The Biggest Mistakes L5s Make When Trying to Get Promoted

Hosted by Sally Ivester and Jason Yoong

216 students

What you'll learn

Hard work doesn't speak for itself

If you work for a company, you're a resource. So as a resource, you're graded on your ability to make impact.

You can't only focus on execution

L6 isn’t about doing more—it’s about operating differently. Execution alone won’t get you there.

Relationships > Work

Promotions don’t just happen. They happen when the right people advocate for your work, your impact, and your potential

Why this topic matters

L5s often believe that working harder will get them promoted. But at senior levels, effort alone isn’t enough—perception is everything. If leadership doesn’t already see you as an L6, you’re not getting promoted. This lesson will show you how to shift from doing more to being seen as a leader, so decision-makers recognize you as ready for the next level.

You'll learn from

Sally Ivester

Chief of Staff / Scaled Ops @ Google

I’ve spent the past 12+ years at Google, navigating everything from consumer marketing to marketing operations to scaled operations. Now, as a Chief of Staff, I focus on making execution seamless for leadership and teams.


Along the way, I’ve learned how to:

✅ Work across a massive org and drive alignment across teams

✅ Bridge the gap between strategy and execution (because both matter)

✅ Understand what execs actually need from a Chief of Staff—and how to deliver it


I also help individual contributors navigate the corporate world, work loudly (without the cringe), and get promoted faster.


I’m here to share the lessons, the wins, and the challenges that come with the Chief of Staff role.

Jason Yoong

COO of Level Up, ex-Amazon

Jason has run multiple $1B+ businesses across eCommerce, marketplaces, advertising, and media. He's led 40+ person organizations, owned department P&L, managed $400M+ marketing budgets for Fortune 100 entertainment (movies and TV) and consumer electronics clients, and served as an Advisory Board Member.


After leading and building at publicly traded companies Amazon, Dentsu Aegis, and Universal McCann (IPG), Jason joined the founding team of a venture-backed software startup and raised $8M seed.


Jason is now building Level Up: Your source for executive insights, high performance habits, and specific career growth actions with Ethan Evans (retired Amazon Vice President). He also serves on the Harvard Business Review advisory council and as a mentor at First Round Capital and Techstars.


As COO, I co-own all aspects of the business with Ethan: Content, growth, community, revenue, P&L, marketing, partnerships, business development, operations, product, GenAI, strategy, events, design, etc.


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