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Skip Level episodes
- The Real Meeting Happens Before the Meeting
Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode!
Free worksheet for this episode: https://crayonleadership.com/podcast/skip-level/real-meeting-before/
You brought the best data in the room. Everyone nodded. And the decision went the other way anyway. Maya and Marcus unpack the research on where decisions are actually made — and the four moves that separate leaders who present from leaders who decide. Maya and Marcus are AI voices, created with text-to-speech. This show is written and produced by Joe Dutkiewicz of Crayon Leadership. Joe equips mid-senior leaders to think and act two levels up, so they're recognizable to top leaders and ready for the promotion before it opens. Find Joe on LinkedIn, X, YouTube, Facebook, and at the Crayon Leadership website.
8 min - The Override Call — When to Trust Your Judgment Over AI
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Free worksheet for this episode: https://crayonleadership.com/podcast/skip-level/the-override-call/
The AI said yes. Her judgment said no — and she was right. Maya and Marcus dig into fresh 2026 research on how senior leaders really handle AI recommendations, why the most confident-sounding AI is the most dangerous kind, and the three-test framework for knowing when your judgment should overrule the machine. Plus: the dissent memo that turned one leader's override into a promotion story. Maya and Marcus are AI voices, created with text-to-speech. This show is written and produced by Joe Dutkiewicz of Crayon Leadership. Joe equips mid-senior leaders to think and act two levels up, so they're recognizable to top leaders and ready for the promotion before it opens. Find Joe on LinkedIn, X, YouTube, Facebook, and at the Crayon Leadership website.
9 min - The Succession Logjam — Why Nobody Above You Is Leaving (and What That Unlocks for You)
Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode!
Free worksheet for this episode: https://crayonleadership.com/podcast/skip-level/the-succession-logjam/
What if the biggest thing between you and your next promotion isn't a competitor or a budget — but the fact that your boss isn't going anywhere? Executive turnover has cratered, and nearly 60% of late-career execs plan to stay put. Maya and Marcus lay out the playbook for getting promoted when there's no seat to promote into — including Dana's story, the director who got a VP role created around her. Maya and Marcus are AI voices, created with text-to-speech. This show is written and produced by Joe Dutkiewicz of Crayon Leadership. Joe equips mid-senior leaders to think and act two levels up, so they're recognizable to top leaders and ready for the promotion before it opens. Find Joe on LinkedIn, X, YouTube, Facebook, and at the Crayon Leadership website.
7 min - The Information Tax at the Top
Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode!
Free worksheet for this episode: https://crayonleadership.com/podcast/skip-level/information-tax-at-the-top/
The higher you climb, the less truth you hear. Maya and Marcus unpack Gallup's 2026 finding that senior leaders are 10 points lonelier than their teams — and why it's really an information problem. Plus the three quiet filters warping what reaches the top, and how being the person who tells the truth upward becomes a career move. Maya and Marcus are AI voices, created with text-to-speech. This show is written and produced by Joe Dutkiewicz of Crayon Leadership. Joe equips mid-senior leaders to think and act two levels up, so they're recognizable to top leaders and ready for the promotion before it opens. Find Joe on LinkedIn, X, YouTube, Facebook, and at the Crayon Leadership website.
8 min - Executive Presence — The 26% Nobody Explains
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Free worksheet for this worksheet: https://crayonleadership.com/podcast/skip-level/the-26-nobody-explains/
A quarter of your next promotion has nothing to do with your results. Maya and Marcus decode executive presence — the most cited and least explained factor in who gets promoted — through Priya's story: her best quarter ever, and a review that just said 'you need more executive presence. Maya and Marcus are AI voices, created with text-to-speech. This show is written and produced by Joe Dutkiewicz of Crayon Leadership. Joe equips mid-senior leaders to think and act two levels up, so they're recognizable to top leaders and ready for the promotion before it opens. Find Joe on LinkedIn, X, YouTube, Facebook, and at the Crayon Leadership website.
8 min - The Promotion Language Is Strategy
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Free worksheet for this episode: https://crayonleadership.com/podcast/skip-level/promotion-language-is-strategy/
What if the reason you're not getting promoted has nothing to do with how hard you work? Maya and Marcus unpack fresh 2026 research on what promotion committees actually reward — and why the habits that earned your last promotion may be blocking your next one. Maya and Marcus are AI voices, created with text-to-speech. This show is written and produced by Joe Dutkiewicz of Crayon Leadership. Joe equips mid-senior leaders to think and act two levels up, so they're recognizable to top leaders and ready for the promotion before it opens. Find Joe on LinkedIn, X, YouTube, Facebook, and at the Crayon Leadership website.
8 min
About Skip Level
From the publisher's feed
The promotion goes to the leader who's already thinking two levels up.
A daily 8-minute show for mid-senior leaders who want to get noticed by the top table — and be ready…
before the role opens.
Hard work got you here. It won't get you there.
Promotions don't go to the busiest leaders. They go to the ones senior leaders already recognize as peers — people who speak the language of strategy, carry executive presence, and make decisions like they already own the bigger role.
Skip Level is your daily shortcut to that leader. Every morning, in about eight minutes, hosts Maya and Marcus break down one strategic-leadership idea: what's new, why it matters, and exactly how to use it before your next meeting.
Maya brings the frameworks and ideas. Marcus asks the questions you're already thinking and keeps everything grounded in real situations. Every episode ends with action steps you can actually take that day.
What you'll get
A daily 8-minute episode — short enough for the commute, sharp enough to change how you show up.
Strategy you can speak — learn to frame your work the way promotion committees think.
Executive presence, decoded — the most cited, least explained factor in who gets promoted.
Real stories, real moves — no theory without application, no advice without action steps.
This show comes from Joe Dutkiewicz of Crayon Leadership. Joe equips mid-senior leaders to think and act two levels up, so they're recognizable to top leaders and ready for the promotion before it opens. Find Joe on LinkedIn, X, YouTube, Facebook, and at the Crayon Leadership website.