Career Speedrun - MAC109
Managing A Career
Welcome back to Managing A Career, the podcast that helps you put yourself on the fast track for promotion. I’m your host, Layne Robinson. Today’s episode is all about a concept I’m calling the Career Speedrun. If you’re into gaming, you probably know what a speedrun is: it’s when players try to beat an entire game as fast as possible, skipping unnecessary parts, using shortcuts, and optimizing every move. Now, when it comes to your career, you can’t literally warp-jump from your first job straight to the corner office—but you can learn to recognize what slows...
info_outline
Early Promotion to Career Success - MAC108
Managing A Career
Reframing the Premature Promotion Back in , I tackled the tricky terrain of getting promoted too soon—when the title lands before the readiness does. That episode unpacked the complications that can follow a premature promotion: skill gaps, team tension, imposter syndrome, and even layoff risk. This week, I’m flipping the script. Instead of focusing on the pitfalls, let’s talk about how to turn that early promotion into a strategic advantage. Because if you play it right, what starts as a stumble can become your fastest leap forward. The Risks Beneath the Ribbon-Cutting ...
info_outline
Career Stagnation - MAC107
Managing A Career
Has your career quietly veered off course—not with a dramatic crash, but with a slow, almost imperceptible drift? One missed opportunity. One unchallenging role. One “maybe next year” that turned into five. Then one day, you look up and realize you’re nowhere near where you thought you’d be. Here’s the good news: every detour has a reentry point. You won’t fix it overnight, but you can start with one small, intentional correction. And that shift—however minor—is how momentum begins. How Did We Get Here? Before we talk solutions, let’s rewind. Career drift...
info_outline
Non-Verbal Communication - MAC106
Managing A Career
In last week’s podcast episode of the podcast, Episode 105 – Communication Etiquette (), I talked about how seemingly small, everyday actions can shape how others perceive you at work. While these habits may not directly earn you a promotion, they quietly build your reputation with the very people who influence those decisions. This week, I want to take that conversation further by focusing on something even more subtle but just as powerful: non-verbal communication cues. Why Non-Verbal Communication Matters Whether you’re in a casual hallway conversation, presenting in a...
info_outline
Communication Etiquette - MAC105
Managing A Career
On other episodes of the Managing A Career podcast, I tend to focus on the big-picture strategies that can propel your career forward—things like building influence, earning visibility, and positioning yourself for future opportunities. But advancement isn’t just about the major moves. Sometimes, it’s the subtle, everyday actions that shape how others perceive you. This week, I want to zoom in on one of those seemingly small details that won’t directly earn you a promotion, but will absolutely impact the impression you leave on colleagues, managers, and executives: communication...
info_outline
A Seat At The Table - MAC104
Managing A Career
You Need to Be in the Room Where It Happens — But How? You’ve heard the phrase before: “You need to be in the room where decisions happen.” It sounds powerful—exclusive even—but no one ever hands you the playbook for getting in that room. Working hard isn’t enough. Being the best at your job isn’t enough. The truth is, opportunities to sit at the table where decisions are made don’t simply appear—they’re earned, often through deliberate actions, strategic visibility, and building the right kind of influence. So the real question becomes: how do you earn that seat at the...
info_outline
What Are You Prioritizing? - MAC103
Managing A Career
What You Prioritize Is What You Grow In your career—just like in life—whatever you prioritize is what takes root, grows, and ultimately defines your trajectory. Whether you’re intentional about it or not, your attention acts like sunlight and water: it nourishes certain parts of your professional life while leaving others to wither. Even worse is when you don’t make a conscious choice at all—when your career just “happens to you.” That passive approach can lead to years of drifting, missed opportunities, and invisible ceilings. So take a moment to reflect: what are you truly...
info_outline
Creating a Career Vision When You Don't Know What's Possible - MAC102
Managing A Career
We've recently gone through a reorganization at my job, and with that change, I now have several new team members reporting to me. In my one-on-one meetings, I like to focus on more than just status updates—I emphasize career development. One of the tools I’ve consistently found to be effective is the Individual Development Plan, or IDP. If you’ve been following this podcast, you may remember Episode 37 () where I broke down the Vision and Roadmap section of the IDP. It’s a framework I believe in deeply. But here’s the thing: many of my new team members are struggling with...
info_outline
Leadership Isn't Assigned -- It's Taken - MAC101
Managing A Career
“Being a leader isn't an assignment that is given to you, but an assignment that you TAKE.” Let that sink in. Leadership isn’t about waiting for permission. It’s about stepping up when others step back. In today's episode of the Managing A Career podcast, we’re diving deep into what it really means to TAKE leadership. Anyone can be a leader—because leadership is a quality you demonstrate, not a job title you hold. Sure, some roles come with authority baked in, but real leaders don’t wait for the title. They lead because they choose to. If you have ambitions to advance...
info_outline
Grow Your Team, Grow Your Self - MAC100
Managing A Career
There’s a common misconception the corporate world: to get ahead, someone else has to fall behind. It’s the old zero-sum thinking — that career advancement is a competitive, cutthroat race. But today, I want to challenge that notion. Whether you're managing a team or just stepping into a leadership role, the truth is that investing in the growth of others doesn’t slow you down — it accelerates your own career trajectory. Helping others succeed is one of the most powerful, and often underestimated, ways to grow yourself. This zero-sum outlook is rooted in fear and...
info_outlineRecently, companies have been in cost cutting mode. The most obvious result of this cost cutting, at least when it comes to your career, is that companies have been laying off large numbers of workers across all industries. But these very same companies are starting to balk at the negative press associated with "yet another layoff". This week, I take a look at the subtle ways that companies continue to reduce their headcount in a less public manner.
Return to Office Mandates
During COVID, social distancing and stay at home orders lead many to resort to remote work. During that time, many companies experienced record revenue and added staff to support future projections. These activities showed that remote work could be successful and many workers enjoyed the freedom offered by these new policies. Now that the height of the pandemic has passed, companies transitioned to a hybrid model where some days were worked remotely and some were worked in the office.
I won't argue that there are benefits to being in the office with your co-workers, but now companies are changing their policy to switch from a hybrid schedule to one requiring workers to be in the office five days per week. The freedom that workers once had has been quickly eliminated. In some instances, this policy shift may make sense, but in most cases, this change leads to a situation where people voluntarily leave to find an opportunity that still offers the flexibility that they had become accustomed to.
Reduction in Promotions and Frozen Salaries
Beyond return to office mandates, employees are finding fewer opportunities for advancement and smaller salary increases. When a company is in the process of laying off employees, this often includes cancelling most of the open positions. For the positions that remain open, you will face additional competition from those on the reduction list as well as everyone else looking for a promotion.
In addition to limited opportunities, many are finding that salary increases are small or non-existent and bonuses are reduced or eliminated all under the banner of controlling costs. Those expecting some sort of increase to their bank account will face dissatisfaction and demotivation. And for the company, this could be a way to reduce staff without the stigma of another round of layoffs.
Overworked and Burnt Out
One would hope that layoffs are targeted to areas where shifting business needs have lead to reduced workloads, but they often hit areas that were already understaffed. Those that remain are often asked to do "more with less". Goals are set more aggressively in order to recover some level of profitability.
With the constant fear of being "next", people will just accept the additional workload and strive to do everything asked of them, even if it means working longer hours and opting not to take all of their allotted time off. This is an unsustainable position that will only lead to burnout.
Singled Out
The other factors are things that apply generally to everyone in the company. But you could also find yourself targeted by your company to encourage you to leave. You may find that your responsibilities are changing, often in a manner that doesn't align with your career plan and skill set or potentially even having diminished responsibility levels. Performance reviews may not accurately reflect the level of contributions you have made. Feedback is not constructive or even offered.
If it feels like your manager is pushing you out in this manner, you may have no choice but to look for alternatives. There may be opportunities to remain at the company but to transfer to another group. But, if that is not an option, take advantage of the situation as best you can. Use any training resources available to you and do your best to remain employed, but begin exploring your options elsewhere.
Navigating Your Options
If you find yourself in a situation where your company is looking for ways to drive people to leave, there may be some things you can do to ease some of the stress you find yourself facing.
Policy may require you to be in the office five days per week, but there may be flexibility in the hours that you are in the office. Maybe you can negotiate having certain mornings or afternoon continue to be remote as long as you still meet the five day mandate.
If promotions and salaries are not an option, it may be possible to receive other non-monetary benefits. A change in title doesn't cost the company any money but could add some needed prestige as you explore other jobs. Having expanded access to training resources can allow you to increase your skills opening up other opportunities previously unavailable to you.
In Episode 053 (https://www.managingacareer.com/53), I covered what you should do if you've been laid off, but many of those same strategies apply if you find yourself being quietly fired.
A career coach can help you navigate these difficult times and set yourself up for future success. If you need a career coach, reach out to me via the Contact Form at ManagingACareer.com (https://www.managingacareer.com/contact/). I'll schedule an introductory session where we can talk about your career goals and determine if we would be a good fit for coaching. If we are, we can arrange regular sessions to help you put your career on the fast track to advancement.