — she also avoided the ones who were influential but toxic. Lucas: Great point. She actually created a second dimension on her map: influence versus trustworthiness. Because a person can have high influence but low trust — maybe they take credit, or they play politics. She deliberately avoided tying her work to those people. Luna: Smart. Associating with the wrong influencer can backfire. There's a 2025 Harvard Business Review study that looked at 1,200 promotions across five companies. It found that employees who built influence across three or more departments were 2.4 times more likely to be promoted within 18 months, compared to those who only focused on their own team. Lucas: That's a striking number. And it matches what Sarah experienced. Her influence map wasn't just a networking exercise — it was a deliberate strategy to make her work visible to the people who mattered for her next role. Luna: So how should someone start building their own influence map? Walk us through the first week. Lucas: Week one: don't try to map the whole company. Just pick one cross-functional project you're already working on. List every person who attends the project meetings or who reviews the output. Then ask yourself: who in that group has the most sway over whether the project gets approved or killed? That's your first influencer. Luna: Then week two, you probably want to learn their priorities. Lucas: Exactly. Week two: find one or two of their stated goals — from a company email, a town hall, or a one-on-one. Write them down. Week three: identify a small deliverable you own that connects to one of those goals. Send them a brief note: 'I'm working on X, and I think it might help your Y initiative. Would love your thoughts.' Luna: That's low-risk. You're not asking for a favor; you're offering value. Lucas: Right. And then week four: follow up with a one-pager or a five-minute demo showing the impact. If they engage, you've started building a relationship. If they don't, that's okay — you've still learned something about their priorities. Luna: And you repeat that process for each influencer on your map. Over a quarter, you could build relationships with five to eight key people without it feeling forced. Lucas: Exactly. Sarah's map had twelve, but she started with four. She expanded over time. The key is to be systematic, not random. Luna: One thing I'd add: keep your influence map updated. People's priorities change quarterly, especially in large companies. An influencer from last quarter might be irrelevant next quarter. Lucas: Great point. She updated her spreadsheet every month. She also tracked whether each interaction moved the needle — did the person start mentioning her work in meetings? Did they ask her opinion on unrelated topics? That's the signal that influence is building. Luna: So the takeaway: promotion isn't just about doing good work. It's about making sure the right people see that work as connected to their goals. Lucas: And influence mapping gives you a repeatable process to do that, without playing politics or feeling sleazy. Sarah's story shows it works at a Fortune 500 scale. The same approach can work at a startup, a nonprofit, or a mid-size company. Luna: I'd love to hear from listeners who try this. Send us your influence map template or your experience. We might feature it in a future episode. Lucas: Absolutely. Next time, we'll talk about another angle: how to use your influence map to negotiate your promotion timeline. Until then, start your map.