Executive Careers with Fexingo: VP, C-Suite, and Senior Leadership Career Strategy

Episode 32 of Executive Careers with Fexingo explores the strategic use of counteroffers for senior leaders. Lucas and Luna dissect why accepting a counteroffer is rarely the right move, backed by data from a study showing 80% of executives who accept one leave within 18 months. They discuss how to leverage a job offer to get a raise or title change without damaging your reputation, the importance...

In this episode of Executive Careers with Fexingo, Lucas and Luna explore how senior leaders leverage peer councils — small, confidential groups of non-competing executives — to sharpen decision-making, gain candid feedback, and accelerate their careers. They dive into the structure of a typical council, how members are recruited, and the rules that keep the group valuable. Lucas shares a specific...

Episode 30 of Executive Careers with Fexingo dives into the art of career storytelling for senior leaders. Lucas and Luna explore how crafting a compelling narrative about your professional journey can open doors, from board seats to C-suite roles. Using the example of a former Fortune 500 COO who reframed his 15-year tenure as 'turnaround architect' to land three board roles, they break down the...

Episode 29 of Executive Careers with Fexingo: Lucas and Luna unpack the offer-stage memo — a strategic document senior leaders write during the final hiring loop to define their own scope, resources, and success metrics before accepting a role. Lucas walks through the anatomy of a memo he helped a client craft for a chief product officer role at a mid-cap B2B SaaS company: how she used it to secur...

In this episode of Executive Careers with Fexingo, Lucas and Luna explore how senior leaders leverage their professional networks not just for job referrals, but for high-quality career intelligence. They discuss the difference between networking for opportunities and networking for information, using the example of a Fortune 500 CFO who mapped key contacts across industries before a major pivot....

Episode 27 of Executive Careers with Fexingo. Lucas and Luna explore an overlooked career strategy: how senior executives use their accrued paid time off not just to rest, but to make high-stakes career decisions. They break down the concept of 'decision leave' — taking two to four weeks of uninterrupted PTO specifically to evaluate a job offer, plan a pivot, or test a new industry. Lucas cites a...

Episode 26 of Executive Careers with Fexingo dives into a counterintuitive career lever used by senior leaders: strategic volunteering. Lucas and Luna examine how pro bono board service, nonprofit committee work, and industry association leadership create a low-risk proving ground for aspiring board members. They discuss concrete examples—like a former Fortune 500 CFO who landed her first paid boa...

Ever wonder why some executives leave a company and their legacy remains intact, while others crash and burn? In this episode, Lucas and Luna break down the art of the graceful exit for senior leaders. They explore the 2019 case of Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson, who handed over the reins to Howard Schultz as interim with a two-year transition plan, maintaining relationships and stock stability. They...

Episode 24 of Executive Careers with Fexingo dives into how senior leaders should strategically manage their LinkedIn profiles. Lucas and Luna discuss the shift from resume-style summaries to value-driven positioning, citing a specific case: a former Fortune 500 CFO who landed a board seat by posting a monthly analysis of regulatory trends. They break down the 'rule of thirds' for content, the imp...

In this episode, Lucas and Luna dive into the art of negotiating equity compensation at the senior leadership level. Using the example of a hypothetical VP of Product who received a 0.5% stake at a Series B company, they break down the key levers: vesting schedules, acceleration clauses, single vs. double trigger, and the often-overlooked difference between incentive stock options (ISOs) and non-q...

In this episode of Executive Careers with Fexingo, Lucas and Luna explore a specific career strategy that sets top executives apart: using personal branding to secure board seats. They examine the case of a former Fortune 500 CFO who built a niche as a thought leader in ESG reporting, which led to three board invitations within 18 months. The hosts break down the four-step process senior leaders u...

Episode 21 of Executive Careers with Fexingo examines what happens when a restructuring initiative implodes. Lucas and Luna break down the 2024 case of a Fortune 500 retail CFO who orchestrated a divisional reorg that alienated top talent and missed quarterly targets by 18 percent. They trace the leader's recovery playbook: owning the failure in an all-hands meeting, rebuilding trust with the boar...

In this episode of Executive Careers, Lucas and Luna explore how senior leaders can strategically define and communicate their personal brand. Drawing on the example of a Fortune 500 CFO who successfully repositioned herself as a digital transformation expert, they discuss the three key components of a senior leadership brand: expertise, values, and visibility. Lucas explains why a generic resume...

When a senior leader hits a plateau—no promotion, no stretch assignment, no board interest—the standard advice to 'be patient' or 'network more' rarely works. This episode examines the structured recovery framework used by ex-McKinsey partner turned CEO coach Anna Richter, who calls it the 'career torque' method. Richter's playbook involves three deliberate moves: a visibility audit that maps who...

This episode of Executive Careers with Fexingo explores how senior leaders use board service as a strategic stepping stone to the CEO role. Lucas and Luna discuss the case of a CFO who joined a public company board and became CEO three years later, and unpack the numbers: 1 in 4 S&P 500 CEOs served on an outside board before promotion. They break down the types of boards that matter most, how to g...

In this episode of Executive Careers with Fexingo, Lucas and Luna dive into the art and science of compensation negotiation for senior leaders. Using the case of a fictional CFO who secured a $2.3 million total package by leveraging deferred equity and a 12-month severance clause, they explore specific tactics like anchoring high, framing base salary as a floor, and negotiating performance-based b...

In this episode of Executive Careers with Fexingo, Lucas and Luna explore how senior leaders use sabbaticals not as a pause but as a strategic career reset. They dissect the case of a chief marketing officer at a Fortune 500 consumer goods company who took a three-month sabbatical, used it to coach at an accelerator in Nairobi, and returned to land a chief operating officer role. The hosts break d...

Lucas and Luna explore the concept of 'career sprints' — intense, time-boxed periods of focused effort that senior leaders use to achieve a specific career breakthrough. The episode centers on the case of a Fortune 500 CTO who landed a board seat after a 90-day sprint to build expertise in AI governance. They discuss the three components of a career sprint: a clear objective, a measurable delivera...

Episode 14 of Executive Careers with Fexingo dives into the unique dynamics of board interviews for senior leaders. Lucas and Luna unpack why the traditional interview playbook fails at the director level, drawing on a real case: a former Fortune 500 CFO who lost a board seat by treating the process like a job interview. They discuss the shift from selling yourself to diagnosing the board's needs,...

In this episode of Executive Careers with Fexingo, Lucas and Luna explore why sponsorship—not just mentorship—is the real accelerator for senior leadership. They dissect a 2025 study from the Center for Talent Innovation showing that executives with sponsors are 23% more likely to get a promotion into the C-suite than those with only mentors. Using the case of a former PepsiCo executive who credit...

Episode 12 of Executive Careers with Fexingo explores the strategic use of executive coaches by senior leaders. Lucas and Luna examine a 2024 study from the Stanford Graduate School of Business finding that executives who work with a coach see a 73% improvement in leadership effectiveness ratings. They discuss why many senior leaders still hesitate to hire a coach due to stigma, how to vet a coach...

Lucas and Luna explore why top executives increasingly take lateral moves — roles that don't promise a promotion but offer massive learning, network growth, and long-term leverage. They break down the case of a Fortune 500 CFO who stepped into a divisional GM role for 18 months before returning to the corner office with broader scope. The hosts discuss the hidden calculus of compensation, equity r...

Episode 10 of Executive Careers with Fexingo looks at the art of the senior-level resignation. Lucas and Luna dissect the case of a Fortune 500 CFO who orchestrated a seven-week exit that preserved board relationships, protected her equity, and landed her a non-compete waiver. They cover timing, the handoff memo, the quiet conversation with the board chair, and how to frame your departure so the C...

In this episode of Executive Careers with Fexingo, Lucas and Luna unpack a counterintuitive career strategy that senior leaders increasingly use to gain operational depth: the lateral move that resembles a step down. They examine a real 2025 example — a Fortune 100 COO who moved to a divisional president role after a failed CEO succession, then landed a top job at a larger firm 18 months later. Th...

In this episode of Executive Careers with Fexingo, Lucas and Luna explore a powerful yet underused career strategy for senior leaders: internal mobility. They examine why many executives overlook job changes within their own organization, and why that's a missed opportunity. Using the example of a Fortune 500 CFO who transitioned from head of corporate development to CFO without leaving the compan...