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_outlineOn this podcast, I cover topics that can help you advance your career. In simple terms, this means putting yourself in the best possible position to be considered for a promotion. But, sometimes the next transition is from an individual to management role. This week, I cover a technique where you can document your leadership skills as you prepare for that change.
When it comes to capturing the results of your work as an individual, I've covered several different methods. In Episode 044 (https://www.managingacareer.com/44), I cover how to report status to various audiences showing the value that you provide in the context of your current assignments. In Episode 039 (https://www.managingacareer.com/39), I cover the Success section of your IDP; in that section, you capture the results of your Action Plan and how you have grown from those activities. But, these forms of documentation may not be adequate to showcase your abilities when the next role relies on completely different skills than your current role.
Many of the skills that you will need to have as a people manager are soft skills. Using them is often not tied directly to project results but affect HOW those results are achieve. Just documenting the results is not sufficient, so it will require a different approach. This week, I'd like to introduce you to a Leadership Portfolio.
So, what do you capture in your Leadership Portfolio? At the most basic level, it should document your use of soft skills and particularly how they have impacted those around you. This is not an exhaustive list, but you should look to include instances when you:
- coached and mentored others
- navigated complex office politics
- resolved a conflict within the team
- showed executive presence
- delegated work to a more junior team member
A Leadership Portfolio isn't something that you will typically be asked to produce but just going through the process of tracking the use of soft skills will set you apart from your peers. Beyond that, though, the Leadership Portfolio becomes your evidence that you can present to your leader when you feel you are ready to move to management.
When documenting your interactions with individuals, keep track of who you helped and your relationship to them. Include details about how they benefitted from your leadership such as learning a new skill or completing a project or even receiving a promotion. If you have any feedback from them such as quotes or thank-you notes, include that in your portfolio, too.
When the entry is in relation to a project, capture the dates of the instance and which soft skills you leveraged to move the project forward. Document a summary of the event and what actions you took to address the situation.
If you decide to track your Leadership Portfolio, schedule time on your calendar every week to reflect on which soft skills you used throughout the week. If you helped someone, be sure to follow up with them to get feedback on how the responded to that assistance. Review which soft skills you use and which you don't. In the coming weeks, look for opportunities to bolster those that you use least.
This week, I've given you a technique that will be a differentiator when you approach your leader about opportunities to transition to a managerial position. It will take time…..and action….to fill your portfolio, so start your Leadership Portfolio today.
I would love to hear some stories of how this podcast has helped you in your pursuit of career advancement. Go to the ManagingACareer.com website and leave a message via the Contact form (https://www.managingacareer.com/contact/) or click the button to leave a voicemail via your computer. Tell me which episodes have had the biggest impact for you. If I get enough feedback, I'll start including them in upcoming episodes.