Latest / The Internal Move Podcast with Fexingo: Lateral Roles, Internal Transfers, and Staying at Your Company / How Internal Transfers Let You Fix Your Reputation
Transcript
- Lucas: You can change your title, you can change your team, you can change your city — but can you change what people think of you? Luna: That is a loaded question, Lucas. And it's exactly what we're digging into today — whether an internal transfer can actually reset your reputation. Lucas: Right. Because a lot of people assume that once you're tagged as 'the person who messed up the quarterly report' or 'the one who clashed with that VP,' that label follows you forever inside a company. But I think that's only true if you stay in the same pod. Luna: So the thesis is: a transfer can be a reputational reset button. But only if you do it right. Lucas: Exactly. Let me give you a specific case. I spoke with someone — let's call her Priya — who worked as a finance associate at a major bank in New York. She made a mistake: she accidentally sent a client-facing email with an internal spreadsheet attached. It wasn't malicious, but it was a compliance violation. Her name got flagged in an internal review. Luna: Oof. That's the kind of thing that follows you in a compliance-heavy culture. Lucas: It did. Her manager was supportive, but other senior people in the group started treating her differently. She was left out of sensitive projects. Her annual review mentioned 'attention to detail concerns.' She wasn't fired, but she was stuck. Luna: So what did she do? Lucas: She applied for a lateral transfer to the credit risk team — in Chicago. Different building, different chain of command, different city. She interviewed for the role and was upfront about wanting a fresh start. Her new hiring manager, who she'd worked with on a cross-functional project before, vouched for her. She got the role. Luna: And the reputation reset actually worked? Lucas: It did. Because nobody in Chicago knew about the incident. Her new colleagues only knew her as 'the person who came from New York with strong modeling skills.' The geographic distance created a clean slate. Luna: So the key was that nobody in the new group had witnessed the mistake firsthand. They only knew her through her work product and her sponsor's recommendation. Lucas: That's exactly it. There's a concept in social psychology called 'reputational anchoring.' Once people form a first impression of you, they interpret everything you do through that lens. If you're seen as careless, every typo confirms it. If you're seen as combative, every disagreement is evidence. But if you change the audience — a new team, a new location, a new function — you reset the anchor point. Luna: So it's not about changing who you are. It's about changing who's watching. Lucas: Right. And that's a huge advantage over leaving for a competitor. When you switch companies, you have to prove yourself from scratch. But with an internal transfer, you already have institutional credibility. Your HR record shows a promotion history. Your benefits don't reset. But the day-to-day perception — the whispers in the hallway — those vanish. Luna: I want to push back a little though. Isn't there a risk that you're just running away from the problem? What if the mistake was actually a skill gap? Wouldn't a transfer just replicate the same failure in a new context? Lucas: That's a fair challenge. And it's exactly why I said 'if you do it right.' The transfer only works if you've actually addressed the root cause. In Priya's case, she took a compliance training course, she implemented a double-check system for her emails, and she had a conversation with her old manager acknowledging the mistake and what she learned. She didn't pretend it didn't happen. Luna: So the transfer wasn't an escape — it was a strategic move after fixing the underlying issue. Lucas: Exactly. If you transfer without doing the internal work, you just bring the same problems to a new team. But if you do the work first, the transfer becomes a way to stop being defined by your worst day. Luna: I love that framing. So what's the checklist for someone listening who thinks they need a reputational reset? Lucas: Step one: diagnose the reputation accurately. Is it a skill gap, a personality clash, or a one-time mistake? If it's a skill gap, fix it before you move. If it's a clash, ask if you can change reporting lines within the same group. If it's a one-time mistake — like Priya's — a transfer can work. Luna: Step two? Lucas: Find a sponsor in the target group. Someone who already knows your work and can vouch for you. Priya had that cross-functional project connection. Without a sponsor, you're just a name on a resume with a vague reference from your old manager. Luna: And step three? Lucas: Time the move to a natural break. End of a project, end of a quarter, end of a year. If you transfer in the middle of a critical deliverable, people will say you're bailing. If you finish your commitment and then move, it looks intentional. Luna: That's smart. And I'd add one more: be honest in the interview. Not about every detail of the mistake, but about your motivation. Say something like, 'I'm looking for a new challenge where I can apply my strengths in a different context.' That signals self-awareness without inviting gossip. Lucas: That's a good addition. And it ties to something I've seen fail spectacularly: people who try to hide their past. If your new manager later hears about the incident from someone else — and they will, because companies are small — they'll feel misled. Better to be vague but honest. Luna: Right. So the transfer is a tool, not a magic wand. You still have to do the work on yourself first. Lucas: And that's what separates a career reset from just switching seats on the Titanic. Luna: Speaking of doing the work — this is a good moment for something I wanted to mention. You know how we do this show ad-free? Lucas: Yeah, and we plan to keep it that way. No sponsors, no commercial breaks, no mid-roll ads for meal kits. Luna: Exactly. The reason we can do that is because a small group of listeners supports us directly through buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. It's not a big ask — but it's the only reason this show exists. Lucas: If you've ever gotten value from an episode — maybe it helped you think through a career move, or you used a tip in a real conversation — that's the kind of impact we hear about. And that's what keeps us going. Luna: So if that resonates, you know where to find it. And now back to the reputation reset playbook. Lucas: Alright. So let's talk about the biggest mistake people make when trying to fix their reputation through a transfer. They leave without addressing the original issue at all. Luna: You mean like transferring because you had a blow-up with a colleague, but you never actually apologized or changed your behavior? Lucas: Exactly. I've seen someone — let's call him Mark — who got into a heated argument with a director during a presentation. He was technically right about the numbers, but his tone was aggressive. He decided to transfer to another department. He got the role. But within six months, his new colleagues heard about the 'difficult personality' reputation through the grapevine. And because he hadn't changed his communication style, he ended up in the same pattern. Luna: So the transfer didn't reset the reputation — it just delayed the discovery. And because he hadn't worked on the underlying issue, the same problems surfaced. Lucas: Exactly. The reputational reset only works if you've done the personal work. Otherwise, you're just carrying the same luggage to a new hotel room. Luna: That's a great metaphor. So let's talk timing. When is the right moment to start the transfer process after a reputation-damaging event? Lucas: You want to wait until the immediate heat has cooled, but not so long that you become permanently associated with the incident. In Priya's case, she waited about three months. Long enough to show she wasn't fleeing in panic, short enough that she wasn't 'the email person' forever. Luna: And during those three months, what should you be doing? Lucas: Three things. One: deliver outstanding work on something visible. You want a recent positive data point that overrides the negative one. Two: have a direct conversation with your manager about your growth and goals. Not an apology tour — a forward-looking conversation. Three: start networking in the target group, but don't mention your reputation. Focus on your skills and curiosity. Luna: That networking part is crucial. Because if you just apply cold to an internal posting, the hiring manager might call your old manager and get the whole story. But if you've already built a relationship, they'll come to you with a predisposition to believe the best. Lucas: Right. And that's where the sponsor comes in. If you've worked with someone in the new group before, they can be your ambassador. They can say, 'I've worked with Priya. She's meticulous. The email thing was an anomaly.' That carries way more weight than anything you say about yourself. Luna: So the transfer itself is almost the last step in a longer process of reputation repair. It's not the first step. Lucas: Exactly. And I want to emphasize one more thing: sometimes the reputation isn't based on a specific mistake. It's based on a personality clash or a misunderstanding. In those cases, a transfer to a different geography or function can be even more powerful because the people who hold that negative impression never interact with your new colleagues. Luna: Give me an example of that. Lucas: I know a product manager who was seen as 'too pushy' by the engineering team in San Francisco. She transferred to the London office — same company, same role, different continent. The London engineers had no preconceptions. She adapted her style slightly, and within a year she was seen as one of the most collaborative PMs in the region. Luna: So geography acted as a reputation firewall. Lucas: Exactly. Out of sight, out of mind — but in a good way. Luna: Alright, let's wrap with a bottom line. If you're sitting there thinking, 'My reputation here is damaged, but I don't want to leave the company,' what's your one-sentence takeaway? Lucas: An internal transfer can reset your reputation, but only if you've already done the work to earn a second chance — the transfer just gives you a new audience for that improved version of yourself. Luna: And if you haven't done the work, no transfer in the world will fix that. Lucas: Right. So fix the root cause first, then move strategically. That's the playbook. Luna: Thanks for listening, everyone. We'll be back next week with another episode.