Latest / New Manager Conversations with Fexingo: First 90 Days, Managing Former Peers, and Leadership Basics / How New Managers Can Tell Their Team's Story Upwards
Transcript
- Lucas: There's a moment a lot of new managers hit around month four or five — you've got the team rhythm down, you're actually delegating instead of doing, and then your VP asks in a staff meeting, 'What has your team shipped this quarter?' and you freeze. Luna: Oh, that specific feeling. You know your team did good work, but suddenly all the details blur together. Lucas: Right. And the natural instinct is to list everything — we fixed the login bug, we updated the onboarding flow, we ran three A/B tests. But that's not what the VP wants. They want a narrative. They want to know why it mattered. Luna: So you're saying most new managers are too operational when they talk upward. They describe activity instead of impact. Lucas: Exactly. And it's not their fault — nobody teaches this. In Episode 40 I want to zoom in on one specific skill: telling your team's story upward. Because if you don't do it, someone else will tell it for you, and that version probably won't be as accurate or as generous. Luna: Let's use a concrete example. I had a product manager friend — let's call her Priya. Her team shipped a feature that reduced customer support tickets by 18 percent. They did it on time, under budget. At the company all-hands, the VP of Engineering showed a slide celebrating a different team's project that had a bigger revenue impact. Priya's team got nothing. Lucas: Classic. And the instinct is to feel resentful — 'my team worked just as hard.' But the hard truth is: the VP probably didn't know. Nobody told them. Priya assumed the results would speak for themselves. Luna: She did. She thought the numbers would get noticed. But the VP is looking at twenty teams. The story that gets told is the story that gets told. Lucas: So let's build a simple upward briefing template. Four parts. Situation, impact, what the team learned, and what help they need next. That's it. Luna: Situation first — that sets context. So Priya would say, 'Our team was tasked with reducing support ticket volume in the billing flow, which was the number one driver of CSAT complaints.' Lucas: Perfect. Then impact — not just 'we shipped it,' but 'we reduced billing-related tickets by 18 percent, which saved the support team roughly 40 hours per week.' That's the language leadership speaks. Hours saved, revenue protected, customer satisfaction delta. Luna: And then 'what the team learned' — that part feels vulnerable. A lot of new managers want to hide mistakes. But leaders actually respect candor. Lucas: Huge point. If Priya says 'we learned that our initial rollout plan underestimated QA time by two days, so we adjusted our process for next time' — that signals maturity. It says 'we're getting better.' The opposite — pretending everything was perfect — erodes trust. Luna: And the last piece — 'what help we need next.' That's the ask. Maybe Priya's team needs a data scientist for the next phase. Or a decision from the VP about which billing flow to tackle next. Lucas: Yes. And framing it as 'help' instead of 'we need resources' keeps it collaborative. The VP feels like a partner, not a wallet. Luna: So when do you deliver this? In a one-on-one with your boss? In a staff meeting? Lucas: Both. But the most underused slot is the five minutes before the weekly team lead stand-up. If your boss has a meeting at 10 AM, grab them at 9:55. 'Hey, can I give you a quick two-minute update on my team's progress?' That's gold. Luna: Because then when the VP asks 'what's happening with billing?' in the staff meeting, your boss can repeat your narrative — which makes you look good and your boss look informed. Lucas: Exactly. You're basically giving your boss the script. It's a win-win. Luna: Let me push back a little though. Some new managers feel like telling their team's story upward is self-promotion. They think the work should be enough. Lucas: I hear that a lot. And I think it's a relic of individual contributor thinking. When you're an IC, your output is visible — you shipped the code, you wrote the report. But as a manager, your output is your team's output. And if nobody knows what your team did, your team is invisible. That's not self-promotion — that's advocacy. Luna: Advocacy — I like that. You're not bragging about yourself. You're making sure your team's work gets the attention it deserves. Lucas: And there's a fairness angle too. If another manager is good at telling their team's story, and you're not, guess which team gets the headcount in the next budget cycle? It's not because their work was better. It's because the story was told. Luna: That's a sobering thought. So how do you calibrate the tone? Some leaders want just the numbers — no fluff. Others want a bit of color. Lucas: You adapt. I've found it helps to ask your boss directly: 'When I update you on my team, do you prefer bullet points or a short narrative?' Most bosses will tell you. And if they say 'just the bottom line,' then your four-part template can be one sentence each. Still works. Luna: What about the skip-level? Should you tell your team's story to your boss's boss too? Lucas: Only if you've cleared it with your direct boss. Otherwise it can feel like you're going around them. But in a skip-level one-on-one, it's appropriate to say 'my team accomplished X, and my manager and I are working on Y next.' That shows alignment. Luna: Good guardrail. Now, what if you're in a remote or hybrid setup? You don't get those hallway moments. Lucas: Then you use async channels. A Slack message to your boss on Friday: 'Quick update: team shipped the billing fix, tickets down 18 percent. Learned we need more QA buffer. No blockers for next week.' That's eleven lines that take thirty seconds to read. Luna: And you've just given your boss a ready-made slide for the Monday staff meeting. Lucas: Exactly. Look, this sounds like a small tactic, but it compounds. Every time you tell your team's story, you're building a reputation — for yourself and for them. And when promotion time comes, the decision-makers already have a narrative in their head. Luna: So let's say I'm a new manager listening right now. What's one thing I should do this week? Lucas: This week, pick one achievement from your team — doesn't have to be huge — and draft a four-sentence update using the template: situation, impact, what we learned, what we need. Then send it to your boss. Just once. See what happens. Luna: And if you're feeling anxious about it, remember — your team's work deserves to be seen. You're just helping it be seen. Lucas: Well said. And hey, if this episode was worth a coffee to you, that's the link — buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. It's the smallest ask and it genuinely keeps this show ad-free. Luna: Yeah, listener support is what lets us keep diving into these specific, practical topics without a sponsor telling us what to say. Lucas: So — next week I want to talk about something that comes up in almost every new manager coaching session I've done: how to handle the first time a direct report cries in a one-on-one. Luna: Oh, that's a big one. It's so easy to panic and say the wrong thing. Lucas: We'll cover what to do in the moment, what not to do, and how to follow up without making it weird. For now though — if you're a new manager, go tell your team's story this week. You've got this.