Michael Hall

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Michael Hall 📈I teach career pros the playbook for raises, promotions & office power

10/09/2026

You can do everything right at work and still get passed over for a promotion.

Because your performance review isn’t always about how well you did your job.

It’s about how you compare to everyone else.

And when leadership gets together to decide who deserves the highest ratings, raises, and promotions, the people making those decisions might barely know your work.

That’s why visibility matters.

You can’t assume good work will speak for itself.

Comment SPOTLIGHT and I’ll send you my free guide to getting your work noticed.

Inspired by RJ | Career & Identity Coach

10/05/2026

A lot of workplace gaslighting doesn’t look dramatic at first.

It looks like:
• conversations getting rewritten
• being told you’re “too emotional” for reacting to obvious problems
• slowly starting to overexplain yourself
• feeling confused after meetings that should’ve been simple
• realizing the issue keeps moving every time you solve it

The hardest part is that people usually don’t notice it immediately.

They just slowly lose trust in their own read of the situation.

A lot of organizations don’t protect clarity first.
They protect stability, hierarchy, existing narratives, and perceived risk.

And once you understand that…
a lot of confusing workplace behavior suddenly makes more sense.

Have you ever had a moment at work where you realized:
“Oh… this isn’t actually about the stated problem anymore.”

Intro by Chelsea Stinson | Workplace Boundary Coach

09/20/2026

Restaurant people can excel anywhere. But corporate will underpay you anywhere unless you translate your value.

Here are the 4 moves:

1. Stop “restaurant wording.” Start ops wording.
2. Bring one calm crisis story to interviews (context → constraints → actions → result).
3. “No corporate experience” usually means: entry-level pay for operator output.
4. Lowball response:

“I’m excited about the role. Based on scope and market, I’m targeting X. What flexibility do you have to get closer to that range?”

Then stop talking.

OG video from table51mtl

09/17/2026

Most people think getting undermined at work is obvious.

It’s not.

It’s subtle, deniable, and usually gets framed like you’re the problem.

Here are 5 ways it shows up and how to fight back:

⸝

1. They rely on “nothing was said” moments
Decisions shift. Details get fuzzy.
Now it’s your word vs theirs.
Fight back: record meetings using tools like Teams or Otter.
Let people know upfront. Frame it as clarity and alignment, not distrust.

⸝

2. They keep things 1:1 and off record
Side convos. DMs. “Quick chats.”
Nothing visible. Nothing to point to.
Fight back: move key communication into shared channels. Make the work visible.

⸝

3. They question tone instead of the issue
You bring something up, now it’s about how you said it.
Fight back: calmly restate the original point. Don’t chase the emotional frame.

⸝

4. They create confusion, then step in as the fixer
Shifting direction. Vague feedback. Then they “clarify.”
Fight back: document decisions in real time. Send quick recaps.

⸝

5. They bait emotional reactions
A comment. A jab. A look.
You react, now you look like the problem.
Fight back: stay neutral. Let the pattern speak for itself.

⸝

Most of this won’t look like sabotage.

That’s why it works.

The shift isn’t getting louder.
It’s making things harder to twist.

👉Comment SHIELD and I’ll send you the 14 scripts to protect yourself at work.

These are what I use when things start getting political.

09/15/2026

Most people think career growth is about being right.

A lot of it is actually about being steady when everything else isn’t.

Be the thermostat, not the thermometer.

When things go sideways, people remember who made the situation easier and who added to the chaos.

You don’t have to be relentlessly positive. You can say, “Yeah, this sucks.” But then you help figure out what happens next.

Over time, that becomes your reputation.

And your reputation follows you.

If you want more on the hidden rules of work, comment HIDDEN and I’ll send you the newsletter.

09/11/2026

Weak leadership changes the game.
If your manager is protecting their ego, overloading reliable people, and keeping too much control, working harder usually makes things worse.

You need options, visibility, boundaries, and leverage.

👉 Comment HIDDEN and I’ll send you my weekly newsletter on the hidden rules of work, workplace politics, and how to protect your career without burning yourself out.

09/03/2026

High performers often get more work.
Low performers often get protection.

And eventually the high performers burn out.

08/29/2026

Documentation doesn’t fix a broken culture. It just gives you proof of when to leave one.

Save this for the next time someone tells you to “just put it in writing.”

08/26/2026

Your best coworkers probably aren’t quiet quitting.

They may have just stopped trusting the people making the decisions.

That’s when people stop volunteering, start comparing notes, and eventually start moving as a group.

Want more on the hidden rules and politics of working in corporate?

Comment HIDDEN 👉 and I’ll send you my newsletter.

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97086-97299

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