INSPIRATION
Hey everybody,
Still building off of my convo with Shea. In this month’s episode he tells us a story.
He'd been doing senior-level work for 18 months at a job before he left. Training people brought in over him. Fixing what wasn't his to fix. Waiting for a promotion that never came. He finally got a better offer somewhere else, went in for the exit interview, and his manager said, “Why are you leaving?”
Shea said, “Because I've been senior for eighteen months.”
And his manager said, “I didn't know.”
He didn't know. Shea did the work every day and the person who signed his paycheck didn't know.
I wrote The Invisible Interview around this exact moment, though I didn't have Shea's line for it yet. The whole book is a case that merit gets you in the room and something else decides what happens once you're there. That something else has a name. It's whoever is telling your story when you're not in the room.
For me it was Jessica. She was a no on interview fifteen and she became the reason interview sixteen even happened. For Shea it was a leader at his next company who told the room about the work Shea had actually been doing all along. For you, right now, this Sunday morning, it's somebody. The question is whether you know their name.
If you don't, you have a story problem, not a work problem. And the fix isn't more work. The fix is deciding who gets a front-row seat to what you're actually building, and then showing them.
One question: who told your story in a room you weren't in this year? Hit reply and tell me their name. I read every one.
COLLABORATION
There's a name for what Shea is describing. Sylvia Ann Hewlett called it sponsorship, and titled the book with the emphasis exactly right: (Forget a Mentor) Find a Sponsor. Mentors talk to you. Sponsors talk about you. It's a distinction worth knowing.
→ Grab The Book
And if The Invisible Interview has been sitting in your cart, this week's issue is your excuse: link.
EXECUTION
This week, thank one sponsor. Not a mentor you talk to. A sponsor who talks about you. Text, voice note, or email. One line: “I heard you put my name in that room. I noticed. Thank you.” That message will make their week and it will keep them putting your name in rooms.
PASS IT ON
Forward this to the person who put your name in a room. They'll get the message.
THE EXTRA
One more thing. I'm speaking at Dreamin' in Color 2026 in Atlanta. My keynote is "Your Network Is Your Currency". If you are in ATL this week stop by. Use code KEYNOTE at checkout for a discount or click the link below and it's already applied. Register here.
— DéRecco
The Invisible Interview · The Invisible Score · The TEF Show
