Latest / The Promotion Memo with Fexingo: Getting Visibility, Sponsors, and Executive Presence / How a Product Manager Got Promoted by Creating a Career User Manual
Transcript
- Lucas: There is a moment in every career where you realise your work speaks for itself — except it doesn't. You can hit every deadline, run flawless projects, and still get passed over because the people who decide don't actually know how you operate. Luna: That's the classic visibility gap. And most advice says you have to network more, get a sponsor, make yourself heard. But today's story is about something quieter — a document. Lucas: Exactly. I want to talk about a product manager I'll call Priya. She worked at a mid-size financial software company, about three hundred people. She had been a mid-level PM for two years, solid reviews, but she kept hearing the same feedback: 'We'd like to see more leadership presence.' Vague, right? Luna: That code for 'we don't know what you stand for' or 'you're not visible enough'. Usually both. Lucas: Right. So instead of trying to schmooze or volunteer for every meeting, she wrote what she called a career user manual. Think of it like the instruction booklet that comes with a gadget — except it explains how you work best. Luna: I've seen these referred to as 'user manuals for yourself' or 'working with me' documents. Usually they're shared with new teammates. But she took it further. Lucas: She did. She wrote five sections. First, her working style — she's an introvert who processes best in writing before a meeting. Second, her decision-making preferences — she likes data but also wants to know the narrative behind the numbers. Third, communication needs — she prefers async updates and hates unscheduled calls. Fourth, her strengths and growth areas — she owns that she's not great at quick pivots without context. And fifth, what she values in others — things like direct feedback and respect for preparation time. Luna: That's quite vulnerable. Did she worry it would be used against her? Lucas: She did. But she framed it as a tool to help the team work better with her. And she shared it first with her manager, then with her key stakeholders — engineering lead, design lead, the VP of product. She said, 'This is how I work best, and I want to make sure we're all set up for success.' Luna: That reframes it from 'here are my quirks' to 'here's how to get the best out of me'. Big difference. Lucas: The immediate impact was subtle but real. Her engineering counterpart stopped scheduling surprise calls. Her manager started sending meeting agendas a day ahead. Within a month, she noticed fewer misunderstandings and more productive one-on-ones. Luna: But did that translate to a promotion? Because a smoother workflow is nice, but it doesn't automatically equal a title change. Lucas: That's the key. She didn't just make things easier — she used the manual to make a case during her promotion review. Her manager had been saying she lacked executive presence. She pointed to the manual and said, 'I identified a gap in how the team collaborates, I created a solution that reduced friction, and I documented it in a way that shows self-awareness and initiative. That is leadership.' Luna: And the data backed her up. She could point to fewer meeting overruns, faster decision turnaround on her projects, and positive feedback from stakeholders who said the manual helped them work with her. Lucas: Exactly. She got promoted to senior PM in five months. The VP of product later told her the manual was a deciding factor because it demonstrated something they couldn't teach — meta-cognition. Thinking about how you think, and communicating that to others. Luna: I do wonder though — does this work in every culture? Some managers might see it as high-maintenance or too prescriptive. Lucas: Fair concern. I'd say it works best in environments that value autonomy and intentionality. If your boss expects you to just 'figure it out' and sees any structure as weakness, you might need a softer approach. But for most knowledge work settings, especially remote or hybrid, it's actually a signal of maturity. Luna: And you can tailor it. Maybe you don't share the full document upfront — you just start using the language in conversations. 'I work best when I have agenda items in advance' becomes a norm, not a demand. Lucas: Exactly. Priya's manual wasn't static either. She updated it after every major project. After her promotion, she added a section on how she likes to mentor — because now she had direct reports. It grew with her. Luna: So what's the one concrete thing a listener could do this week to start? Lucas: Write three sentences that answer: 'What is one thing people misunderstand about how I work best?' That's the seed. Then build it into a one-page document. Share it with one trusted colleague. See what happens. Luna: I like that. Low risk, high potential, and it forces you to articulate your own instincts. Lucas: If today was actually useful to you, that kind of concrete, actionable insight is exactly what we try to deliver every episode. And the way these stay ad-free is listener support. If you want to keep that going, you can find us at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. Luna: Yeah, it's a small way to say this helps, and it genuinely lets us keep the focus on real stories like Priya's instead of commercial breaks. Lucas: Back to the manual — another surprising benefit Priya mentioned was that writing it helped her understand her own patterns. She realised she was saying yes to too many meetings because she felt obligated, not because she added value. So she started declining more, and her output quality went up. Luna: That's the hidden value. The audience for the manual is often yourself. Lucas: Absolutely. And once you have that clarity, you can start using it in your performance reviews, your project retrospectives, even your job interviews. Imagine walking into an interview and handing the hiring manager a one-pager that says 'This is how I deliver results.' That's unforgettable. Luna: I think we've covered the why and the how. Let's leave listeners with a challenge: write your working style in three sentences today. Share it with someone this week. See if it changes the conversation. Lucas: And if it does, let us know. That's the kind of feedback that keeps us doing this.