Latest / The Internal Move Podcast with Fexingo: Lateral Roles, Internal Transfers, and Staying at Your Company / How to Use an Internal Transfer to Preserve Your Network
Transcript
- Lucas: You've been at a company for three years. You know who to call in legal, which exec actually reads the Slack channel, and the one person in IT who can expedite a laptop request. Luna: That's a specific kind of power. It takes time to build. Lucas: Right. And then you consider an internal transfer. Maybe product management, maybe a different business unit. And one of the quiet anxieties is — do I lose all that? Do I essentially start over socially, just like an external hire? Luna: I think a lot of people assume yes. That a new team means new everything. Lucas: It's a reasonable assumption. But it's not quite true. The real advantage of an internal transfer — and I think we've underplayed this in previous episodes — is that your network doesn't reset. It carries over. And it can actually become more valuable because now you're a bridge between groups. Luna: So you're saying the network is portable. But it's not automatic, right? You have to be intentional about it. Lucas: Exactly. And that's what I want to dig into today. A specific example I came across — a woman we'll call Priya. She was a senior engineer at a large tech firm, one of the big five. After five years, she moved into product management for a different product line. Same company, different building, different manager, different stand-ups. Luna: Classic lateral pivot. Lucas: Classic. And she told me her biggest worry wasn't learning the new role — it was losing the relationships she'd built in engineering. She was the go-to person for a few critical APIs. She had trusted relationships with QA, with the data science team. She felt like she was walking away from that capital. Luna: But she didn't actually lose it. Because she was still at the same company, still had access to the same Slack channels, the same org chart. Lucas: Right. And within two months, she'd already accelerated a project that normally takes six months to get off the ground — because she knew exactly who to call in the old org to prioritize a data pipeline fix. Her external hire counterpart in the same product team was still figuring out which person in legal signs off on vendor contracts. Luna: That's the hidden multiplier. The external hire has to build trust from zero. Priya already had a reputation. She just had to redeploy it. Lucas: And that's the core thesis of this episode. An internal transfer lets you keep your relationship capital. But only if you map that capital before you move, and then actively maintain the ties that matter most. Otherwise, you might as well be external. Luna: So how do you map it? What's the practical step? Lucas: I think you need to sit down — before you even apply for the transfer — and list all the people outside your immediate team who you rely on to get work done. Not your manager, not your peers. I mean the person in finance who approves your POs, the security engineer who signs off on deployment, the recruiter who knows your career history. Luna: The people who make things happen. Lucas: Exactly. Priya told me she had a spreadsheet. She called it her 'trust map.' About 40 names. Then she ranked them by two dimensions: how often she interacts with them, and how much they trust her judgment. She realized that about 15 of those were high trust but low frequency — people she could call once a quarter and still get a quick response. Luna: So she identified the relationships that would survive a move without much effort. Lucas: Right. And then she had another group — about 10 people — where trust was moderate but frequency was high. Those were the ones she needed to invest in before she left. She started scheduling one-on-one coffee chats with them, explicitly mentioning she might move and wanted to stay connected. Luna: That's bold. A lot of people wouldn't want to tip their hand that early. Lucas: It's a risk. But she framed it as professional development, not a resignation. She said 'I'm exploring a lateral move to product, and I'd love to stay in touch because I value your perspective.' Most people were supportive. And after she transferred, those relationships were warm — not cold starts. Luna: Quick honest thing — a handful of listeners chip in monthly through buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo, and that's literally what funds making episodes like this one. If the show helps you think through your own career moves, that's what keeps it ad-free. Lucas: Yeah, it's a small group, but it makes a big difference. And we don't run ads, so listener support is what keeps the lights on. Luna: I'd add that this mapping exercise isn't just about people you already know. It's also about identifying gaps in your new role. When Priya moved into product, she realized she didn't have any strong ties to the marketing team. Her product would need go to market support, and she'd never worked with them before. Lucas: So she had to build that from scratch. But she had a head start everywhere else. And that's the practical takeaway: before you transfer, audit your network. Which relationships are portable? Which need maintenance? And which new connections do you need to cultivate proactively? Luna: It's almost like a portfolio rebalancing. Lucas: Exactly. You're reallocating your social capital. And the data backs this up. A 2023 study from the Harvard Business Review looked at internal mobility at a large professional services firm. They found that internal transfers who maintained at least 30 percent of their pre-move network contacts had significantly higher performance ratings in the first year compared to those who let those ties lapse. Luna: Thirty percent — that's not even half. So it doesn't take a massive effort to retain the benefit. Lucas: Right. And the same study showed that external hires took, on average, 18 months to build a network of comparable density. Internal transfers who actively managed their network closed that gap in about 6 months. Luna: So there's a clear competitive advantage. But I wonder — is there a downside? Can you lean too much on your old network and be seen as not fully committing to the new team? Lucas: That's a real risk. Priya mentioned that one of her new teammates joked that she was 'still in the old org's pocket.' She had to be careful not to be the constant bridge — to let the new team build their own relationships with engineering, rather than always being the intermediary. So there's a balance. Luna: You want to be a connector, not a bottleneck. Lucas: Exactly. And the way to avoid that is to use your old network to make introductions, not to be the permanent link. You say, 'Hey, I know you need a data pipeline fix. Let me introduce you to Sarah from engineering. She's the expert.' And then step back. Luna: That builds your new team's autonomy and preserves your old ties. Lucas: Yes. And it also signals that you're a team player, not a power broker. So the skill here is network leverage — using your relationship capital to make everyone more effective, not just yourself. Luna: I want to go back to the mapping step for a second. You mentioned a spreadsheet. Do you recommend a specific tool or method? Lucas: Not really. A simple grid works. List names on one axis, then columns for department, frequency of interaction, trust level on a scale of one to five, and a column for 'action needed before move.' Then prioritize. If you have a relationship that's high trust but low frequency, you probably just need to send a note before you go. If it's high frequency but low trust, you might need a deeper conversation. Luna: And after the move? Lucas: Set a recurring reminder. Every month, reach out to five people from your old network. It doesn't have to be a big ask. Just a quick 'how's it going?' or sharing an article relevant to their work. The goal is to stay visible, not to be needy. Luna: I think a lot of people fear that if they don't interact daily, they'll be forgotten. But in a corporate context, a quarterly check-in is often enough to keep the connection warm. Lucas: Absolutely. And there's another angle here: institutional knowledge. When you transfer internally, you carry context that external hires lack. You know why certain processes exist, you know the history of failed projects, you know who has real influence versus who has formal authority. That's invaluable. Luna: It's the difference between understanding the org chart and understanding the org. Lucas: Exactly. And that knowledge is embedded in your network. So preserving your network isn't just about personal relationships — it's about preserving the unwritten rules of the company. That makes you more effective faster, and it makes your new team more effective too. Luna: So the advice is clear: before you transfer, map your network. During the transition, maintain key ties. After you move, use your network as a bridge, not a crutch. Lucas: And do it intentionally. Because the network you've built is one of the biggest advantages of staying internal. Don't leave it behind. Luna: Thanks for the great conversation, Lucas. And to our listeners — if you're considering a transfer, start your trust map today. Lucas: We'll be back next week with another angle on staying and growing within your company.