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...
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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 ...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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_outlineThe job market is tough right now. People across all industries are getting laid off and starting their job search. If this includes you, you may have found that each job you apply for is highly competitive. You might think that finding another job in your current field is a struggle. Or maybe you feel like you are stuck and there are limited or no growth opportunities available to you. One way that you can increase your opportunities is to consider a career pivot.
A pivot point is a fixed point around which something rotates. It's a strong, anchoring point. A career pivot isn't a case of completely changing your career; it's a strategic change leveraging the anchor of your current career. In this case, you are leveraging you existing skills to pivot towards a similar or related career that may have more opportunities than your current one.
Before you can pivot, the first thing you need to do is take an inventory of the skills that you have and how they might apply to other fields. If you use my Individual Development Plan template, you've already got a leg up. If not, review Episode 038 (https://www.managingacareer.com/38) which covers the Assessment and Next Role sections of the IDP. You can also request a copy of the template by reaching out via the Contact Form on ManagingACareer.com (https://managingacareer.com/contact) to request one.
Consider grouping the skills into those that have broader applicability such as communication and leadership and then a group for those that are more specialized such as project management or data analysis. I would still note those skills that you have that are highly technical, because even if they seem to apply primarily to your current career, there may be parallels in other careers.
With your list of transferrable skills in hand, brainstorm job families that are adjacent to your current position. Consider other roles that you interacted with frequently that may have parallels to what you do now. If your company has recently had a layoff, look at the positions that were least impacted that fit with your abilities. If you're having difficulty coming up with related careers, look at the Occupational Information Network at https://www.ONetCenter.org or the Career Explorer at https://linkedin.github.io/career-explorer (links will be in the episode notes). Both of these sites have tools where you can compare different careers and which skills are common between them.
As you explore pivot options, determine if there are any skills that you need to refresh or skills that may benefit from additional training. For example, project management is a skill that would be useful in many industries, however, project management in the software development industry is different than project management in the construction industry. This is a good time to look for supplemental training to strengthen your ability to pivot.
Lastly, reach out to your network. If you know someone in the adjacent role, they can explain the day to day duties that they have and they can help you understand how your skills will translate to the new role. Your network may also have leads on openings in this related field.
Now that you understand why you might want to pivot and how to approach the change, let's look at some real world pivots that may be options for you to explore.
| Career | Key transferable skills | Potential pivots |
| Teaching | Classroom management Lesson planning Explaining complex ideas in simple terms | Creating classroom resources for other teachers Curriculum planning Creating online courses in other areas |
| Nursing | Medical knowledge Patient care | Healthcare Case Management Patient Advocacy |
| Accounting | Skills with spreadsheets Understanding of financial drivers Regulatory knowledge | Financial Analyst Financial Planner |
| Lawyer | Understanding of the law Negotiation | Compliance officer Sports or Entertainment Agent |
| Chef | Food handling Coordinating a team Resource planning | Food Safety Inspector Inventory Management |
| Construction | Knowledge of building codes and regulations Project Management | Building Inspector Project Management in another industry
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| Real Estate | Sales and Contracts Relationship Management Market Analysis | Property Management Sales in another industry Loan Officer |
| Journalism | Research and Investigation Writing and Editing | Writing website copy Corporate Communications |
So, if a pivot seems like the path forward for you, how do you approach it? First, review your resume and reframe it to showcase transferable experiences. Next look for supplemental trainings or certificates that can jump-start a shift. Next, leverage your network to find contacts in the related field.
A career coach can help you build the skills you need in order to implement these strategies. 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.