In this conversational testimonial, Lynne Levy interviews Eric, a former product professional who felt his career had plateaued despite solid performance. Eric describes feeling stuck in a "rut" where his work was not translating into recognition or promotion. Motivated by a desire for growth and a longstanding friendship with Lynne, he enrolled in her Inspired Product Leader (IPL) program. Through the coaching, Eric’s primary takeaway was increased confidence in his own work and the ability to advocate for himself within his organization, leading to more respectful treatment and clearer communication of his contributions. Applying these lessons, he set a big, audacious goal (BHAG) to transition into a head of marketing role at a startup—a leap he describes as both exciting and nerve‑wracking but underpinned by the confidence gained from the program. Eric recommends the IPL program to others, emphasizing self‑reflection, the importance of internal feedback, and the program’s capacity to help participants achieve career breakthroughs.
Chapters
Eric, it's so good to see you. How are you?
I'm doing well, Lynne Levy. How are you doing?
I am fabulous. I'm so excited for you to start your new, your new job next week.
I don't think you understand that my excitement is way more than yours.
Awesome. So thank you for doing this.
I'm just going to throw a couple questions at you if that's okay. Yeah, perfect. Let's do it.
All right, so let's— why don't you walk us through where were you before you decided to join the Inspired Product Leader program?
Yeah, so where I was was really kind of in a rut almost. And, um, I mean, not so much that it was like a rut— I think has a negative connotation to it. I wasn't like— it's not like I was depressed or anything. It just was like I was in this place where I was getting a lot of work done, but it didn't seem to be advancing my career in any way. Um, and so I I kept looking at it as like, okay, I'm gonna do this and that's gonna get me that promotion, that's gonna get me that respect. And it just, that never really came about. And so, you know, that just kept kind of hounding on me, or just sort of hovering over me, was like, okay, there's this rut, there are these huge walls and, you know, it's hard to get out, hard to climb out.
Absolutely.
On my own. Yeah.
So why did you decide to join the program? What made you decide?
Well, I mean, personally, I've always liked to learn and grow. And so I didn't like being in this rut. I did not like being there. And when you came along, I was like, okay, here's the— I had done a lot of research on coaching and feedback, and I knew the power of it. Like at certain— I mean, maybe in my lifetime I had experienced good coaching, but just like reading and listening about good coaching, I was like, okay, I can get out of this. I can be better at what I'm doing. And so I joined your program. Now I joined because we're friends going back—
We know each other.
Yeah, we've known each other. I think we're gonna have known each other, it's like 4 and a half years as of this recording. At least. Yeah, at least. And I mean, we became instant friends too, Lynne. Like if you remember—
Of course, Gallup.
Yeah, Gallup. It was the State of the American Workplace 2017, I think. It had just been released. And I think it was like your third day.
Literally my third day. Yeah.
And I was sitting on one side of the cubicle farm. You were on the other side of the cubicle farm. And we both like, our emails like dinged at the same time. And then we just started reading through it and just geeking out on the stats. And it was unbelievable. Like just the two of us yelling across this room, marketers and product managers and everyone kind of looking at the two of us as if we're really weird, which we are and were.
Which we are.
And that's okay. And then finally, like, after, I don't know, like 15 minutes of this, we just sort of stood up out of our cubes and like looked across the room. We're like, hey, hey there, you, why don't we, you know, why don't we shake hands when we could shake hands, right? And actually like become friends. And it was like, it was instantaneous.
Instant.
Instant.
But it took me a while for you to say, Eric, I can get you out of the rut. I can get you out of the rut.
You've been saying it to me. I mean, you know, that was something you felt comfortable saying. I think that's your nature too, is being able to like connect with someone so deeply that you can say like, hey, I can help you out. Yeah. Uh, because that's, that's hard feedback to take, right? Like, I, I think you have to, uh, look into yourself to be like, I need some help. Um, and, and if you're not if you can't look into yourself like that, then you're not gonna take that type of feedback where— It takes courage. It takes courage, definitely takes courage. So when I heard you say that many times, you know, but kind of going back to this rut thing, like that's why I was saying it's sort of a bad word. Like I was in a very good job at a very good company and I really liked what I was doing and doing some interesting things, but there was this thing that was hovering over me so that when you were coming to me saying like, hey, join my program, You know, I didn't really— I wasn't really ready because I was having a good time at my job. It wasn't until more recently when I was like, I started doing things and producing things. And that's when I was like, oh, okay, now I've got this, whatever this thing is that's hovering over me that I was like, okay, I'm not going to be able to do this on my own. And I'm not like— my work is not going to— or the people at my work are sort of not respecting the amount of work that I'm putting in and the results that I'm producing.
So what were your key learnings in the program?
I would say that the number one thing is just confidence in my work and that I have a body of work that, that, that, I don't know, does it command, like command, does it command the respect? Is that really like, that's, you know, that's the, that's the way I think about it. Like I'm working just as hard as everyone else. I'm putting in the results, and I wasn't getting that respect. And that's something definitely I learned. Like, you have done some amazing things, you'll continue to do some amazing things. And so it's just having that confidence in that work to say like, yeah, if you don't want to respect me, then, then I need to, you know, I need to do something about that. Um, and, and I did do that. I you know, I met with people within my organization and talked about my body of work. When my manager would, you know, to use your term, scarf me, I would respond in like, in the ways that you were teaching me. And I would also respond with the, again, with the confidence in my work to say like, you know, what are you going to do? Because I am, I've done a lot of things here and I'm valuable to the team.
And you have that confidence even within your current job that I demand, I deserve more.
Absolutely. And, uh, you know, that just that confidence going through and being like, okay, like I can go back and show you all the results that I've collected over the X number of months and weeks and years and show you all the things that I've done. And that, you know, you can't just come in here and disrespect me for that. And that, I think that's the biggest thing that I learned is like the confidence in my work and that I can, that with my work, I can stand up. And say something to like, you know, to look out for myself.
And where are you now? I'm so excited. Tell everybody, where are you now?
Yeah. So I, well, now I got one. I signed up for, uh, with this new job and it's from my, one of my BHAGs. Um, so that, I think that's awesome. Like I didn't just take a sidestep or a small step forward. I took a big leap here. Um, and I'm, I'm a little bit nervous about it. I'm gonna be running marketing at this startup, but I'm not nervous like, oh, I can't get this stuff done. I'm just nervous because I'm taking this big leap of faith and it's probably the first time in my career that I've ever taken such a big leap. Look at you.
Look what you're doing. I mean, amazing.
Yeah. And, and again, that, or not again, but like the nervousness is not going to outweigh my confidence. It's just like, yeah, I've take— I've did exactly what I said I wanted to do, or actually, sorry, what I learned through your class. This is what I want to do, or through your coaching methods. This is what I wanted to do. And then I went and did it. So that part feels amazing. That part's like, okay, you know, whenever I set my BHAGs in the beginning of the, of your, of your coaching sessions, and I was like, okay, you know, early on I was like, can I really do this? Can I really do this? And it's like, no, actually, yeah, going back, you know, again, I'm confident in in my work. And so my, my confidence will outweigh my, the nervousness that I have. I think nervousness is just like, okay, again, I'm stepping into this unknown for me. And—
But you've got this.
Yeah, I got it. In a few weeks, you know, it'll be like, I'll just, that nervousness will go away because my plans will be starting to put into place. I'll be producing results at the new company. I'll be, you know, I'll be, I'll be leading the way that I want to lead.
I remember the first, one of the first calls we had was when we started to talk about career progression and really where you wanted to be. And I remember it was like, all right, you know, I'm not sure I want to be in product or product marketing anymore. I want to run a marketing group. Yeah.
Yeah.
And that's what you're going to be doing.
I think if you, if you look at my LinkedIn profile, um, and the About Me section, that's what I write about. Right. That I'm running something, not that I'm like, oh, okay, you know, I'm the head of— not to dis— I'm sorry, not to disrespect anyone, but like my goal was not to just be like, oh, okay, I'm gonna be heading up the media agency within the organization or that I'll be, you know, that I'll be the director for field operations. Like if that's what your goal is, then great, go for it. My goal was to run a marketing agency, you know, to run the marketing operations for a company. And so, and that's exactly what I found. Woo-hoo. Yeah. Yeah.
So if you were to bump into somebody at Fenway Park and say, what, tell me, what is this Inspired Product Leader program? Should I join? How would you answer?
Well, first of all, absolutely you should join. And I, I would say, you know, take a look at yourself, look inward, cuz you're the one that's gonna make change. No one else is gonna sign you up for this. No one else is gonna look at your work and be like, oh, Eric, great job. Here's that promotion, right? You're going to get the promotion because you're going to say something. And that's the same thing with this, with this IPL is just, you have to look at yourself, basically give yourself feedback and say, where are you right now? And where do you want to go? And if your answer is to stay in the same place and you're happy with that, I would still join this program because you want to be, you want to have success and confidence in your work. If your, if your answer is no, I want something more and I want to be doing more, then, you know, that's also a reason to sign up because you're going to get that. You're going to get the outcome that you're looking for. There we go.
Eric, I'm so excited to watch your journey and as head of marketing and then V and then head of a larger organization, you are on the fast track. I'm so excited. Thank you.
You're welcome. So thank you, Lynne Levy Levy Levy, because again, you know, I was skeptical at first, or first, like if we think back like 2 years ago, I was skeptical. Um, but it's, it's been awesome. It's been so great to join your program.
