Latest / The Internal Move Podcast with Fexingo: Lateral Roles, Internal Transfers, and Staying at Your Company / The Silent Saboteur of Internal Promotions
Transcript
- Lucas: There is a quiet phenomenon that happens about six months after someone gets promoted or makes a significant lateral move inside a large organization. The new hire is busy, stressed, and trying to prove themselves in the new seat, while their old team is left holding the bag. And suddenly, the relationships that were once collaborative turn cold. It isn't just awkwardness; it is active disengagement. Luna: Right, because the people they left behind feel like they are doing more work for less recognition. They see the colleague getting the shiny new title while they are still grinding on the same projects. It creates a zero-sum mindset where one person's gain feels like another's loss. Lucas: Exactly. And what is fascinating is that this dynamic rarely shows up in exit interviews or performance reviews. It plays out in Slack channels, in meeting agendas, and in the subtle withholding of information. I call this the 'Ghost Tax' of internal mobility. You pay for your career advancement not just with overtime, but with the goodwill of the people you used to rely on every day. Luna: It reminds me of a story I heard from a friend who moved from engineering to product management at a mid-sized software company. Her old dev team stopped prioritizing her tickets almost overnight. She had to spend three weeks rebuilding trust just to get basic features shipped. Lucas: That is a classic example. But here is the thing most career guides miss. They tell you to 'keep the lines of communication open.' That is vague advice. The real issue is structural. When you move up or over, you change the power dynamic. Your former peers no longer report to you, nor do you have direct authority over them. You become an external stakeholder in their workflow, which means you have to earn your influence all over again. Luna: So it is less about being nice and more about renegotiating the social contract. You are essentially asking strangers to help you now, even though you used to be part of their tribe. Lucas: Precisely. And if you don't manage that transition intentionally, you risk becoming a liability rather than an asset. I looked into some data from a recent internal mobility study by a major consulting firm, and they found that nearly forty percent of internal transfers result in a drop in cross-departmental collaboration scores within the first quarter. That is a measurable hit to organizational efficiency, not just personal reputation. Luna: Forty percent is huge. It suggests that companies are promoting people without training them on how to navigate these political shifts. They assume technical skill translates to relational capital. Lucas: They do. And they punish the employee for failing at something they were never taught. So let us look at a concrete case. Consider Sarah, a senior analyst at a financial services firm who was moved to a strategic planning role. She assumed her old team would still share data freely because they had worked together for five years. Instead, she found herself blocked by data access restrictions and delayed responses from her former direct reports. Luna: Why would they block her? Did she do something wrong? Lucas: Not intentionally. It was a mix of fear and self-preservation. Her former peers worried that if they helped her too much, they might enable her to bypass processes they disliked. Or worse, they feared she would use that data to optimize the department in ways that made their own roles redundant. The promotion created an unintended incentive structure. Luna: That is terrifying. So the act of leaving actually endangers the people you care about. How do you break that cycle? Lucas: You have to make a deliberate investment before you leave. I recommend what I call the 'Transition Bridge.' This is a structured handover period where you document not just your tasks, but your relationships. You identify who holds the institutional knowledge and who holds the informal influence. Then, you spend those last few weeks creating value for them, not for yourself. Luna: Like solving a problem they have been stuck on for months? Giving them something tangible before you walk away? Lucas: Exactly. If you leave them better off than you found them, they are far more likely to help you when you need it later. It flips the script from extraction to contribution. Sarah, in our example, could have spent her final month automating a reporting tool that saved her old team ten hours a week. That kind of gift builds a bank of goodwill that lasts for years. Luna: But what if you cannot solve their problems? What if you are just moving to a completely different function? Sometimes there is no direct overlap in skills. Lucas: Then you leverage visibility. You publicly credit them. In meetings, in emails, in project updates, you explicitly mention the foundational work they did. People remember who gave them credit. It is a low-cost, high-impact way to maintain relevance in their minds. You become the person who championed them, not the person who abandoned them. Luna: It sounds like emotional labor disguised as professional courtesy. But I guess that is exactly what leadership is. Lucas: It is. And it requires a shift in mindset. You have to stop seeing your network as a static asset and start seeing it as a living ecosystem that needs tending. When you move, you are not just changing jobs; you are changing your position in that ecosystem. Luna: This is actually a really good moment to pause and think about why we do this work. If navigating these office dynamics feels so draining, why bother with the move at all? Why stay in a place where every step forward costs you a piece of your peace of mind? Lucas: Because the alternative is stagnation. And stagnation is its own kind of pain. Plus, we want to support this show so we can keep bringing you these deep dives into career strategy. If we've helped you think through a career move or decision, consider supporting us directly. You can find us at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. It helps us keep the episodes ad-free and focused on quality content. Luna: Yeah, we appreciate it. It keeps the lights on and allows us to research these complex topics thoroughly. Back to Sarah. Did she eventually rebuild those bridges? Lucas: She did, but it took time. After her initial failure to secure data access, she scheduled one-on-one coffees with each of her former direct reports. She didn't ask for favors. She asked for feedback on her new role. She framed herself as a student, not a boss. That vulnerability disarmed their defensiveness. Luna: So humility is the key. Admitting that you need them, even though you have a higher title now. Lucas: Always. Titles create hierarchy, but humility creates connection. Once she started listening, they realized she wasn't going to come back and micromanage them. She was going to advocate for them from her new seat. That changed everything. Luna: I love that. It turns the relationship from competitive to symbiotic. You become their ally in the upper echelons, rather than their competitor for resources. Lucas: Right. And that is the ultimate goal of internal mobility. You want to expand your sphere of influence, not shrink it. When you move laterally or up, you should be opening doors for others, not closing them behind you. Luna: But how do you know when the damage is done? How do you recognize that the bridge has burned beyond repair? Lucas: Watch for silence. If you send an email and get no reply, or if you are consistently excluded from relevant conversations, the bridge is broken. At that point, you have to accept that the relationship has changed. You cannot force intimacy. You have to respect the new boundary and focus on building new connections instead. Luna: So sometimes the best strategy is to cut your losses and build a new network. Not every relationship survives a promotion. Lucas: Correct. Some will fade. That is natural. But the ones you invest in during the transition phase will remain strong. Quality over quantity. A few trusted allies in your old department are worth more than superficial friendships with everyone else. Luna: It is interesting how much emotional intelligence matters in corporate climbing. We often talk about technical skills, but this seems to be the differentiator between a short-lived promotion and a long-term career. Lucas: Absolutely. Technical skills get you the job. Emotional intelligence keeps you there. And specifically, the ability to manage transitions without alienating your base is a rare skill. Most leaders fail at this. They get promoted, they check out, and they wonder why their old team stops supporting them. Luna: So the lesson is to stay engaged. Even after you leave, stay involved. Be present. Make sure they know you haven't forgotten them. Lucas: Stay involved, yes. But also stay humble. Remember where you came from. The people who got you there deserve credit. The people who stayed behind deserve respect. Treat them both well, and your career will have a much smoother trajectory. Luna: It feels like a lot of work for a simple transfer. Is it really worth the effort to manage all these feelings and expectations? Lucas: If you view it as work, you will burn out. If you view it as stewardship, it becomes part of your responsibility. You are stewarding your reputation and your relationships. It is not optional if you want to lead effectively. Luna: Stewardship. I like that word. It implies care and long-term thinking, not just transactional networking. Lucas: It does. And it aligns with the idea that your career is a marathon, not a sprint. Every move you make sets the stage for the next one. Build a strong foundation, and the future becomes easier to navigate. Luna: Do you think companies should be teaching this? Should HR departments have a module on 'Post-Transfer Relationship Management'? Lucas: They should. But until they do, individuals have to take ownership of it. You cannot wait for your employer to teach you how to be a good colleague after you leave. You have to do it yourself. It is part of professional maturity. Luna: So, take control. Plan your exit. Credit your team. Stay humble. And don't expect gratitude, just good karma. Lucas: Good karma, sure. But also practical self-interest. Helping your old team helps you. It is not a sacrifice; it is an investment. And investments usually pay off. Luna: Investing in your past to secure your future. That is a powerful way to frame internal mobility. Lucas: It is. And it changes the narrative from 'leaving them behind' to 'lifting them up.' Which is ultimately what leadership is all about. Luna: I wonder how many leaders fail simply because they forgot that lesson. How many great talents are lost because they couldn't manage the human side of the move. Lucas: Probably more than we realize. But for those who get it right, the payoff is immense. You gain not just a new role, but a wider, stronger, more resilient network. And that is worth every bit of effort. Luna: So next time you are thinking about making that move, ask yourself not just 'can I do the job,' but 'can I carry my people with me?' It might just define your career. Lucas: Exactly. Carry them with you, or leave them behind. The choice determines your legacy. Let us see if you can make the right one.