Your Best SE Won't Leave Over Money — They'll Leave Over the Ceiling [74]

Show notes

Nate brings an exit interview where nothing was wrong: good product, good team, good manager — and the best SE in the region still left after five quarters. He and Ava dig into the invisible ceiling on scope and progression, and what leaders can actually do about it.

What Nate and Ava discuss

• Why comp is the story people tell afterwards, not the reason they left
• How to name a ceiling honestly when there's no management seat to offer
• Sponsorship vs. criteria — and why a career grid on its own promotes nobody

The move

Twice a year, ask each SE what they're optimizing for right now, then answer honestly whether it exists here in the next eighteen months. If it's a yes, sponsor one concrete thing within ninety days — otherwise the yes is just a nicer no.

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