Yue Zhao, former PM at Meta and Instagram, and Founder of The Uncommon Executive, shares how she struggled with promotions early in her career—until she learned how to navigate corporate politics. From feeling stuck in a startup to learning how influence and perception shape career growth, Yue opens up about the pivotal lessons that changed her approach and ultimately helped her scale to leadership roles in tech.

Yue opens up about:

-The moment she realized working harder wasn’t enough to get promoted

-How she learned to build influence and position herself for leadership

-The power of framing, buy-in, and playing the game strategically

Things to listen for:

(00:00) People think politics is a bad thing

(02:47) Childhood interests and parental influence

(07:34) Thanks to our sponsor, Fullstory

(09:24) Career beginnings and consulting at McKinsey

(13:18) Joining Thumbtack and early challenges

(19:50) Navigating career frustrations and promotions

(25:41) Understanding workplace politics

(35:30) Questioning career progression

(36:36) Efforts to get promoted

(38:36) Building influence and strategy

(41:05) Creating forums for strategic conversations

(44:36) The Head of Growth Leadership Scorecard

(45:38) Transition to Instagram

(57:46) When to lead vs. when to listen

(1:07:35) Habits for high performance

This episode is presented by:

Fullstory: Surface User Sentiment with Behavioral Data - https://fullstory.com/value

Resources:

Connect with Yue:

-LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yuezhao/

-Substack: https://news.yuezhao.coach/

-Yue Zhao Coaching: https://www.yuezhao.coach/

Connect with Andrew:

-LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewcapland/

-The Head of Growth Leadership Scorecard: https://andrew-dkbyiqi6.scoreapp.com/

-Substack: https://media.deliveringvalue.co

-Hire Andrew as your coach: https://deliveringvalue.co/coaching