Latest / The Internal Move Podcast with Fexingo: Lateral Roles, Internal Transfers, and Staying at Your Company / How an Internal Transfer Can Help You Manage Upward
Transcript
- Lucas: There's this moment that happens about three weeks into an internal transfer — you're still learning where the break room coffee is, but you've already had your first one-on-one with your new boss, and you walk out of it thinking, I have no idea what that person actually wants. Luna: Right — because you're not just learning a new job, you're learning a new person. And that person has a completely different communication style, set of priorities, and definition of what 'good work' looks like. Lucas: Exactly. And this is the angle I want to drill into today: how an internal transfer can actually help you get better at managing upward. Because when you move internally, you don't get the benefit of a blank slate — colleagues already know you from your old role, but your new boss doesn't. You have to rebuild trust and credibility from scratch, and that forces you to become intentional about how you manage the relationship. Luna: And it's a skill that pays off beyond just this one transfer. Once you learn to read a new manager quickly, you can apply that pattern to any future boss — or even to stakeholders and executives. Lucas: Let me give you a concrete example. I talked to a marketing manager at a mid-sized software company — let's call her Priya — who transferred into a product manager role. She'd been at the company for four years, knew the product inside out from the marketing side, and thought the transition would be smooth. But her new boss was a classic 'big picture' leader: he'd send her a one-line Slack message like, 'Can you look into the onboarding funnel?' and then disappear for two days. Luna: Oh, that's painful. I've had that boss. You're left guessing — do they want a full analysis, a slide deck, or just a quick gut check? Lucas: Exactly. And Priya's instinct was to over-deliver — she spent three days building a detailed dashboard, only to have her boss say, 'I just needed the headline number.' She felt crushed. But she realized that her old boss in marketing had been a 'data-first' manager who wanted every supporting spreadsheet. This new boss was a 'decide fast, iterate later' type. Lucas: So she set up a 30-minute meeting in her first week — she called it a 30-30-30 alignment. Thirty minutes for her to understand her boss's goals for the quarter, thirty minutes for her to share her own strengths and preferred working style, and thirty minutes to agree on communication norms — how often to check in, what level of detail he wanted, and how she should flag problems. Luna: I love that framework. It's essentially a mini onboarding for the relationship itself, not just the job. And it forces both sides to be explicit about expectations. Lucas: And that's the core of managing upward — it's not about being sycophantic or trying to read your boss's mind. It's about proactively creating a structure where you can do your best work and your boss can trust your judgment. Priya told me that after that meeting, her boss actually thanked her — he said no one had ever done that for him before. Luna: That's a great sign. It shows that managing upward is often just about good communication habits. And an internal transfer gives you the perfect excuse to establish them, because you can say, 'Hey, since we're new to working together, let's align on how we operate.' Lucas: Right. It's a permission structure that external hires don't always have — they're expected to already know how to navigate. But as an internal transfer, you have the credibility of knowing the company, so you can focus purely on the interpersonal dynamics. Luna: Before we dive deeper, I want to pause on something Lucas said earlier — about how this episode might genuinely help someone who's struggling with a new boss right now. If that's you, and you're finding this useful, we should mention that this show stays ad-free because of listener support. You can help keep it going at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. Lucas: Yeah, it really does make a difference. That support lets us keep drilling into these practical, non-fluff career strategies. So thank you to anyone who's chipped in. Lucas: Alright, back to managing upward. Another key piece is what I call 'mapping your manager's information diet.' Some bosses want a daily two-sentence update. Others want a weekly written report. Some want you to walk over and talk. And if you guess wrong, you either annoy them or make yourself invisible. Luna: So how do you figure it out without trial and error? Priya's 30-30-30 meeting is one way, but what if you're already a few weeks in and haven't done that? Lucas: You can still do a mini version. I'd recommend sending your boss a simple email: 'I want to make sure I'm communicating in a way that's most helpful to you. Would you prefer quick async updates or a weekly sit-down? And what's the best way to flag a problem — should I come to you right away, or bring it up in our next check-in?' Most bosses will appreciate the thoughtfulness. Luna: I think there's another layer here too — managing upward isn't just about your direct boss. In an internal transfer, you often have to manage up to your boss's boss, or to stakeholders in other departments who remember you from your old role. They might have assumptions about what you can do. Lucas: That's a great point. There's a phenomenon called the 'reputation lag' — people see you as the person you were six months ago, not the person you are now. A colleague in finance might still think of you as the marketing person who doesn't understand P&Ls. You have to proactively reset those expectations. Lucas: One tactic is to share a 'what I'm working on now' update with your broader network within the company — a quick email or a Slack post saying, 'Hey, I've moved into product and I'm focused on X, Y, Z. If you have insights on data infrastructure, I'd love to connect.' It signals a shift and invites collaboration on your new terms. Luna: That's smart — it's a low-key way to manage perceptions without being pushy. And it also surfaces allies who might help you navigate the new role. Lucas: Exactly. Now, let's talk about something that makes internal transfers uniquely powerful for learning to manage upward: you get exposed to multiple leadership styles in a short time. Most people stay with one boss for years and assume that's how all bosses operate. But when you transfer, you suddenly see that another leader runs their team completely differently — and both can be effective. Luna: That's been my experience too. I had a boss who was very hands-off, and I thought that was normal. Then I transferred to a team where the manager wanted to be copied on every email. It forced me to adapt, and now I can work with almost any style because I've learned to diagnose it early. Lucas: That adaptability is a superpower. And research backs it up — a 2023 study from the Corporate Executive Board found that employees who had worked for three or more different managers within the same company were 40% more likely to be rated as high performers by their current boss. The reason? They'd developed a toolkit for building rapport and trust quickly. Lucas: So an internal transfer isn't just a career move — it's an investment in your relational intelligence. Each new boss is a case study in how to influence someone who holds power over your work. Luna: Let's get tactical. If someone is considering an internal transfer and wants to use it to level up their upward management skills, what should they do before they even move? Lucas: First, do reconnaissance on the new manager. Talk to people who've worked for them before — but not in a gossipy way. Ask, 'How does this leader prefer to receive information? What's their biggest pet peeve about how people communicate with them? What does a great week look like from their perspective?' Luna: Second, during the transfer process, be transparent with your current boss about the transition. That's also managing upward — you want to leave on good terms so you have an ally in the company. A bad exit from a previous team can poison your reputation. Lucas: Absolutely. And third, in your first week in the new role, schedule that 30-30-30 meeting I mentioned. Or a version of it. Make it standard practice. Over time, it becomes a habit you bring into every new working relationship. Lucas: One more thing — don't underestimate the power of small gestures. Learning how your new boss likes to receive feedback — do they want it in writing or in person? Do they prefer you to praise them publicly or privately? These micro-adjustments build trust faster than any big deliverable. Luna: It's almost like being an anthropologist in your own company. You're studying the culture of a new tribe, and your manager is the chief. The best internal transfers are the ones who treat it as a learning expedition, not just a job change. Lucas: That's the perfect framing. So if you're sitting on the fence about an internal transfer, or you just moved and you're struggling to connect with your new boss — go back to basics. Set up the conversation. Ask the questions. You'll come out not only better at your job, but better at navigating any organization for the rest of your career. Luna: And if you've already done that and have a story about a time you successfully managed upward after a transfer, we'd love to hear it. Maybe we'll feature it in a future episode.