Latest / The Promotion Memo with Fexingo: Getting Visibility, Sponsors, and Executive Presence / How a Quiet Employee Got Noticed by the C-Suite
Transcript
- Lucas: So here's the scenario I keep hearing from listeners. You deliver. You hit every deadline. Stakeholders love you. But when the VP is deciding who gets the big project or the promotion, your name doesn't come up. Because they don't know who you are. Luna: Yeah, that's a painful place to be. You're doing the work, but the people two levels up have no mental image of you. So you're stuck. Lucas: Exactly. And today I want to walk through how one product manager at a Fortune 500 company solved this. She wasn't an extrovert. She didn't have a sponsor. But she got herself noticed by the C-suite in about four months. And the tactic was surprisingly low-key. Luna: I love this because it's such a common problem. What did she do? Lucas: She started writing something she called a 'decision memo.' Every month, she'd write a one-page document that summarised a key decision her team had faced, the options they considered, the data behind the choice, and the outcome. Then she'd send it to her boss's boss and the VP. No asking for permission. Just a short email: 'Thought you might find this useful.' Luna: A decision memo. So not a status report full of bullet points, but an actual concise case study of a decision. Lucas: Right. And the key was that it framed things in terms executives care about — trade-offs, data, impact. Not 'here's what we did this month.' It was 'here's how we thought through a million-dollar resource allocation question and what happened as a result.' Luna: And you know, this kind of content has real value. It reminded me of something — if you find value in shows like this one, there's a small way to help us keep making them. A couple of dollars a month at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo genuinely makes a difference. No pressure, just if the show's helped you think through a career move. Lucas: Yeah, completely. It's listeners like that who keep this ad-free and focused on actual tactics. So back to the decision memo — the specific structure she used matters. It wasn't a long document. It had four sections: the problem, the options, the decision criteria, and the result. She kept it to one page. Luna: One page. That's crucial. Executives scan. If you give them three pages, you're just adding noise. Luna: So the subject line itself showed the value. And she wasn't asking for anything — just sharing a useful insight. Lucas: Right. And that's important. She wasn't asking for a meeting or a decision. She was contributing value upward. Over time, those memos became a kind of reputation currency. The VP started forwarding them to the CTO. After about four months, the CTO asked, 'Who writes these?' Luna: That's the moment. When someone above your boss asks who you are. That's visibility you can't buy. Lucas: And it happened because she made herself useful to them on their terms. She didn't wait for an invitation. She just started doing it. But here's the thing — she almost derailed it in month two by making one mistake. Luna: What was that? Lucas: She put her boss's name on the memo as the author. She thought it would be respectful, deferential. But her boss wasn't thrilled because it looked like she was trying to take credit. And the executives didn't know who actually wrote it. So she switched to putting her own name, but with a line at the top: 'Prepared for 's review.' That solved it. Luna: Ah, so she gave her boss visibility too. That's smart. It's a win-win. The boss looks good because their team is producing this, and she gets the byline. Lucas: Exactly. And that small framing made all the difference. Her boss became an ally instead of feeling threatened. And the memos kept flowing. After six months, she was asked to present to the executive leadership team. That's when the promotion conversation started. Luna: So for someone listening who wants to try this — what's the first step? They probably don't have a big decision with a million-dollar outcome sitting around. Lucas: You don't need a million dollars. Start with a decision your team made that had clear criteria and a measurable result. Maybe it's which software tool to use. Or how to allocate a small budget. Or even how you prioritised features for a release. The key is that it shows structured thinking. The dollar amount is less important than the clarity of the reasoning. Luna: And how often did she send them? Monthly? Lucas: Monthly. Not weekly. Too often and you become noise. Not quarterly — too infrequent to build a pattern. Monthly gave her a rhythm. And she always tied the memo to something relevant to that month's priorities. Like if the company was focused on cost cutting, her memo would be about a cost-saving decision. Luna: So she aligned her memo with what the execs already cared about. That's key. You're not just showing off — you're providing a useful example that reinforces their agenda. Lucas: Exactly. And it's worth noting that she did this while working fully remote. So the idea that you need hallway conversations or face time is overblown. A well-crafted email can do the job. Especially if you cc the right people. She cc'd her boss, her boss's boss, and the VP. No one else. She didn't blast it to the whole department. Luna: Narrow distribution, high relevance. That's the formula. So let's say someone listening wants to start this next week. What's the one thing they should do first? Lucas: Identify one decision from the last month that your team made. Write down the problem, the options, the criteria, and the outcome. If you can't find a decision that had real trade-offs, then find a decision that should have been made but wasn't. That's actually even more interesting — 'We considered X but decided not to decide, and here's the impact.' That gets attention too. Luna: I like that. A non-decision is still a decision. And it shows strategic awareness. Lucas: Right. And once you've written the memo, send it to your boss first with a note: 'I'm thinking of sharing this with the wider team — does this seem useful?' That gives them a chance to opt in. Most bosses will say yes. And if they say no, ask why. Their objection might tell you something important about the politics you're missing. Luna: That's a good check. Because if your boss hates the idea, you don't want to go over their head. You want them on board. Lucas: Exactly. And in this woman's case, her boss eventually became a champion. After the CTO noticed her, the boss got credit for developing talent. So it was a rising-tide situation. But it started with her taking the initiative to write that first memo. Luna: It's a great example of how visibility doesn't have to mean self-promotion in the traditional sense. It's about creating value for the people above you, in a format they can digest. Lucas: Exactly. And the listener takeaway is: you don't need a formal sponsorship program or a mentor to make this work. You just need one good decision, one page, and a willingness to hit send. The rest is follow-through. Luna: I think we should do a follow-up episode on how to handle the response if you get pushback. Because not every exec is going to love getting unsolicited memos. Lucas: That's a great idea. We'll cover that. But for now, if you try this tactic, let us know how it goes. We'd love to hear about your first memo. Luna: And if you want more tactics like this, the show is supported by listeners at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. It keeps us ad-free and focused on real strategies. Thanks for being here. Lucas: Alright, that's it for this episode. We'll see you next time on The Promotion Memo.