Building Career Velocity: Lateral Moves, Executive Presence & Climbing that Ladder towards your Dream Role
What actually creates career velocity?
If careers worked exactly the way we planned them, the formula would be pretty simple: do great work, get promoted, repeat until the dream title appears on your LinkedIn profile.
Unfortunately, careers have a funny habit of moving sideways.
In this special expanded mash-up episode of Candid with Candidates, Jenn Hahn brings together career insights from five accomplished leaders who have navigated different functions, industries, environments, and levels of leadership: Andrea Wasserman, Rebecca Lupfer, Natasha Brinegar, Mark Heitke, and Aaron Gottlieb.
Together, their experiences offer a different way to think about career growth. The meetings already sitting on your calendar can shape how people perceive your leadership potential. A lateral move can sometimes do more for your future than the promotion you were chasing. And stepping into a role before you feel completely ready may be exactly how you develop the skills you thought you needed beforehand.
You’ll also hear why executive presence isn’t one universal way of commanding a room, how to recognize whether you thrive in the structure of a large corporation or the roll-up-your-sleeves reality of a startup, and why difficult meetings may be some of the best opportunities you have to build your professional reputation.
Because climbing the career ladder doesn’t always mean climbing straight up. Sometimes you move sideways. Sometimes you trade the quarter-zip for the backpack. And sometimes the opportunity you’d rather avoid is exactly the room you need to walk into.
Episode Highlights
(04:09) – Why Andrea Wasserman believes “you make your career in meetings,” and how preparation can help you communicate with greater clarity, confidence, and strategic presence.
(05:04) – Andrea’s practical 3:3 method for one-on-one meetings.
(06:59) – Why Rebecca Lupfer says executive presence is “in the eye of the beholder,” and why reading the audience, room, situation, and organizational culture matters.
(08:51) – Rebecca on leaving a function she knew extremely well, taking on unfamiliar responsibilities, and why waiting until you have every skill for the next role can keep you from making the move at all.
(10:37) – How Natasha Brinegar used lateral moves and cross-functional experience throughout her career, and why career growth doesn’t have to follow a perfectly vertical path.
(12:38) – What Mark Heitke learned going from more than a decade at Best Buy to becoming employee number 17 at a startup, including the difference between being “Mark in a backpack” and “Mark in a quarter-zip sweater.”
(15:18) – Why Aaron Gottlieb recommends seeking out difficult meetings instead of avoiding them, and how those uncomfortable interactions can become opportunities to sharpen your skills and build your professional brand.
(17:31) – Jenn brings the lessons together: make your career in meetings, read the room, pursue skills instead of titles alone, understand the environment where you thrive, and get intentional about the brand your actions are creating.
“Not every career move has to be a promotion or a higher-level role. Sometimes moving laterally gives you exactly the experience and exposure you need.”
What You’ll Learn from This Episode
Why everyday meetings can have an outsized influence on your career and how others perceive your leadership potential.
How preparation can strengthen executive presence and make your communication more strategic, concise, and confident.
Why executive presence changes depending on the audience, culture, function, and situation.
How to build confidence when stepping into a role or function where you don’t already have every skill.
Why focusing on skills instead of titles can open career paths you might otherwise overlook.
How lateral and cross-functional moves can build the experience needed for bigger leadership opportunities later.
Why career growth rarely follows a perfectly straight line, no matter how tidy you’d like the résumé to look.
How to determine whether you thrive in a structured corporate environment, a fast-moving startup, or somewhere in between.
Why understanding people’s motivations and separating true priorities from everyday chaos can make you a more effective collaborator and leader.
How difficult meetings can become valuable opportunities to demonstrate judgment, confidence, and leadership.
Why your professional brand is built through how you consistently show up, not simply the title written underneath your name.
Listen to the Episode
Click here to stream the full episode on your favorite platform: Apple Podcast | Spotify
Connect with Andrea Wasserman on LinkedIn
Connect with Rebecca Lupfer on LinkedIn
Connect with Natasha Brinegar on LinkedIn
Connect with Mark Heitke on LinkedIn
Connect with Aaron Gottlieb on LinkedIn
Stay Candid
Candid with Candidates shares real stories from inside major organizations—stories that don’t make it into the slide decks or LinkedIn highlight reels. Follow along for conversations that inform, encourage, and help you navigate your own path to leadership.
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