#15 Why high performers struggle to talk about their own work (in interviews and in life ;))

Every week, I see brilliant, senior people who led complex launches, programs, or GTM motions…struggle to explain their impact in a way that makes anyone outside their company understand (or care).

And it’s not because they’re bad at storytelling.

It’s because high-performance cultures train you to value the wrong parts.

A few examples:

At Amazon, you’re rewarded for diving into the weeds.

You succeed by knowing every defect, dependency, and operational nuance.

Inside Amazon, that builds credibility.

Outside Amazon, it can make you sound tactical and too far down in the weeds.

At Microsoft, you’re rewarded for influence and orchestration.

You succeed by navigating stakeholders, alignment, and landmines.

Inside Microsoft, that’s essential.Outside, if you lead with governance and alignment, you can sound like you deliver decks instead of outcomes.

These habits aren’t weaknesses - they’re survival skills.

But they make it harder to talk about your work in a way the market understands.

Hiring managers aren’t looking for the play-by-play.

They’re listening for three things:

1. Business problem you solved

2. Impact you delivered

3. How you get things done

   
   

That’s it.

If you can answer those cleanly, you're communicating your impact and immediately sound senior.

If you can’t, your experience blurs into every other big-tech generalist.

Here’s a quick exercise to sort it out:

Think of one project you’re proud of. Then answer the following:

1. What problem were you solving?​

   Not the task - the business problem (think top-line, e.g. how your thing fit into the org goals).

   
   

2. What changed because of your work?​

   A metric, a decision, a roadmap, a customer outcome.
   

3. What does that say about how you work?​

   One sentence about how you got there. Your pattern/ way of working, not the play-by-play.

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If you can answer those three in 2–3 sentences, you’re already speaking the language the market understands.

If you can’t, that’s the gap - and it’s fixable.

Exploring a bigger move for Q1 and want support tightening your narrative and landing the right role? Check out my Ready to Land program.