Latest / The Promotion Memo with Fexingo: Getting Visibility, Sponsors, and Executive Presence / How a Career Visibility Audit Landed a Director Promotion
Transcript
- Lucas: So there's this product manager, let's call her Priya. She's been a senior manager at a mid-sized tech company for three years, consistently exceeding her targets, leading a team of eight, and when a director role opened up, she didn't even make the shortlist. Luna: Ouch. That's the classic 'quiet competence' trap, isn't it? Lucas: Exactly. And that's what we're digging into today. Priya's story is actually a great case study because she turned that rejection into a systematic process — one that any of us could replicate. She called it a career visibility audit. Luna: A visibility audit. So she actually went back and looked at how visible she was to the people who matter? Lucas: Right. She spent a weekend going through her calendar, her email, her project documentation, and she scored herself on a few dimensions. First, meeting presence: How often was she in rooms where decisions were being made? Second, communication: Were her updates going to the right people, or just her immediate team? And third, credit: When her team shipped something, did her name get attached in a way that senior leaders noticed? Luna: That third one is brutal. I bet she found that her team's wins were being attributed to her boss, not her. Lucas: Bingo. She found that in the last year, she'd presented to the VP level exactly twice, and both times it was via a status report that her boss forwarded. Meanwhile, her skip-level — the VP of product — had no idea she'd led the migration to a new analytics platform that saved the company about twelve percent on infrastructure costs. Luna: So the work was there, but the narrative wasn't. That's a common theme we hear a lot. Lucas: And that's why the audit is so powerful. It's not about some vague 'personal brand' exercise. It's about collecting hard data on where your visibility is thin, and then fixing it with intention. Priya ended up creating a ninety-day plan. Luna: What did that plan look like? I'm guessing it wasn't just 'schedule more coffee chats.' Lucas: No, it was much more targeted. She identified the seven people who had the most influence over the director decision — the VP, two other directors, the head of HR, and a few cross-functional leads. Then she mapped out what each of them cared about. For one, it was cost efficiency. For another, it was cross-team collaboration. And she made a point of finding at least one opportunity per week to send a note, share a relevant insight, or offer to help on something aligned with their priorities. Luna: So she wasn't just trying to be seen — she was being useful in the way that mattered to them. That's a big distinction. Lucas: Exactly. And she also made one structural change: she started a monthly 'impact summary' that went directly to her boss and cc'd the VP. It was one page, bullet points, with metrics. No fluff. The first one she sent, her boss actually replied saying, 'This is great — I had no idea we'd saved that much on cloud costs.' Luna: That must have been a wake-up call for her — realizing that even her direct manager wasn't fully aware of her contributions. Lucas: Yeah. And that's the thing — if your own boss doesn't know what you're doing, how can you expect anyone else to? Priya's audit revealed that she'd been so focused on execution that she'd neglected the storytelling side entirely. And the fix wasn't about bragging. It was about creating a clear, repeatable record of value. Luna: I love that she turned it into a habit, not a one-off. That's what separates a short-term fix from a real career strategy. Lucas: Now, here's where it gets interesting. About six months into her plan, the VP role opened up again — the same role she'd been passed over for. But this time, when the position was posted, the VP called her directly and asked if she'd be interested in applying. That's a complete inversion from the first time. Luna: What changed? Was it just the impact summaries, or was there something else? Lucas: Two things. One, she had a formal conversation with her boss about her career goals — she asked for feedback on what she needed to work on to be a credible director candidate, and she got specific guidance around strategic communication. She acted on it. Two, she actively sought out a sponsor — not just a mentor. She found a director from another department who had a seat at the leadership table and who saw her work on the analytics migration. They had a couple of honest conversations where she talked about her ambitions, and that director became her advocate in the room when the promotion decision came up. Luna: That's the difference between a mentor and a sponsor, right? A mentor gives advice, but a sponsor puts their reputation on the line for you. Lucas: Exactly. And Priya was deliberate about it. She didn't just ask for help — she gave that director visibility into her work, so when the director spoke up, it was with real evidence. By the time the formal interview process happened, she was already the obvious internal candidate. Luna: So the audit wasn't just about getting noticed — it was about building the relationships and the evidence that made the promotion inevitable. Lucas: That's the key takeaway. And I think it's worth breaking down the audit process itself, because anyone listening can run this in a weekend. You want to start with three buckets: exposure, communication, and advocacy. Luna: Let's go through them. Exposure first — that's about where you show up, right? Lucas: Yes. Go back through your calendar for the last quarter and ask: How many meetings did you attend that included a director or above? How many did you actually speak in? And how many did you run? Priya found she was in plenty of meetings, but she was mostly taking notes. She rarely presented or led the discussion. So her exposure score was high on attendance, but low on contribution. Luna: That's a useful distinction. It's not about being in the room, it's about adding value in the room. Lucas: Right. Then, communication. Look at your emails, your Slack messages, your status reports. Who sees your updates? If your reports go to your team and your boss, that's your communication circle. But to build visibility, you need to expand that circle — at least occasionally. Priya started cc'ing her skip-level on a quarterly summary, and she also began sending a 'here's what we learned' digest after major milestones to a broader distribution list. Luna: That's smart because it positions you as someone who thinks beyond your own silo. And the third bucket — advocacy — that's the sponsor part. Lucas: Exactly. For advocacy, you're asking: who is actively talking about your work when you're not in the room? And if the answer is no one, you have to cultivate that. Start with your boss — that's your first sponsor. Ask them directly: 'Who else needs to know about what I'm doing?' Then, look for cross-functional leaders who've benefited from your work. Priya identified her sponsor because she'd seen the analytics project's impact on her own team's efficiency. Luna: So the audit isn't just about making yourself look good — it's about creating a map of your current visibility and then intentionally connecting with the right people. Lucas: And the numbers matter. Priya set a target: she wanted to be in at least one leadership meeting per month, have two meaningful interactions per week with her seven key stakeholders, and send out one impact summary per month. She tracked all of it in a simple spreadsheet. That's the kind of accountability that turns an audit into a plan. Luna: Let's talk about the emotional side for a second. I imagine that first audit can feel a bit deflating — you realize how invisible you've been. How did Priya handle that? Lucas: She said it was actually a relief. It gave her something concrete to work with, instead of that vague anxiety of 'why didn't I get promoted?' She could point to specific gaps and fix them. It also helped her have a more productive conversation with her boss — instead of saying 'I deserve a promotion,' she could say 'Here's the visibility gap, here's what I'm doing about it, and here's how you can help.' Luna: That's a powerful reframing. It turns a rejection into a roadmap. Lucas: Yeah. And the other thing she emphasized was consistency. The ninety-day plan didn't end after ninety days — she baked the communication habits into her routine. The impact summaries became a standard part of her month-end, and she kept a running list of her team's accomplishments so she never had to scramble for examples when talking to leadership. Luna: Before we wrap up, I want to step back. We've talked about the tactics, but what's the bigger lesson here for anyone who's listening? Lucas: I think it's that promotions aren't just about doing great work — they're about making sure the right people know you're doing great work. That's not cynical. It's just how organizations work. If you're not visible, you're not on the radar, and you're not going to be top of mind when a role opens up. Luna: And the good news is that visibility is something you can actively manage. It's not a personality trait — it's a skill. Lucas: Absolutely. And if you want to take the first step, run your own audit this weekend. You might be surprised by what you find. And honestly, if today's episode helped you think through that process, that's worth a coffee to us. If you feel so inclined, you can find us at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. It's a small way to keep this show going, and it genuinely matters. Luna: Yeah, it's the kind of support that keeps us ad-free and focused on topics like this. Every bit helps. Lucas: But back to the audit — one more thing Priya did that I think is underrated. She documented her progress. After the second month, she went back to her sponsor and said, 'Here's what I've done since we talked, what else should I be working on?' That follow-up is what turned the sponsor relationship from a one-off conversation into an ongoing partnership. Luna: So it's not just about initial outreach — it's about consistently adding value to that relationship. Lucas: Right. And that's exactly what got her the promotion. When the role opened, her sponsor was already prepared to say, 'Priya has been strategic about her growth, she's contributed to x, y, and z, and she's ready.' Luna: That's a great note to end on. If there's one thing to take away, it's that visibility is a habit, not a one-off sprint. Lucas: And it's never too late to start. Priya was three years into her role and she still turned it around in six months. Imagine what a focused effort could do for you. Good luck out there.