Latest / The Internal Move Podcast with Fexingo: Lateral Roles, Internal Transfers, and Staying at Your Company / The Silent Killer Of Internal Transfers
Transcript
- Lucas: If we've helped you think through a career move or decision, I want to ask you to consider supporting the show directly. It's what keeps these conversations ad-free and allows us to dig into the nuance without corporate interference. Luna: Yeah, if today was worth a coffee to you, that's the link — buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. Lucas: Thanks. And yeah, look, most people talk about internal transfers like they are purely logistical exercises. You fill out the form, you get the approval, you pack your desk. But that is not how it actually plays out in the wild. Luna: Right. It feels less like a logistics problem and more like a political one. Like you are walking into a room where everyone already has an opinion on you. Lucas: Exactly. And that opinion is rarely neutral. It is usually colored by the last thing that happened between you and your former team. We call it the reputation tax. It is the invisible liability you carry when you leave a role, even if you left on good terms. Luna: So even if you did great work, your old boss’s frustration with your departure might still follow you into the new department? Lucas: It absolutely does. And it is subtle. Let me give you a concrete example from a mid-sized fintech company here in Chicago. We have an engineer named David who decided to move laterally into product management. On paper, he was perfect. He understood the code, he understood the customers, and he had strong communication skills. Luna: Okay, so why didn't the transition go smoothly? Did the product team reject him? Lucas: No, the product team loved him. The hiring manager signed off immediately. The issue was his former engineering director. David had left to join a competitor briefly, then came back internally to product. The director viewed that initial departure as a betrayal, even though David returned within six months. Luna: So the director is holding a grudge against someone who is now technically under a different org chart? Lucas: Precisely. For eighteen months, David’s projects were deprioritized. Not because they were bad ideas, but because the engineering resources required to build them were quietly allocated elsewhere. The director didn’t block him explicitly. He just made sure David was never at the top of the queue. Luna: That is terrifying. It means your new success is hostage to your old departure. Lucas: It is worse than that. Because David couldn't point to any formal objection. His new manager assumed David was struggling to deliver. So David got labeled as a mediocre performer in product, when really he was just being starved of resources by his past. Luna: How do you even detect that kind of sabotage? It sounds like it happens entirely behind closed doors. Lucas: You detect it by looking at the rhythm of your first ninety days. If you are waiting longer than usual for approvals, or if key stakeholders are missing meetings that were confirmed, that is a signal. The reputation tax manifests as friction. It is the extra effort required to do basic work. Luna: So it is not that people are actively trying to hurt you. It is that they are protecting their own turf? Lucas: Yes. And it is not always malicious. Sometimes it is just inertia. Your old team is annoyed you left. Your new team is unsure if you will stick around. Everyone is conserving energy. But for the employee, that inertia feels like failure. Luna: I think a lot of people mistake that friction for their own incompetence. They think, 'maybe I don't belong here,' instead of realizing the ecosystem is just resistant to change. Lucas: That is the most dangerous part. Because then you start self-sabotaging. You stop asking for what you need. You try to overcompensate by working late, which burns you out. By month six, you are either leaving the company entirely or you are deeply unhappy. Luna: So what is the antidote? How do you pay off that tax before you even sit down at the new desk? Lucas: You have to audit your exit. Most people focus on the interview process. They should spend eighty percent of their energy on the goodbye tour. You need to explicitly address the elephant in the room with your former leadership. Luna: Do you mean having a conversation where you apologize for leaving? Or just clarifying expectations? Lucas: Not apology. Clarification. You need to tell your former boss, 'I am moving to product, but I want to ensure the engineering team still has a strong advocate in my new seat.' You have to reframe yourself from a deserter to a liaison. Luna: That is a smart pivot. You are turning a potential threat into a bridge. It gives the old manager a reason to support you rather than resent you. Lucas: Exactly. And you have to do this with the new manager too. You need to say, 'Here is what I know about the legacy systems, and here is what I need from you to navigate the political landscape.' Transparency disarms suspicion. Luna: But isn't that risky? If you bring up the tension openly, aren't you making it real? Lucas: It is risky to ignore it. Silence assumes neutrality. Neutrality is rare. Acknowledging the complexity shows maturity. It signals that you understand the organization is a web of relationships, not just a list of job descriptions. Luna: I guess that is why some people thrive in lateral moves and others tank. It is less about the skill set and more about the social architecture. Lucas: 100%. And this is especially true in companies that are growing fast. When headcount expands, the informal networks haven't settled yet. That is actually a better time to move. The reputation tax is lighter because nobody has formed strong opinions yet. Luna: So timing matters. Maybe you shouldn't wait until you are a senior leader to make the move, because by then, your reputation is cemented. Lucas: Correct. Senior leaders carry heavier baggage. Their departures are seen as power plays. Mid-level lateral moves are seen as curiosity. If you want to pivot careers internally, do it when you are still pliable. Luna: That changes the whole calculus. I always thought you needed to be fully established before you could risk a switch. Lucas: Established is dangerous. Established means you have enemies. It means you have unfinished projects. It means your old boss knows exactly what you are capable of, and can use that knowledge to limit you. Luna: Wow. So the best time to leave is when you are valuable enough to be missed, but not so entrenched that you are feared? Lucas: Precisely. You want to be respected, not indispensable. Indispensable people are trapped. Respected people are free. Luna: And if you do end up stuck with that reputation tax, like David in the fintech story, is there any way to recover once you are already in the new role? Lucas: You create a quick win that benefits both teams. You find a project where the engineering team and the product team have aligned goals, and you lead it. You become the proof that the bridge works. You overwrite the narrative with data. Luna: So you don't fight the reputation. You just build a new one on top of it. Lucas: You bury it. And you do it fast. Because every day you wait, the old story gets stronger. The new reality has to be loud enough to drown out the whispers. Luna: It makes sense that internal mobility is so stressful. It feels like you are negotiating a peace treaty while simultaneously building a new house. Lucas: That is the best analogy I have heard. And most people try to do that construction blindfolded. They assume the ground is stable. It rarely is. Luna: So the takeaway is: check the ground before you pour the foundation. Map the relationships, not just the responsibilities. Lucas: Map the relationships. Understand who holds the informal keys to the resources you will need. And make sure those keys are turned in your favor before you walk through the door. Luna: Because otherwise, you might find yourself sitting at a desk with a great title, but no way to actually do the work. Lucas: Which is a lonely place to be. Especially when you realize the person blocking your progress is someone you used to grab lunch with every Tuesday. Luna: Ouch. Yeah, that is a hard realization. But definitely a necessary one to think about before you submit that internal application. Lucas: Absolutely. The internal move is not just a change of scenery. It is a change of allegiance. And you owe it to yourself to know exactly what that allegiance costs. Luna: Thanks for digging into that. It is a much darker side of career growth than we usually talk about. Lucas: We usually talk about the upside. But the downside is where careers actually die. So keep your eyes open.