Career trajectory, as a craft

The next role isn't a skills problem.

It's a position problem. Narrative, sponsors, evidence, timing. Meridian Twelve helps product and tech leaders sight where they actually stand — then plot the campaign to reach the meridian.

FREE · 5 MINUTES · NO EMAIL WALL BEFORE RESULTS
The seven dimensions

Careers don't stall along one dimension.
They stall along seven.

Most professionals diagnose the problem as skills. It's almost never skills. The real gaps live in the dimensions nobody teaches explicitly.

01
Narrative
The story people repeat when you're not in the room.
02
Sponsors
Who actually advocates when decisions get made.
03
Visibility
Whether decision-makers see your work directly.
04
Role-scope
What percentage of your work operates at the target level.
05
Evidence
The written artifacts that make your case undeniable.
06
Political capital
Your accumulated standing and the debts owed to you.
07
Timing
Whether your organization is in the phase that supports you.

Four phases. Twelve to sixteen
weeks. A structured campaign.

Most career coaching is advice. The Meridian Method is a campaign — twelve to sixteen weeks of structured 1:1 work, with concrete deliverables at every stage.

You don't leave with vague aspirations. You leave with a completed Position Chart, a Narrative Stack, a Sponsor Map, an Evidence Plan, and a 90-Day Transit. More importantly, you usually leave with the promotion, transition, or decision you came for.

01
Sight
WEEKS 1–3

Fix your position. Know exactly where you stand across all seven dimensions — not where you hope you stand.

02
Plot
WEEKS 4–6

Set your bearing. Build the narrative, map the sponsors, schedule the evidence that will carry the case.

03
Transit
WEEKS 7–12

Navigate the campaign. Execute the 90-day plan that leads into the decision moment.

04
Meridian
WEEKS 13–16

The decision moment. Prepared, positioned, ready — and prepared for what comes after.

PERSONAL READINESS →
ENVIRONMENTAL SUPPORT →
Build the case Window open, not ready yet
Execute Run the campaign
Sight first Diagnose before action
Hold position Ready, wait for window
THE POSITION MAP

Know what kind of situation
you're actually in.

Most career trouble is quadrant confusion. People in Sight First try to execute. People in Hold Position assume the problem is them. People in Build the Case think they have time they don't.

The Position Map reveals the specific pattern of your situation — and what that pattern actually calls for. Different quadrants require fundamentally different strategies.

Five ways in.
One methodology.

Every engagement runs on the Meridian Method. The difference between them is depth, timeline, and format.

The Meridian · Weekly newsletter

The craft of navigating careers,
made explicit.

Each Thursday. A single essay on narrative, sponsorship, evidence, timing, or the specific work of reaching the next role. Specific, not generic. Free.

NO SPAM. UNSUBSCRIBE ANY TIME.
About Meridian Twelve

Career craft, built from operating it.

Meridian Twelve is a coaching practice built by an operator who spent years watching careers move — and watching capable people stall — and decided to make the work of trajectory explicit.

I spent years leading product and technology teams before building Meridian Twelve — first as a PM at scrappy startups, later running product organizations inside growing companies, leading cross-functional work across engineering and design.

Across every team, I noticed the same pattern. The people who got promoted weren't always the best operators. They were the best at navigating their own trajectory. They understood their narrative. They built sponsor coverage before they needed it. They made their evidence undeniable. They read timing like the weather.

That was the craft nobody talked about explicitly. Leadership books covered how to manage. Strategy books covered how to think. Career books covered how to interview. Nothing covered the actual work of navigating the promotion cycle itself — the thing that determined whether great operators got the next role or got stuck.

Nothing covered the actual work of the promotion cycle itself — the thing that determined whether great operators got the next role or got stuck.

So I built a practice around making that craft explicit.

The name
Meridian Twelve

Meridian Twelve is named for Greenwich, the reference meridian from which all longitudes are measured, and for twelve — the longitude of London, where I'm from.

Every career has a position, a bearing, and a destination. The name is a reminder that knowing the first two is how you reach the third.

The methodology, honestly

The Meridian Method is a structured approach drawn from years of operator experience in product and technology leadership, and informed by established research in sponsorship dynamics (Ibarra, Hewlett), political skill in organizations (Ferris and colleagues), and career construction theory (Savickas).

The methodology is currently undergoing formal validation in partnership with academic researchers. We do not claim it is scientifically proven, psychometrically validated, or evidence-based in the rigorous research sense — that work is underway, and we'll publish the findings openly when they're ready.

What the practice is: a substantive structure that many capable professionals have found clarifying and actionable.

What the practice isn't: a replacement for the judgment an experienced operator brings to your specific situation. If you want direct coaching applied to your case, the 1:1 Meridian Method is the right entry point.

Who I work with

Product managers, product leaders, engineering leaders, and design leaders — most commonly mid-career managers through VPs at companies ranging from Series B through public.

The methodology also travels to leaders in adjacent functions — marketing, operations, finance — though most of that work comes through referral rather than direct outreach.

The practice is intentionally small. I'd rather do a handful of engagements exceptionally well than many at average quality.

What not to expect

This isn't a coaching practice that tells you what you want to hear. If the diagnosis is that you're not ready for the next role yet — or that your organization isn't the right environment for it — I'll tell you that directly.

It isn't a practice that runs on generic advice. Every engagement is specific to your situation, your company, your stakeholders, your decision moment.

It isn't a practice that promises outcomes it can't guarantee. The methodology is designed to get you to the decision moment in the best possible position. What happens at the moment itself depends on you, your organization, and conditions none of us control. What the practice promises is preparation, not outcome.

Curious whether the practice fits your situation?

A chemistry call is thirty minutes. No pitch. If the methodology isn't right for you, I'll say so and suggest where you might look instead.

01 · The Flagship Engagement

The Meridian Method

A structured 1:1 engagement that takes you from where you are now to the decision moment — prepared, positioned, and specifically ready for the next role.

DURATION
12–16 weeks
CADENCE
Weekly 1:1 sessions
PHASES
Sight · Plot · Transit · Meridian
INVESTMENT
$5,500 – $8,500

Who this is for.

The Meridian Method works best for specific kinds of situations. When the fit is right, outcomes are meaningful. When it isn't, I'll tell you directly.

Right fit if you're...

  • A senior manager, director, or VP in product, engineering, or design
  • Working toward a specific promotion, transition, or strategic decision within the next 6–18 months
  • At a Series B–public company with a defined promotion structure
  • Willing to do the work between sessions — drafting, reflection, stakeholder conversations
  • Ready for honest diagnosis over comfortable advice

Not the right fit if you're...

  • Looking for general career advice or life coaching
  • Still early in your career (junior IC level)
  • Hoping for a coach who will tell you what you want to hear
  • Unwilling to do structured work between sessions
  • Expecting guaranteed outcomes — the methodology prepares you, the outcome depends on variables none of us fully control

How the engagement
actually unfolds.

Each phase has a specific goal, specific deliverables, and a specific transition to the next. You don't move forward until the current phase's work is genuinely done.

01
Sight
WEEKS 1–3  ·  FIX YOUR POSITION

Know exactly where you stand across all seven dimensions. Not where you hope you stand. Not where your performance review says you stand. Where the actual evidence says you stand.

This is diagnostic work. We run the full Seven-Dimension audit, build your Position Chart, plot your Position Map, and identify the specific gaps that are actually blocking the next move. Most engagements find that the gap isn't the one the client expected.

Deliverables
  • Seven-Dimension audit
  • Completed Position Chart
  • Plotted Position Map
  • Specific gap diagnosis
02
Plot
WEEKS 4–6  ·  SET YOUR BEARING

Build the infrastructure that the decision moment will require: the narrative that will carry your case, the sponsor coverage that will advocate for you, the evidence production plan that will make the case undeniable.

This is the building phase. Most of the visible work happens here — drafting the Narrative Stack, mapping stakeholders, scheduling the twelve-week evidence production.

Deliverables
  • Narrative Stack (Layers 0–3)
  • Sponsor Map with outreach plan
  • 12-week Evidence Plan
  • Stakeholder strategy
03
Transit
WEEKS 7–12  ·  NAVIGATE THE CAMPAIGN

Execute the 90-day plan leading into the decision moment. This is where the building transitions to doing — sequencing evidence delivery, activating sponsors directively, reading organizational timing tactically.

Most engagements discover during Transit that the environment shifts in ways that require adjustment. The methodology accommodates this: the plan is designed to adapt as the context evolves, without losing the campaign's core logic.

Deliverables
  • Week-by-week Transit log
  • Delivered evidence artifacts
  • Activated sponsor coverage
  • Adjusted timing reads
04
Meridian
WEEKS 13–16  ·  THE DECISION MOMENT

Arrive at the decision moment in the best possible position. Sponsors briefed. Final artifacts delivered. You prepared with specific messaging for the specific conversation.

What happens at the moment itself depends on many variables none of us control. What the methodology guarantees is that you'll arrive ready — and that the post-decision plan is ready to execute whichever way the moment goes.

Deliverables
  • Prepared decision materials
  • Sponsor briefing pack
  • First-90-Days plan
  • The outcome itself

An engagement that earns its price.

The Meridian Method is priced to reflect the depth of structured work it involves and the compensation ceilings it operates against. Most clients are working toward roles where the comp delta justifies the engagement many times over in the first year alone.

Pricing scales with client seniority — a senior manager engagement is different work from a VP engagement, and prices reflect that.

Founding-client rates are available through end of July 2026 — details in the card to the right.

The Meridian Method
$5,500– $8,500

Full engagement. 12–16 weeks. All four phases. Weekly 1:1 sessions plus async support between.

Founding Client Rate
$3,800 flat through July 31, 2026. Limited to the first 5 founding clients. Full methodology, full access, at the early practice rate.

What you actually walk away with.

Every engagement produces these specific artifacts. They're yours to keep, update, and reuse across future career moments.

01
The Position Chart
One-page snapshot of your current trajectory situation — target role, current position, the gap, stakeholders, timing window, engagement thesis.
02
The Position Map
The 2×2 that reveals which of four strategic quadrants you're actually in: Execute, Build the Case, Sight First, or Hold Position.
03
The Narrative Stack
Your story at five levels of compression — one-sentence positioning through the full written promotion memo.
04
The Sponsor Map
Four-quadrant mapping of stakeholders by influence and disposition. Who matters, how much, and where you stand with each.
05
The Evidence Plan
12-week production schedule for the specific artifacts that will make your case undeniable.
06
The 90-Day Transit
Week-by-week execution plan covering the ninety days into your decision moment.
07
First-90-Days Plan
Post-decision plan for cementing the gain in your first ninety days at the new level.

The first step is a chemistry call.

Thirty minutes. No pitch. We figure out together whether the methodology fits your situation — and if it doesn't, I'll suggest where you might look instead.

Services · Full portfolio

Five ways to work together.

Every offering runs on the Meridian Method. The difference between them is depth, timeline, format, and price. Pick the one that matches where you are and what you need.

01 · FLAGSHIP
The Meridian Method
12–16 WEEKS  ·  1:1  ·  WEEKLY SESSIONS
The full methodology. All four phases. For clients working toward a specific promotion, transition, or strategic decision within the next 6–18 months. Most clients choose this.
$5,500–$8,500
FOUNDING RATE: $3,800
02 · SPRINT
Transition Sprint
6–8 WEEKS  ·  1:1  ·  COMPRESSED
When a specific decision moment is approaching within weeks — a review cycle, a reorg conversation, an interview — and you need focused, compressed work. The methodology, concentrated for urgency.
$2,500–$4,000
FOUNDING RATE: $1,800
03 · INTENSIVE
Power Day
1 DAY  ·  1:1  ·  ~6 HOURS
A single focused day together on one specific career question. Deep diagnostic work, a concrete action plan, specific deliverables to carry forward. Ideal when you need momentum without a 12-week engagement.
$1,800–$2,800
ONE-TIME
04 · ONGOING
Executive Retainer
6 MO MINIMUM  ·  1:1  ·  MONTHLY
Strategic monthly partnership for senior leaders (director through VP) navigating a multi-year trajectory, or managing ongoing strategic decisions in their current role. By invitation and application.
$4,000–$7,000/mo
FOUNDING RATE: $2,800/mo
05 · COHORT
The Meridian Cohort
6 WEEKS  ·  GROUP (12 SEATS)
Small group program delivering the methodology in community. 12 seats per cohort, runs three times a year. For clients who want peer accountability and structured group learning alongside the methodology.
$1,800–$2,800/seat
NEXT: NOVEMBER 2026

Not sure which fits your situation?

A thirty-minute chemistry call usually surfaces the right option. No pitch — just an honest conversation about what you're working on and what format would actually serve you.

The Meridian Diagnostic

Where do you actually stand?

Twenty-one questions across seven dimensions. Five minutes. You'll leave with your plotted Position Map, a specific read on your strongest and weakest dimensions, and three concrete next actions for your situation.

NARRATIVE
Question 1 of 21

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NOT TRUE OF ME VERY TRUE OF ME
One last question — optional

Anything else on your mind?

A free-text space, if there's context about your situation that the structured questions didn't capture. This is for your own reference as much as anything else.

Your Meridian Diagnostic result

You're in Build the Case.

The window is open. You're not quite ready yet. This is the highest-urgency quadrant on the map.

PERSONAL READINESS →
ENVIRONMENTAL SUPPORT →
Build the caseWindow open, not ready
ExecuteRun the campaign
Sight firstDiagnose before acting
Hold positionReady, wait for window
BUILD THE CASE

What this quadrant calls for.

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Personal readiness
Environmental support

Your read across the seven dimensions.

→ Your top two gaps

→ Your top two strengths

Three specific next actions.

Calibrated to your quadrant and your top gap. Not generic advice — specific moves that match where you actually are.

Want the complete version of this work?

The diagnostic is the tip of the iceberg. The Meridian Method is twelve to sixteen weeks of structured 1:1 work — all seven dimensions properly audited, the full Narrative Stack drafted, the Sponsor Map plotted, the 90-Day Transit executed.

The Meridian · Weekly newsletter

The craft of trajectory, made explicit.

Each Thursday. A single essay on narrative, sponsorship, evidence, timing, or the specific work of reaching the next role. Specific, not generic. Free.

NO SPAM · UNSUBSCRIBE ANY TIME
— The archive
Chemistry Call

Let's see if the methodology fits your situation.

Thirty minutes. No pitch. An honest conversation about what you're working on, whether the Meridian Method fits, and if it doesn't, where you might look instead.

Pick a time that works.

All times shown in your local timezone. Available slots are highlighted — greyed-out dates are unavailable or fully booked.

May 2026
MON
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WED
THU
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AVAILABLE
SELECTED

A few quick details.

So I can arrive to our conversation with some context about your situation.

YOU'LL RECEIVE A CALENDAR INVITE WITHIN 24 HOURS

◆ Astrolabe · Free trajectory simulator

Practice the judgment,
not just the frameworks.

Most career advice is abstract. Astrolabe isn't. Three scenarios drawn from real trajectory patterns. You make choices. Your Position Map moves based on what you choose. At the end, you see where your strategic instincts actually land.

3
Scenarios
Real strategic dilemmas. No "correct" answers — only tradeoffs.
~8min
To complete
Short enough for a coffee break. Long enough to matter.
7
Dimensions tracked
Each choice shifts specific dimensions. Watch them evolve.
$0
Free forever
No sign-up. No email required. Just the work.

Why a simulation?

Because the thing books can't teach is judgment under realistic constraints. You can read about sponsor coverage, narrative layering, and timing reads. You can understand them perfectly in theory. You'll still make the wrong call when a decision actually arrives.

Astrolabe compresses what would normally take months of career into minutes of simulation. Watching your own choices compound — and seeing the Position Map move as a result — teaches something that frameworks alone can't.

◆ THIS IS THE PUBLIC VERSION · 3 SCENARIOS

The full six-scenario astrolabe lives inside the Cohort.

The full simulation includes six months compressed into six scenarios — plus anonymized comparison against your 11 cohort peers. If your choices diverge from the cohort, you'll see exactly where and why. Thursday's group session surfaces those divergences as the main discussion.