1:1 Executive PM Coaching: Promotion Strategy

Most strong PMs don’t get stuck because they lack skills.

They get stuck because:

• their impact isn’t translated into executive language

• their scope isn’t perceived correctly

• they don’t understand promotion calibration

• they aren’t building the right trust signals with leadership

• they’re optimizing for execution instead of advancement

This session focuses on closing that gap.

Typical clients:

• 5–15+ years experience in product or adjacent roles

• already delivering meaningful impact

• feeling plateaued, under-leveraged, or under-recognized

• working in complex orgs (mid-stage to big tech)

My work is based on direct operating experience inside senior product organizations, not external theory or generic coaching frameworks.

Specifically, I bring experience from:

• Product calibration and promotion decision-making: I’ve led and participated in product calibration processes across multiple tech companies, including writing the company's PM career ladders and leading promotion committees where leveling and promotion decisions are made and debated.

• Executive-level product leadership: I’ve operated as a product executive in complex, cross-functional environments across startups to established companies such as Lyft, Yelp, Google, where success heavily depends on organizational alignment, stakeholder management, and strong executive-level communication.

• Coaching and talent development: I’ve coached many, many PMs across levels - from early-career ICs to senior and director-level leaders - on promotion readiness, executive communication, and leadership effectiveness.

• Personal career progression in product leadership: I’ve navigated multiple promotion cycles myself and understand firsthand how expectations shift from IC execution to senior leadership judgment and scope.

The goal is not to “game promotions,” but to help strong PMs understand how senior-level evaluation actually works and how to operate in a way that is recognized and rewarded in real organizations.

Each engagement is tailored, but usually includes:

1. Promotion Clarity + Gap Diagnosis

2. Executive-Level Positioning

3. Managing Up & Organizational Influence

4. Promotion Strategy

Promotion Clarity + Gap Diagnosis

• what level you are actually operating at today

• what signals leadership is missing

• why your impact may not be converting into promotion signals

• what is blocking sponsorship or alignment

Executive-Level Positioning

• translate your work into executive narrative

• articulate scope in promotion-caliber language

• frame impact in a way that maps to leveling expectations

• avoid “busy work = impact” misinterpretations

Managing Up & Organizational Influence

• how to build trust with VPs and execs

• how to surface decisions, not just updates

• how to handle misalignment without political damage

• how to get buy-in on higher-leverage work

Promotion Strategy

• what to change in your work portfolio

• what to stop doing

• what to amplify

• what sponsorship you need

• what timeline is realistic

• 60-minute 1:1 sessions (remote)

• Optional async feedback on written materials (promotion docs, narratives, etc.)

Because this is high-touch and capacity-limited, I only take a small number of clients at a time.

If you're unsure whether it's a fit, reach out to me and I'm happy to start with a free short diagnostic session.