Latest / The Promotion Memo with Fexingo: Getting Visibility, Sponsors, and Executive Presence / How One Employee Got Promoted by Building a Career Glossary
Transcript
- Lucas: So there's this marketing manager at a mid-sized tech firm — let's call her Priya — who was stuck in the middle of a typical matrix organization. She reported to a VP of marketing but spent half her time on cross-functional projects with engineering and sales. Luna: Right, the classic 'dotted line' nightmare where you have accountability but no authority. Lucas: Exactly. And Priya noticed something. Every meeting she attended, people would throw around acronyms — 'we need to align on the QBR SLA before the OKR review' — and half the room would nod along but clearly had no idea what was being discussed. Especially the newer folks. Luna: That's a real productivity killer. And honestly, it's a power move when someone uses jargon to exclude others. Lucas: It is. But Priya didn't call anyone out. Instead, she started a spreadsheet. Every time she heard a term that wasn't universally understood, she wrote it down, added a plain-English definition, and noted where it came from — which team, which initiative, which executive's pet project. Luna: So she was building a glossary. A career glossary. Lucas: Exactly. After about six weeks, she had over fifty entries. Then she asked her VP if she could share it with the broader marketing team as a 'reference doc for new hires.' Simple framing, no ego. Luna: And I'm guessing it spread beyond marketing pretty fast. Lucas: It did. Within two months, engineering and sales were using it. People started coming to Priya with questions like 'Hey, what does 't-shirt sizing' actually mean?' or 'Can you explain the difference between a sprint and a release?' She became the informal knowledge hub. Luna: That's a classic influence play. You're not telling people you're smart; you're making yourself useful. Lucas: And that's exactly what got her promoted. When her director role opened up, the VP told me — I spoke with her — that Priya was the only candidate who had demonstrably increased organizational efficiency across three departments. She had metrics. The glossary had been accessed over 1,200 times in six months. Luna: Wow. That's a tangible number you can put on a résumé or in a promotion packet. Lucas: Right. So let's break down how you can build your own career glossary. Step one: identify the knowledge gaps. Don't assume you know what people don't know. Pay attention in meetings — when do you see confused faces? When does someone ask a clarifying question that gets brushed aside? Luna: And also, look at written communication. Emails, Slack channels, project docs. If there's a lot of unexplained shorthand, that's a gap. Lucas: Great point. Step two: create a living document. A shared Google Doc or a wiki page. Start with maybe twenty terms. Don't try to be comprehensive on day one. Add definitions in plain language. Avoid corporate speak — that would defeat the purpose. Luna: And I'd add: include context. Not just what 'SLA' stands for, but why it matters in your org. Like 'SLA — service level agreement — this is the promised response time for support tickets; our current SLA is four hours for critical issues.' Lucas: Yes. That's gold. Step three: socialize it without looking like a know-it-all. The key is to frame it as a tool for others, not a showcase of your expertise. Say something like 'I put together a quick reference for common terms — thought it might help the new folks ramp up faster.' Luna: And if a senior person thanks you, you can say 'Happy to add any terms I missed.' That keeps it collaborative. Lucas: Now, a caveat. This strategy works best in matrixed organizations — companies with multiple departments, lots of cross-functional work, and a fair amount of jargon. If you're at a startup with ten people, everyone already knows everything. It's less useful there. Luna: But even at a small company, if you're scaling fast, new hires will appreciate it. I've seen this done at a fifty-person fintech where they had a 'Fintech 101' doc for non-engineering hires. Lucas: Good example. Now, I want to tell you about a counterexample — someone I know who tried this and it backfired. Luna: Oh, I love a cautionary tale. Let's hear it. Lucas: Friend of mine — let's call him Dave — was a senior analyst at a consulting firm. He built a glossary of client-specific terms and shared it with his team. But he made two mistakes. First, he called it 'The Dave Dictionary' — which immediately made it about him, not about helping the team. Luna: Oof. That's branding yourself, not serving others. Lucas: Second, he included definitions for terms that were actually well-known in the firm, which made him look like he was trying to teach senior partners things they already knew. He came across as condescending. Luna: So the key is to target genuine gaps, not just any term you personally learned recently. Lucas: Exactly. Priya succeeded because she focused on the terms that actually caused confusion — she validated them by noticing puzzled looks and follow-up questions. Dave assumed he knew what people didn't know. Luna: That's a great distinction. So the career glossary is really a tool for organizational empathy. Lucas: I like that framing. It's about making your colleagues more effective, and in doing so, making yourself indispensable. And when you become the person who bridges communication gaps, you become the person executives trust to lead cross-functional initiatives. That's promotion material. Luna: And it's something you can start this week. Just open a doc, list five terms you've heard recently that not everyone might understand, and share it with one teammate. Lucas: Exactly. And if you find that helpful, you know, we do this every week — breaking down one concrete career move you can make. If the show has helped you think through a career decision or given you a tactic that actually worked, we'd love it if you considered supporting us. It's what keeps the show ad-free and independent. You can do that at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. Luna: Yeah, no pressure at all. Just if the show's been useful to you, that's the place. And we really appreciate it. Lucas: Alright, back to the glossary. Let's talk about how to keep it alive. A static glossary dies. Priya made hers a living document — she added new terms every two weeks, and she encouraged others to contribute. She set up a simple Slack channel called '#glossary-suggestions' where anyone could drop a term they wanted defined. Luna: That's smart because it also gives you a pulse on what's confusing the organization in real time. If suddenly five people ask about 'zero-based budgeting,' you know there's a new initiative being discussed. Lucas: Exactly. And that kind of real-time intelligence is valuable to leadership. Priya's VP started asking her 'What terms are people struggling with this quarter?' That's a conversation that leads to visibility and trust. Luna: So the glossary becomes a strategic tool, not just a reference doc. Lucas: Right. And one more thing: you can use the glossary to identify and reduce jargon that's actually harmful. Some jargon is useful shorthand, but some of it obscures accountability. Terms like 'synergize' or 'circle back' can be empty. By defining them clearly, you're actually clarifying expectations. Luna: That's a leadership move. You're not just translating; you're setting a standard for clear communication. Lucas: So here's your challenge this week: identify one meeting or one project where jargon is causing friction. Create a one-page glossary of the top five terms that need definition. Share it with your immediate team, but frame it as 'I thought this might help us all stay aligned.' Then watch what happens. You might be surprised at how quickly people start treating you as a go-to resource. Luna: And if you do it, let us know. We'd love to hear how it goes. You can reach us on the Fexingo website. Lucas: That's it for this episode of The Promotion Memo. Next week, we'll look at another specific tactic — building a personal FAQ document. See you then.