Description

Welcome back to Managing A Career, the podcast that helps you put yourself on the fast track for promotion. I'm your host, Layne Robinson.

Today's episode is all about a concept I'm calling the Career Speedrun. If you're into gaming, you probably know what a speedrun is: it's when players try to beat an entire game as fast as possible, skipping unnecessary parts, using shortcuts, and optimizing every move.

Now, when it comes to your career, you can't literally warp-jump from your first job straight to the corner office—but you can learn to recognize what slows you down, what accelerates your progress, and how to navigate the corporate world without wasting years wandering around levels that don't serve you.

Let's break down how to approach your career like a speedrun.

A career speedrun isn't about recklessly chasing promotions at the expense of everything else. Instead, it's about intentional acceleration.

It's asking: What do I actually want? How do I get there faster without burning out? And what shortcuts exist in the corporate world that most people don't notice?

The truth is, most careers stall because people spend years in roles that don't develop promotable skills, or they wait for someone else to "notice their hard work." That's like playing a game and waiting for the boss to beat himself. It doesn't work.

Let's borrow from gaming. Speedrunners have three rules:

1. Master the map. They know every corner of the game world.
2. Exploit shortcuts. They find the hidden jumps or backdoors.
3. Practice efficiency. Every move has a purpose.

Applied to your career, those rules look like this:

• Master the corporate map. Understand your industry, your company, and your internal politics better than others.
• Find career shortcuts. Things like stretch projects, high-visibility assignments, and mentorship can accelerate years of growth.
• Practice efficiency. Don't waste time on work that doesn't move you closer to leadership, skills, or influence.

The Corporate Map Framework

If you don't know the map, you can't run it efficiently. That means:

• Understanding formal structures—the org chart, reporting lines, and official processes.
• Understanding informal structures—the hidden influencers, gatekeepers, and decision-makers who don't appear on a chart but shape outcomes.
• Understanding industry context—where your company sits competitively and which skills are valued most in your sector.

Speedrunners don't guess where the finish line is. They know the terrain. In your career, the people who rise fastest are those who see the full landscape and navigate it deliberately.

Shortcut Identification Framework

In gaming, a shortcut might only shave a few minutes off your time. But in your career, the right shortcut can shave years off your path. Think about mentorship, for example—a great mentor can collapse your learning curve by sharing lessons you'd otherwise spend years figuring out. Sponsorship takes it even further. Unlike a mentor, a sponsor is the person who actively speaks your name in promotion meetings and advocates for your next step forward. Then there are cross-functional projects, which expand your visibility beyond your immediate team, giving leaders across the company a reason to know your work.

Your internal brand matters, too. When people are clear about your strengths, you're the first person they think of when new opportunities open up. Sometimes the shortcut is smart risk-taking—volunteering for the tough assignment that everyone else avoids, which can end up becoming the career moment that defines you. And finally, there's skill stacking—learning high-value, promotable skills earlier than your peers, which gives you leverage that compounds over time.

Most people take the long road, slowly building credibility step by step. But the speedrunner looks around and asks: Where's the warp pipe?

Efficiency Discipline Framework

Efficiency in a speedrun is about never wasting movement. Efficiency in a career is about never wasting effort.

Ask yourself three questions for every task on your plate:

1. Does this build promotable skills?
2. Does this increase my visibility?
3. Does this connect me with power or influence?

If the answer is no to all three, that task may need to be minimized, delegated, or re-framed.

Speedrunners don't spend hours in side quests that don't matter to the end goal. Neither should you.

Every career has levels. Let's walk through them with a speedrun mindset.

• Level 1: The Early Game (Junior Roles)
  Here, most people grind on learning the rules and focusing on those easy, low-level tasks. But the speedrunner?  They say: How do I prove value faster? That might mean volunteering for projects above your pay grade or learning skills that aren't officially in your job description.
• Level 2: The Mid-Game (Senior Roles)
  Here's where many people get stuck. They work hard but blend into the background. The speedrunner looks for leverage: How do I get visible to executives? How do I turn my results into influence?
• Level 3: The Boss Level (Leadership)
  At this stage, the speedrunner asks: How do I scale impact? It's no longer about what you personally do—it's about the team you build, the systems you improve, and the influence you wield across the organization.

Your career speed depends on how quickly you level up—not how long you camp out in one level.

Every speedrun has pitfalls, and careers are no different. One of the most common is burnout—pushing so hard and so fast that you run out of energy before you reach the next level. Speed is valuable, but not if it leaves you too exhausted to keep going.

Another hazard is shallow skill-building. Some people chase titles without ever developing the real substance behind them. On paper, the promotion looks impressive, but without the skills to back it up, the progress doesn't last.

There's also the danger of hollow titles and damaged networks. Moving too quickly without care for relationships can burn bridges, and once your reputation takes a hit, it's hard to recover. No one wants to be known as the person who climbed fast but left a trail of resentment behind.

The truth is, if you accelerate without sustainability, your run ends early. The smartest speedrunners know when to push forward and when to pace themselves. In your career, you want to finish the game—not crash halfway through.

Now that we've looked at your career speedrun, here are three strategies you can start using today to speed up your career trajectory:

1. Audit your work. Ask: "Which of my tasks directly tie to skills or visibility that lead to promotion?" If something doesn't, minimize it.
2. Find a shortcut. Identify one cross-functional project, mentor, or sponsor opportunity this quarter. Treat it like your warp pipe.
3. Re-map your levels. Write down what your "early game, mid-game, late game" look like. Where are you right now, and what's the fastest way to the next level?

That's it for today's episode on the Career Speedrun. Remember, you don't have to spend 20 years grinding the same level. With the right map, shortcuts, and efficiency, you can accelerate your career and reach your goals faster than you thought possible.

If this episode gave you a new perspective, share it with a friend or coworker who's ambitious about their career. And if you haven't already, subscribe to Managing A Career so you don't miss the next episode.

Until next time, I'm Layne Robinson—helping you put yourself on the fast track for promotion.