Latest / The Promotion Memo with Fexingo: Getting Visibility, Sponsors, and Executive Presence / How to Get Promoted by Hosting a Career Roundtable
Transcript
- Lucas: Priya was a senior analyst at a mid-sized tech company — good at her job, but invisible to the people who mattered for promotions. Luna: That's a classic trap. Strong execution, zero visibility. Lucas: Exactly. So she launched a career roundtable — a monthly 30-minute meeting where people from different departments could talk about skill-building, career paths, and challenges. Luna: I love this idea, but it sounds like a lot of work. How did she keep it from becoming a burden? Lucas: She kept it lean. Invited six to eight people, set a recurring calendar invite, and rotated facilitation. She wasn't the host every time — everyone took a turn leading the discussion. Luna: So it wasn't Priya's show, it was a shared thing. That probably made people feel more ownership. Lucas: Exactly. But here's the key — she didn't just run the meetings. After each one, she wrote a one-page summary with key takeaways and action items, and sent it to participants and her boss's boss. Luna: She cc'd her skip-level? That's bold. Lucas: It was strategic. She wasn't showing off — she was sharing value. The summaries became a resource. Her VP started forwarding them to other teams. Luna: That's a smart way to build executive presence without being pushy. You're not asking for a promotion, you're demonstrating leadership. Lucas: Right. And within six months, Priya got promoted to manager. Her official feedback mentioned 'cross-functional leadership' and 'initiative to build community.' Luna: So the roundtable became a concrete example of those skills. It's not just 'I'm a team player' on a self-review — here's proof. Lucas: That's the whole point. A roundtable creates visible impact. Other people see you leading, organizing, and delivering insights. Luna: I want to push back a little though. Not everyone has the bandwidth to organize something like this. What if you're already stretched thin? Lucas: Fair question. Priya was busy too. But she treated it as a high-leverage activity. Thirty minutes a month plus maybe an hour for the summary. That's a small investment for a promotion. Luna: And if you can get a co-organizer, you split the load. Maybe someone from another team who also wants visibility. Lucas: Exactly. Priya started with a colleague from marketing. They co-hosted the first few sessions, then recruited others to facilitate. Luna: That actually reminds me of something. We've been doing this show for a while, and one thing we've always tried to do is keep it ad-free. No sponsors, no interruptions. It's just the content. Lucas: That's been intentional from day one. We wanted listeners to get straight to the practical stuff without a commercial break. Luna: And if you find value in that — whether it's an episode about roundtables or something else — the best way to support that choice is through buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. Lucas: It's a simple way to keep this going, and it directly lets us keep the show exactly the way it is. No pressure, just if it's useful to you. Luna: Anyway, back to the roundtable. What about people who worry they're not senior enough to lead a career discussion? Lucas: That's a common concern. But Priya wasn't the most senior person in the room — she was an analyst. What made her effective was that she framed the roundtable as a peer learning forum, not a teaching session. Luna: So she wasn't expected to have all the answers. She was curating the conversation. Lucas: Exactly. Each session had a theme — 'how to prepare for a performance review' or 'navigating difficult feedback'. She'd invite a guest speaker sometimes, like a senior director or an HR business partner. Luna: That also gives her exposure to senior leaders. They get to see her as someone who brings people together. Lucas: A few months in, her VP asked if she could host a similar roundtable for the entire department. That's when she knew it was working. Luna: Let's talk about pitfalls. What could go wrong? Lucas: The biggest one is letting it become a complaint session. If people start venting about their manager or policy, you lose the constructive vibe. Luna: So you need to set guardrails. Priya probably had a clear agenda each time. Lucas: She started every meeting with a one-sentence purpose: 'Today we're discussing how to build influence without authority.' That kept it focused. Luna: Another pitfall: if you're the organizer, you might dominate. How do you avoid that? Lucas: Rotating facilitation solved that. When it's not your turn, you're just a participant. It also builds leadership skills in others — which looks good for you. Luna: So the roundtable becomes a leadership incubator. You're not just helping yourself, you're helping others grow. Lucas: And that kind of generosity gets noticed. When promotion time came, multiple people in that roundtable advocated for Priya. Luna: So the roundtable built her a network of sponsors, not just visibility. Lucas: Exactly. People who saw her facilitate, who benefited from the summaries, who felt she invested in them — they spoke up when it mattered. Luna: I think one last thing: how do you get the first meeting off the ground? What's the minimum viable roundtable? Lucas: Start with three people — yourself and two colleagues from different teams. Pick a time that works for everyone. Pick one topic. Send a calendar invite with a clear agenda. After the first one, ask for feedback. Luna: Keep it simple. Don't overthink it. Lucas: Exactly. Priya's first roundtable had four people and lasted twenty-five minutes. She learned what worked and iterated. Luna: So if someone's listening and thinking 'I could do that,' what's the one action they should take today? Lucas: Send a slack message or email to two colleagues from other departments. Say: 'Hey, I'm thinking of starting a casual monthly roundtable to talk about career growth. Would you be interested in co-creating it?' That's it. Luna: One message. That's all it takes to start building the kind of visibility that leads to a promotion. Lucas: And if you do it, let us know how it goes. We'd love to hear a story like Priya's.