Latest / The Internal Move Podcast with Fexingo: Lateral Roles, Internal Transfers, and Staying at Your Company / How an Internal Transfer Can Help You Rebrand After a Mistake
Transcript
- Lucas: So you've been at a company for a few years, and you make a mistake — not a small one, but a visible, costly, 'everyone knows your name' kind of mistake. Your reputation takes a hit. The natural instinct is to leave the company entirely, start fresh somewhere else. But there's another option that a lot of people overlook: an internal transfer. Luna: Right, because when you leave, you carry your story in your head, but at least no one at the new place knows it yet. But internally, everyone knows. Lucas: Exactly. And that's the key insight — if you transfer to a completely different team or division, the people there may not know your history. Or, if they do, they're not as emotionally invested in it because they didn't live through it. You get to reintroduce yourself without the baggage. Luna: That's actually a really powerful idea. I've seen it work. There was a product manager at a big tech company — let's call her Sarah — who led a major product launch that flopped. I mean, it cost the company something like fifty million dollars in write-offs. Lucas: Oof. That's the kind of mistake that gets you a nickname in the breakroom. So what did she do? Luna: She didn't quit. She waited about six months, did some quiet networking, and then applied for a lateral move into a completely different business unit — one that had nothing to do with the failed product. She became a senior program manager in the HR technology group. Lucas: And that's a smart move, because HR tech is a different culture, different stakeholders, different metrics. Nobody in that group was in the room when the launch went bad. They only knew her from her resume and her interviews. Luna: Exactly. She told me she could see people's reactions shift when she framed the move as 'I want to apply my product skills to internal tools' rather than 'I'm running away from a failure.' It was a narrative choice. Lucas: That's the critical piece — you have to own the mistake first. If you transfer without acknowledging what went wrong, people will find out anyway, and you'll look like you're hiding. But if you've visibly learned from it, the transfer becomes a sign of growth, not escape. Luna: Absolutely. She spent those six months doing a post-mortem, sharing lessons learned, and even helping the next team avoid the same pitfalls. By the time she moved, her reputation inside the company had shifted from 'the person who blew up the launch' to 'the person who taught us what not to do.' Lucas: That's a perfect example of using the internal transfer as a rebranding mechanism. You're not erasing the past — you're building a new chapter that reframes it. Luna: And it worked. She's now a director in that HR group, and nobody brings up the launch anymore. It's ancient history. Lucas: So let's talk about the practical steps. First, you need to pick the right target department. You want a group that has a different cultural DNA — not just a different product. Ideally, a team that values different skills than the ones you were using when you messed up. Luna: Right. If you were in a high-speed consumer products division, maybe move to something more methodical, like enterprise sales or internal strategy. The metrics are different, so your old failure doesn't map directly. Lucas: And speaking of metrics — when you land in the new role, you get to define success on new terms. Your performance review in the new role will be based on what you do there, not what happened before. That's a huge advantage. Luna: You also need to manage the narrative of why you moved. If someone asks, you don't say 'I needed a fresh start because I messed up.' You say 'I wanted to apply my skills to a new challenge, and I felt this team was the right fit.' That's truthful without being self-defeating. Lucas: And there's a psychological factor too — people are more forgiving in new contexts. When someone joins a new team, there's a natural honeymoon period where everyone wants to see the best in them. You can capitalize on that. Luna: But you have to be careful. If you transfer too quickly — like, within a month of the mistake — it looks like you're running. You need to stay put long enough to show you can face the music. Lucas: That's a key point. Six months to a year is usually the sweet spot. Long enough to demonstrate resilience and learning, but not so long that you become permanently associated with the failure. Luna: And you have to do the work to rebuild relationships with your current team before you leave. If you burn bridges on the way out, that reputation follows you. Lucas: Right. So you apologize, you share lessons, you help the team move forward. Then when you apply for internal roles, your current manager might even write you a recommendation — because they see you as someone who grows from failure. Luna: That's a great point. It turns a liability into an asset. Lucas: You know, it's interesting — we've been talking about this for a few minutes, and we haven't mentioned that this show doesn't run ads. It's something we're proud of. The whole Fexingo network is ad-free, and that's because listeners choose to support it. Luna: Yeah, it's a conscious choice. If you've found value in episodes like this one — maybe it helped you think through a career move or decision — you can support that choice at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. Lucas: And that support is what keeps us independent and focused on the content, not on selling you something. So thank you to anyone who's contributed. Luna: Now, back to Sarah's story. One thing she did that I think was really smart was she didn't try to hide her past. She actually referenced the failed launch in her interview for the new role, framing it as a learning experience. Lucas: That takes guts, but it's the right move. If you try to hide it, and they find out later, you lose all credibility. By being upfront, you control the narrative and show self-awareness. Luna: Exactly. And she also made sure to have a few strong advocates in the new department — people she'd worked with on cross-functional projects who could vouch for her abilities independent of the failure. Lucas: That's another tactical piece: build a coalition before you move. Even if you're not actively looking, maintain relationships across the company. When you need to make a lateral move, you want people who can say 'I know this person, and they're good.' Luna: And those relationships also help you identify which departments might be a good fit. Sarah knew about the HR tech opening because she'd once done a project with the VP of that group. Lucas: So the lesson is: don't wait until you make a mistake to start networking. Plant seeds early. But if you do make a mistake, an internal transfer can be a powerful rebranding tool — maybe the most powerful one you have inside a company. Luna: I think the key takeaway is that your reputation is not fixed. You can reshape it, but you have to be intentional. The transfer gives you a new stage, but you still have to perform well on it. Lucas: Absolutely. And one last thing — don't transfer just to escape. If you haven't learned from the mistake, you'll repeat it in the new role. The internal move works best when you've genuinely grown. Luna: Right. It's not a shortcut. It's a strategic pivot. Lucas: So next time you're tempted to update your LinkedIn after a blunder, pause. Think about whether an internal transfer could give you the fresh start you need, without losing the institutional knowledge and relationships you've built. Luna: And who knows — that 'fresh start' might be just a few floors away. Lucas: Thanks for listening. We'll be back with another episode soon.