Latest / The Promotion Memo with Fexingo: Getting Visibility, Sponsors, and Executive Presence / How One Employee Got Promoted by Creating a Promo Memo
Transcript
- Lucas: So we've done a lot of episodes on building visibility — career wikis, stakeholder maps, sponsorship portfolios. They're all about making your work known. But there's one tool I keep hearing about from listeners that we haven't covered yet, and it's surprisingly simple. Luna: I'm guessing it's not another dashboard. Lucas: No, no dashboards. It's a one-page document — a memo — that explicitly makes the case for your promotion. Not a self-evaluation, not a brag sheet. It's called a Promo Memo. Luna: Okay, I've heard that term floating around. But isn't that basically what you'd put in a promotion packet anyway? Lucas: Close, but the timing and framing are different. The standard approach is to wait until the promotion cycle opens, then fill out whatever form HR provides. The Promo Memo is proactive — you write it two to three months before the cycle, and you share it with your manager as a 'thought starter,' not a demand. Luna: So it's like planting a flag early. I like that. Lucas: Exactly. Let me give you a real case. I spoke with Priya, a product marketer at a mid-size SaaS company — about 500 employees. She was a Manager II, wanted to move to Senior Manager. She'd been in role for 18 months, had strong metrics, but the company had no clear promotion criteria. It was all 'do you have executive visibility?' and 'is there budget?' — very opaque. Luna: That's the worst. You're left guessing. Lucas: Right. So Priya wrote a one-page Promo Memo with three sections. First, 'Precedent' — she listed three past promotions at her level in the last year, anonymized, to show the pattern. Second, 'Performance' — her key metrics, but framed not as stats, as contributions to company priorities. Third, 'Proposal' — what she'd do in the new role for the next six months. Luna: That third part is interesting. It's not just 'I deserve this,' it's 'here's the ROI of promoting me.' Lucas: Exactly. One example: she had improved customer retention by 22 percent quarter-over-quarter in her segment. Most people would just state that number. She wrote: 'This 22 percent improvement in retention for the mid-market segment creates a foundation for expansion into enterprise, which I would lead in the Senior Manager role.' She connected her past work to future value. Luna: That's smart. It shows she's already thinking at the next level. Lucas: That's the whole point. The memo isn't a history — it's a strategy document. She shared it with her manager in a one-on-one, said 'I've been thinking about my growth, and I put together some thoughts. Would love your feedback.' Not 'promote me.' Just 'let's discuss.' Luna: Managers love that. It makes them look good if they can champion you. Lucas: And it gives them ammunition. Her manager took that memo to the VP and said 'Priya has a clear plan for the senior role.' The VP had never seen anything like it. Priya got the promotion three months later, and the HRBP told her the memo was cited in the approval meeting. Luna: I want to push back a little though. This sounds great for a company with defined levels. What if you're at a flat organization where titles don't really exist? Or a startup where promotions are ad hoc? Lucas: Fair point. I think in flat orgs, the memo becomes more about scope expansion than title. You'd frame it as 'I want to take on these responsibilities,' and the title follows. But the core idea — proactively documenting your case — still works. Luna: So the format is flexible. That's good. Lucas: Let's dig into the 'Precedent' section a bit more, because that's the part most people skip. Priya didn't just guess — she actually looked at past promotions in her department. She found that three people had gone from Manager II to Senior Manager in the last year. Two had been in role for 18–24 months, one had been there for 14 months but had led a cross-functional launch. She used that to benchmark her own timeline. Luna: So she basically did competitive analysis on her own company. Lucas: Exactly. And she noted that each of those promotions had a clear 'trigger' — a project or metric that got cited in the announcement email. She made sure her memo highlighted her own trigger: that retention improvement. Luna: That's a level of preparation most people don't do. They just hope their manager remembers their wins. Lucas: Right. And managers are busy. They have ten other directs. Your Promo Memo does the remembering for them. Luna: Before we go further — and I hate to interrupt the flow — but I think this is a good moment to mention something. If you're finding these tactics useful, and you want more deep dives like this without any ads, listener support is what keeps the show going. Lucas: Yeah, it really is. We keep the podcast ad-free because listeners like you chip in. If the Promotion Memo or any of our episodes have helped you think through a career move, you can support us at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. Luna: Even a small contribution makes a difference. And it helps us keep digging into practical strategies like this Promo Memo approach. Lucas: Alright, back to Priya. One more detail I love: in the 'Proposal' section, she didn't just list generic goals. She wrote: 'In the first 90 days as Senior Manager, I will conduct a competitive analysis of enterprise retention benchmarks and present a roadmap to the leadership team.' That's specific, time-bound, and aligned with what the VP cared about. Luna: So she's basically already doing the job in the memo. That's a power move. Lucas: It is. And it reduces the risk for the decision-makers. They can see exactly what they're getting. Luna: What about pushback? Did anyone say 'this is presumptuous'? Lucas: Priya told me her manager's initial reaction was surprise — but positive surprise. He said 'I've never had someone be this thoughtful about their career.' The key is tone. You're not demanding, you're collaborating. And if the answer is no, you've started a conversation about what's missing. Luna: That's a good point. Even if you don't get the promotion, you get a clear gap analysis. Lucas: Exactly. And you can revisit it in three months. One listener I know used a Promo Memo, didn't get the promotion, but got a 'this is what you need to work on' list. She addressed each point, updated the memo, and got promoted in the next cycle. Luna: So it's a living document, not a one-shot. Lucas: Yes. And that's the final takeaway. A Promo Memo turns a blind process into a transparent negotiation. It gives you agency. Most people wait to be noticed. This is how you make yourself undeniable. Luna: I think we should do a follow-up episode on how to actually write the memo — like a template walkthrough. Lucas: I was thinking the same thing. Let's put that on the list. For now, if you want to try this, start with the three sections: Precedent, Performance, Proposal. Keep it to one page. Share it early. And let us know how it goes. Luna: Yeah, we'd love to hear your stories. Send them in. Lucas: That's it for this episode of The Promotion Memo with Fexingo. I'm Lucas. Luna: And I'm Luna. See you next time.