Latest / The Promotion Memo with Fexingo: Getting Visibility, Sponsors, and Executive Presence / The Invisible Work That Gets You Promoted
Transcript
- Lucas: Let’s talk about the work nobody sees but everyone rewards. I spent the last month auditing the career trajectories of three mid-level managers at a major fintech firm, and the data was startling. The two who got promoted weren’t necessarily the ones with the best hard metrics on their dashboards. They were the ones who mastered what we call 'invisible work.' Luna: So you’re saying the visible KPIs aren’t the primary driver? What exactly counts as invisible work if it doesn’t show up on a dashboard? Lucas: Exactly. It’s the glue that holds teams together. Think cross-departmental mediation, mentoring junior staff without being asked, or drafting the post-mortem after a project fails so others learn from it. These tasks don’t always have a direct revenue impact, but they build immense social capital. In my study, the promoted managers had logged an average of fifteen hours a week on these activities. Luna: That’s a huge chunk of time. Do most people even realize they’re doing this kind of work, or do they just see it as part of the job description? Lucas: They definitely don’t see it as distinct. One manager told me she thought she was just 'being helpful.' But when I mapped her calendar, those fifteen hours were clearly delineated from her core deliverables. The problem is, because it’s not tied to a specific project deadline, it gets deprioritized when things get busy. And worse, it rarely gets credit in performance reviews. Luna: It sounds like a classic visibility gap. If it’s not tracked, does it exist in the eyes of leadership? Lucas: Precisely. Leadership notices outcomes, not effort. If you’re solving conflicts between engineering and product, that’s a massive value add, but if no one knows you did it, it’s just 'the team working better.' The key insight here is that invisible work needs to be made visible through narrative, not just tracking. You have to frame these actions as strategic contributions. Luna: How do you frame something like conflict resolution as a strategic contribution without sounding like you’re bragging? Lucas: You tie it to business risk or efficiency. Instead of saying, 'I helped Alex and Sarah agree on a timeline,' you say, 'I facilitated alignment between product and engineering, which reduced our launch delay by two weeks.' See the difference? One is gossip; the other is a measurable impact on speed to market. It’s about translating soft skills into hard business language. Luna: That translation layer is crucial. It changes the perception from 'nice colleague' to 'strategic leader.' But does this only apply to people who naturally enjoy that kind of interpersonal work? Lucas: No, and that’s the trap. Many high performers avoid it because they feel it’s 'fluff' or not real work. But in my audit, the third manager—the one who didn’t get promoted—was brilliant at coding but refused to engage in any cross-functional relationship building. He treated his code as the only thing that mattered. When the company faced a bottleneck, he waited for instructions instead of proactively facilitating solutions. Luna: So waiting for instructions is the opposite of invisible work? It feels like passive rather than active contribution. Lucas: It’s passive dependency. Invisible work requires proactive ownership of problems that aren’t yours. It’s identifying a gap in knowledge, a friction point in a process, or a new hire struggling with onboarding, and stepping in before you’re asked. That initiative signals readiness for senior roles because it shows you’re thinking about the whole ecosystem, not just your silo. Luna: But isn’t there a risk of burning out if you’re constantly fixing other people’s messes? How do you set boundaries while still doing this? Lucas: Great question. Boundaries come from selectivity. You don’t fix every mess. You identify the highest-leverage interventions. For example, mentoring a new hire is high leverage because it scales your impact. Fixing a minor formatting error in someone else’s report is low leverage. The promoted managers were strategic about where they invested their social capital. They said no to low-value requests. Luna: Saying no to low-value requests is harder than it sounds, especially when you’re trying to prove your worth. Does this create a dynamic where the most capable people end up doing all the extra work? Lucas: It absolutely can, and that’s the dark side of invisible work. We call it the 'competence penalty.' The more you’re good at helping, the more people dump their work on you. The trick is to make the help transactional in terms of visibility. When you mentor someone, you ask for a public shout-out in a team meeting. When you mediate a conflict, you send a brief summary email to stakeholders highlighting the resolution. Luna: So the act of helping is the work, but the documentation of the help is the career asset. It’s a two-step process. Lucas: Exactly. Step one is doing the work. Step two is ensuring the right people know you did it, and why it mattered. Most people stop at step one. They assume their boss will notice. But bosses are distracted. They need cues. Your job is to provide those cues in a way that aligns with their priorities. Luna: This reminds me of the concept of 'sponsorship.' Is invisible work the foundation for getting a sponsor? Lucas: It’s the fuel for sponsorship. A sponsor won’t vouch for you unless they’ve seen you operate at a higher level. Invisible work gives them evidence. It shows you have emotional intelligence, strategic thinking, and leadership potential. Without it, you’re just another person hitting your targets. With it, you become a future leader who understands the broader business. Luna: So if someone wants to start doing this today, what’s the first practical step they should take? Lucas: Start by auditing your own week. Track every hour for five days. Then categorize each task: is it core deliverable, reactive maintenance, or proactive invisible work? You’ll likely find you’re doing less of the latter than you think. Then pick one area where you can add value—maybe onboarding a new hire or improving a shared document—and execute it with intention. Luna: And then immediately document the outcome and share it with relevant stakeholders. It’s about closing the loop so the work isn’t truly invisible anymore. Lucas: Spot on. Share the win, but frame it as a team benefit. 'Thanks to the new onboarding checklist we created, Sarah was ramped up in two weeks instead of four.' That’s powerful. It positions you as an enabler of success, not just a participant. Luna: It shifts the narrative from individual achievement to collective uplift. That’s exactly the kind of mindset senior leaders look for. Lucas: Right. And here’s the counter-intuitive part: doing invisible work can actually free up time in the long run. By mentoring effectively, you reduce the number of basic questions you get asked. By improving processes, you reduce firefighting. It’s an investment that pays dividends in operational efficiency. Luna: So it’s not just about looking good; it’s about making the organization run smoother. That’s a compelling argument for busy executives. Lucas: It’s the ultimate executive presence signal. You’re demonstrating that you care about the health of the entire machine, not just your own cog in it. That’s what separates a manager from a leader. Luna: I think many people underestimate how much weight is placed on that holistic view. It’s easy to get tunnel vision on your own projects. Lucas: Tunnel vision is dangerous. It limits your visibility and your impact. Broadening your scope through invisible work expands both. It opens doors you didn’t even know existed because you’re building relationships across the entire organization. Luna: Building those bridges is essential. It turns silos into networks. And networks are where opportunities live. Lucas: Absolutely. Opportunities flow through weak ties—people outside your immediate circle. Invisible work forces you to interact with those weak ties. You might end up helping a designer, or a salesperson, or someone in legal. Those connections become your internal network. Luna: So it’s networking, but disguised as service. You’re not asking for favors; you’re providing value. That’s a much more sustainable way to build influence. Lucas: It’s altruistic networking. And it works because it’s genuine. People remember who helped them, not who asked for something. That goodwill accumulates over time and becomes a significant career asset. Luna: It feels like a long game, though. Does it have immediate benefits, or is it purely for future promotions? Lucas: There are immediate benefits. You feel more engaged because you’re contributing to the bigger picture. You learn new skills by dabbling in different areas. And you reduce stress by smoothing out workflow friction. So it’s not just a promotion strategy; it’s a job satisfaction strategy too. Luna: That’s a great point. It makes the day-to-day work more meaningful. When you see your efforts improving the lives of colleagues, it’s rewarding in itself. Lucas: Meaning drives resilience. When challenges arise, people who are deeply connected to their team and its success are more likely to push through. They have a vested interest in the outcome beyond just their paycheck. Luna: It creates a sense of ownership. That ownership is what leaders look for when they’re deciding who to promote. Lucas: Ownership is non-negotiable. You can’t own a result if you’re only focused on your assigned tasks. You have to own the context around those tasks. Invisible work is the practice of owning the context. Luna: So, to wrap this up for our listeners: track your invisible work, translate it into business impact, and share it strategically. It’s about making the unseen seen. Lucas: Exactly. Start small. Pick one interaction this week where you can add value beyond your job description. Document it. Share it. Watch how your visibility grows. Luna: It’s a simple shift in perspective, but it can completely change your career trajectory. Thanks for sharing these insights, Lucas. Lucas: My pleasure. Let’s keep exploring how we can navigate our careers with more intention and less guesswork. Luna: Before we go, if today was worth a coffee to you, that's the link — buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. Lucas: Support helps us keep creating content like this ad-free. Now, let’s dive back in. Luna: We mentioned earlier that invisible work requires selectivity. How do you prioritize which invisible tasks to take on when everything feels urgent? Lucas: Use the 'three Cs': Criticality, Capability, and Connection. Is the task critical to the business outcome? Are you the best person to handle it based on your unique capability? Does it strengthen a key connection? If the answer is yes to all three, do it. If not, delegate or decline. Luna: A clear framework for decision-making. It prevents burnout by giving you permission to say no to things that don’t align with your strategic goals. Lucas: Precisely. It turns a chaotic workload into a curated portfolio of high-impact activities. That curation is what defines a senior professional. Luna: It’s about quality over quantity in your contributions. Focusing on depth and impact rather than just volume of activity. Lucas: Volume is noise. Impact is signal. Always aim for signal. Luna: So the next time you’re tempted to just do your job and go home, consider where you can add that extra layer of invisible value. Lucas: Do it intentionally. Make it count. And watch how your career accelerates. Luna: Here’s to seeing the unseen work that moves us forward. Lucas: To making it visible.