If you're waiting for your work to speak for itself, you'll be waiting a long time. Pramit is a senior engineer at Harley-Davidson, and his CEO knows him by name. Here's how he made that happen.
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You do the work.
You hit the milestones. You write the updates. You help everybody else ship.
And the people who decide your next promotion still couldn't pick you out of a hallway.
Pramit could have been one of those engineers.
He's a senior engineer on the software team at Harley-Davidson. An IC. No manager title. No seat at the leadership table.
Before a recent company town hall, the CEO walked up to him and said, "I remember you from last time. I'm expecting you to ask questions."
He earned that in the one meeting most engineers skip to clean out their inbox.
And it didn't start with confidence. It started with saying hello to VPs in the hallway. Just hello. For days. Then came a squeaky first question at an engineering town hall. Then rep after rep.
After representing Harley at Sturgis, the biggest motorcycle rally in the world, he asked the CEO how to turn everything he'd learned into something the business could use.
"Send me an email." Then: "Copy the CTO."
Soon after, his customer insights were published across the company.
No extra hours. He was going to be in that room anyway.
In this episode:
— Why your work will never speak for itself, and how to start speaking for it in your weekly staff meeting
— The wins habit that got Pramit seen, and the blind spot he found in it
— How to repackage one update for supply chain, program, and tech leads so more people understand your work
— The 10-minute networking script Pramit says works 99% of the time
— Why knowing more people means fewer surprise escalations, even if you don't care about promotions
— Why you shouldn't prepare your town hall question ahead of time, and the frame to use instead
— The smallest reps for introverts: say hi, sit up front, ask in the chat, rehearse the question in your head
— Why the person who goes first gets labeled the leader
Also, stay for the end. Pramit leaves you with one move for your very next meeting, and it takes about five seconds before you walk in the door.
Your work won't speak for itself. You will.
If you're new here, binge the channel.
If you just realized you haven't asked a question in a town hall in years, book a free Career Growth Audit.
If you want to reach director and beyond without burning out or losing yourself on the way...
Watch the Director Promotion Plan below.
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15 minutes with an OACO coach. Use it when you're doing the work but nobody upstairs can see it yet.
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Watch next:
How Engineering Managers Get Promoted Without Bragging
How to make your results visible without feeling like a self-promoter.
Forget Networking. Build Your Career Crew
Why who's in your boat matters more than how hard you row.
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I'm Zach White, founder of Oasis of Courage.
Mechanical engineering degrees from Purdue and Michigan. Former engineering leader at Whirlpool. Since 2019 I've coached 300+ engineering leaders at 200+ companies — big tech to rust belt, and everything in between.
You shouldn't have to sacrifice your life to reach your potential at work.
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And if you want to see our Promotion Plan — how we help engineering leaders get seen for the work they're already doing and design a career and life on purpose, without handing over their nights and weekends to do it...