Managing A Career Podcast Por Layne Robinson arte de portada

Managing A Career

Managing A Career

De: Layne Robinson
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 I help you navigate the path to professional success. Whether you're a recent graduate still searching for your place or a seasoned professional with years of experience, the knowledge and insights I share can show you how to position yourself for growth and career advancement.2024 Economía Exito Profesional Gestión Gestión y Liderazgo
Episodios
  • The Blame Game - MAC099

    The Blame Game - MAC099
    Jul 8 2025
    When your career feels stalled and growth seems out of reach, it’s tempting to look outward for answers. Maybe it’s the company culture. Maybe your boss doesn’t recognize your potential. Or maybe the job market is just brutal. These might all be valid frustrations, but dwelling on them leads nowhere. The Blame Game feels satisfying in the moment, but it rarely sparks progress. If anything, it keeps you circling the same dead-end thoughts, instead of charting a new path forward. Blame often functions as emotional armor. When we pin our lack of career progress on external forces; a difficult manager, a broken system, or bad timing; we shield ourselves from a harsher possibility: that our own choices, habits, or blind spots might be part of the equation. This deflection is comforting because it absolves us of responsibility. It tells us, “It’s not you……it’s them.” And while that can feel protective, it also keeps us passive, removed from the power we actually hold to create change. Blame doesn’t always show up as frustration or finger-pointing. Sometimes it disguises itself as logic. “The company isn’t growing, so no one’s getting promoted.” “I’m not being assigned strategic projects; it’s out of my hands.” These explanations sound rational, even fair. But that’s precisely what makes them dangerous. They quietly reinforce the belief that your circumstances are fixed, that your potential is capped by forces you can't influence. But what if that narrative is incomplete? What if there’s more within your control than you’ve allowed yourself to see? Dave Anderson (https://www.linkedin.com/in/scarletink/) touched on the Blame Game in his Scarlet Ink newsletter (https://www.scarletink.com/p/no-more-excuses-trading-blame-for-action), where he reviewed responses that he received to some of his newsletter articles. The feedback he gave to those responses helped inspire this exploration of how reframing blame can lead to reclaiming power. Agency isn’t always handed to you—it’s something you often have to claim. Especially when it feels like everything’s slipping beyond your control. In those moments, action isn’t optional—it’s essential. Blame, excuses, and even rational-sounding limitations build walls around your potential. And the only way forward? Break through them. To realign your career, you have to stop waiting for permission and start rewriting the story. That starts with believing you can influence the outcome. Let’s tackle some common career-stalling excuses—and explore how to reframe them to regain your agency. “My manager won’t let me...” or “They are always micromanaging me.” As I unpacked in Episode 95 of the podcast (https://www.managingacareer.com/95), micromanagement often stems from three sources: lack of trust, pressure to perform, or fear of failure. The key isn’t to wait for the grip to loosen—it’s to earn the slack. Build trust through consistent delivery, clear communication, and proactive ownership. When your manager sees you as reliable and competent, control tends to give way to collaboration. “The job market is tough right now.” or "It's SO hard to get promoted!" While that may be true. It's also a call for creativity. In Episode 93 (https://www.managingacareer.com/93), I explored career pivots—those adjacent roles or skill sets that aren’t a leap, but a shift. Whether you’re looking to switch companies or grow where you are, this strategy helps you stretch into new responsibilities and showcase untapped potential, which can fast-track that elusive promotion. “My assignment isn’t promotion-worthy” or “I don’t get to explore new technologies.” Don’t wait for the perfect project. Carve out time each week to learn something new—especially emerging tech that aligns with your company’s goals. Then champion what you’ve learned within your team. Volunteer for stretch assignments. Become the person who brings energy and innovation into the room. Promotions often follow visibility and initiative. Across every stalled scenario, one theme rises above the rest: action. Not reaction. Not justification. Action. When you catch yourself pointing outward—blaming a boss, a market, a system—pause and flip the script. Instead of asking why something is blocking you, ask what you can do to move forward. Shift from obstacle to opportunity. And if you’re not sure what that looks like, enlist help. A trusted peer or a career coach can shine light on blind spots and offer the kind of advice that nudges you back into motion. Just remember—clarity is useless without commitment. You have to follow through. At its core, agency is about ownership. Owning the problem, yes—but more importantly, owning the solution. When you choose to act instead of excuse, to lean in rather than check out, you’re doing more than clearing your current hurdle. You’re ...
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    8 m
  • Taking Action - MAC098

    Taking Action - MAC098
    Jul 1 2025
    I pull inspiration for my episodes from many places. The inspiration for this week's episode came from the June 19th episode of the Help Wanted podcast with Jason Feifer and Nicole Lapin (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/how-to-find-solutions-when-there-are-no-good-options/id1456031960?i=1000713535785). In that episode, Jason outlines a specific problem solving technique, but it reminded me of a critical fact when it comes to your career. I'll get into Jason's technique later, but first, I want to take a step back and talk about the importance of taking action. If you think about your job in the simplest of terms, your JOB is to take responsibility of SOMETHING so that your leader doesn't have to think about it. That may be small responsibilities early in your career or larger responsibilities as you gain experience and seniority. Even your boss is expected to take responsibility of something so that THEIR boss doesn't have to think about it. As much as possible, there is an expectation that you continue to move those responsibilities forward with very little input from anyone else. If everyone does their part, the organization will continue to make progress on it's goals. This is why it's important that you continue to take action, even when faced with a problem with no obvious solution. In Episode 084 (https://www.managingacareer.com/84), I talked about the phrase "Don't bring me problems, bring me solutions". This episode is sort of a continuation of that. In Episode 084, I talked about the three reasons you might engage your leader in your responsibilities. You need their authority, their permission, or their insight. Because they have their own responsibilities, leaders are looking to minimize how much of their time you consume. If, every time you face a difficult decision, you escalate to your leader, they will begin to question why they delegate tasks to you since you aren't showing ownership of the problem. "But," you may think, "I want to make sure that I make the RIGHT decision." But that desire to be right may lead to decision paralysis. Over-research, waiting for others, or meetings to discuss the options AGAIN. All of these factors are just putting off progress. Sometimes, there IS no right solution. This is where the technique that Jason mentioned in the episode of the Help Wanted podcast (https://www.jasonfeifer.com/podcast/) is useful. When you have imperfect choices, it's often better to pick one to move forward and deal with the imperfections than it is to stall out your project. By taking action, you showcase your ability to make tough decisions and allow your leader to continue to focus on bigger things. Jason calls this strategy "List before you Leap". Or you can consider it to be the "Least Flawed Option". Start by listing every option that you've considered; even the ones that you have already dismissed. When you consider each solution one by one, it's easy to say "no" because you can identify the flaws. However, when you have the list of options, focus on determining to which solution you will say "yes". By flipping from a "no" mindset to a "yes" mindset, you're preparing yourself to move forward. With the list of options before you, it's often easy to eliminate most of them when compared to the few stronger candidates. This is where applying the approach that Jeff Bezos uses for making decisions. Some options may lead to 2-way doors and others may lead to 1-way doors (https://blueprints.guide/posts/one-way-vs-two-way-doors). Consider how reversible a decision will be. If you can easily undo a decision, that represents a 2-way door because once entered, you can always exit. But, if a decision is irreversible, that decision is a 1-way door and you must take extra cautions when making that choice. After you have narrowed your selection of imperfect solutions down, if you are struggling to decide, it is better to select a 2-way door solution instead of a 1-way door solution. As you encounter the flaws, if they cannot be overcome, it may be useful to reverse track and choose the other option. When you've made a decision on which imperfect option to choose, the next step is to present it to your leader. As mentioned earlier, when you escalate to your leader, it's for authority, permission or insight. It requires a lot less of their time when you ask for permission to proceed than if you ask for their insight. You've indicated what was considered in making the decision, so you've provided the insight; you're just asking for permission to proceed. In the Managing A Career podcast, I cover short-form topics to challenge your thinking about career advancement. If you are interested in professional coaching, reach out to me via the contact form on the ManagingACareer.com website (https://managingacareer.com/contact). I will schedule an introductory session where we ...
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    6 m
  • Invisible Guardrails - MAC097

    Invisible Guardrails - MAC097
    Jun 24 2025
    The other day, I was listening to the Smart Passive Income podcast (https://www.smartpassiveincome.com/) by Pat Flynn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/patflynn3/). It wasn't even in the episode itself, but in his call to action at the end that he said a quote that was both insightful and inspiring to me. So much so that it lead to today's episode. In his episode, Pat said "It's not the mistakes you make that derail you. It's the mistakes you make that becomes the rails you work within." So, before we break that down, let's take a step back and talk about those rails -- those guardrails. Guardrails are usually designed to keep you from going somewhere you shouldn't and to keep you safe. But, when it comes to your career, those guardrails are often built by others -- or more specifically they are created by yourself based on the expectations you think other have for you -- and are here to keep you in line. In the end, they may be holding us back from our full potential by keeping us from breaking out of a box that we find ourselves in. So, what do I mean by all of that? When it comes to career advancement, what's holding you back? If you have limiting beliefs that keep you from speaking up or from challenging yourself, it may be time to review them and find a way to tear those guardrails down. Let's look at some common guardrails that people believe that they must work within. The first one is seniority based deference. Especially early in your career, but it can happen at any time; if you find yourself surrounded by those with more tenure or more experience or higher rank, do you defer decisions to them. Maybe you feel like if you challenge them you'll be considered problematic. This can cause you to remain quiet and never express your ideas. Instead of focusing on the seniority of others, focus on the different perspective that you bring. Back up your ideas with data and preparation; a well-researched, well-thought-out idea is hard to argue against. Challenge yourself to speak up in a meeting. If you're still struggling with that, look for opportunities to present the idea to participants before the meeting starts. Their feedback can help you refine your pitch and give you more confidence when the actual meeting takes place. Along the same lines as seniority based deference is cultural conditioning. In some cultures, hierarchy matters and is ingrained from an early age. If you come from one of these cultures, you may wait for permission to speak instead of talking any time you have an idea. If the meeting facilitator comes from a western culture, they may not realize and never offer the permissions you expect. When you speak less, people begin to assume that you have nothing to contribute. When you work for a global company, consider how company culture aligns with societal culture. Western companies are more often going to value those contribute ideas. If societal culture is hard for you to break past, then figure out who is leading the meetings that you will participate in and discuss the cultural difference that they may not be aware of . Devise a signal that you can give them that indicates that you have something to contribute to the discussion so that they will offer the permission you seek. Another guardrail that you may face is that of patriarchal conditioning. Some companies or industries are heavily male dominated which leads to unwritten rules about how women should act. Any deviation from those expectations can be punished by those in charge. And when you also face cultural conditioning, this can be compounded exponentially. In these situations, women will often revert to self-minimizing language in order to come across as non-threatening to their male team members. To combat patriarchal conditioning, it's important to remember that being direct and being aggressive are different behaviors. You can be direct without being aggressive. Being direct is about bringing clarity. Additionally, review Episode 087 (https://www.managingacareer.com/87) called "Language Matters". Pay close attention to the sections on undermining your self and undermining your intelligence, but in short, look for ways to remove phrases from your vocabulary such as "Sorry" or "I could be wrong" or "I don't know". Using these phrases are not just making you appear non-threatening, but are also perpetuating the patriarchal view. There are also guardrails based on race and ethnic identity. You may work at a company with very few people that look like you or that share a common heritage with you. You limit what you say and how you say it in order to not validate any stereotypes that your colleagues may have. You may even force yourself to tone down your actions or language in order to not be perceived as "emotional" or "problematic". Code-switching can be draining. If this applies to you, ...
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    10 m
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