UX Mentor Diaries | Marina Krutchinsky | Substack

The market wants its hands-on leaders back.

Not the super-IC. Not the manager who forgot how to open a file. The one who can do both.

19 hrs ago • Marina Krutchinsky

Most Popular

The Only UX Skill That AI Can't Replace in 2026

Jan 3 • Marina Krutchinsky

The Hidden Work That Gets You Promoted

Feb 8, 2025 • Marina Krutchinsky

The Art of "Gentle Influence"

Jan 11, 2025 • Marina Krutchinsky

7 Questions Directors Ask That Senior ICs Don’t

Nov 1, 2025 • Marina Krutchinsky

UX Mentor Diaries

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UX Mentor Diaries

UX Mentor Diaries

Ex-VP sharing secrets for beating the game without becoming it. Subscribe for exclusive content.

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AMA - Career Strategy (45 min)

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Recent posts

When I need to "pick the brain" of a busy senior person, here's how I get them to agree in 5 seconds

The coffee chat "etiquette" rules to get what you want AND leave a good impression

Jun 13 • Marina Krutchinsky

The exec you’re sure can’t stand you could be your loudest advocate.

Could people really like us more than we think?

Jun 10 • Marina Krutchinsky

Nobody follows you.

Because you know too much.

Jun 6 • Marina Krutchinsky

Your body is lying to you before the big presentation.

And it tells the same lie about who you fall in love with.

Jun 3 • Marina Krutchinsky

Nobody gets promoted for being fast anymore. AI made sure of that.

Take the 10-minute test to see whether you're steering the work ...or just executing it.

May 30 • Marina Krutchinsky

Is your career "comfortably" unhappy?

How the Region-Beta Paradox tricks us into staying in roles, relationships, and places that are just "not so bad"

May 28 • Marina Krutchinsky

UX Mentor Diaries

Get the FREE guide to turn 4 small moves into more UX authority in your next meeting.

How to break into leadership

Risk is the Real Language of Leadership

Leadership Cheat Codes issue #5

Nov 6, 2025 • Marina Krutchinsky

Power Through Storytelling (how to turn everyday updates into narratives that stick)

Leadership Cheat Codes issue #4

Oct 30, 2025 • Marina Krutchinsky

Language as Currency

Leadership Cheat Codes issue #3

Oct 23, 2025 • Marina Krutchinsky

The Corridor Advantage (What Happens Outside the Room)

Leadership Cheat Codes issue #2

Oct 16, 2025 • Marina Krutchinsky

Answers to your questions

Your Brain is Lying to You (and It's Costing You the Promotion)

The behavioral shift happening around you right now that you're completely missing

Feb 7 • Marina Krutchinsky

You’re Introducing Yourself Wrong (And It’s Costing You Authority)

Why polite nods are a signal you positioned yourself too small, and what to say instead.

Jan 17 • Marina Krutchinsky

You’re Being Ranked in Rooms You’ll Never Enter

How leaders quietly decide whether you're an A or B or C player and what you can about it

Dec 20, 2025 • Marina Krutchinsky

Why Good Designers Stay Stuck While Mediocre Ones Get Promoted

The thing keeping you stuck isn’t what you think it is

Dec 13, 2025 • Marina Krutchinsky

How a UX team lost $2M by listening to users (and what they should've done instead)

3 principles that prevent it from happening again

Dec 6, 2025 • Marina Krutchinsky

Are you "loyal" to the company, or are you just afraid to leave?

Many UXers think they're being faithful to their company. They're actually just afraid to leave.

Nov 29, 2025 • Marina Krutchinsky

🤔 Why Your "Internal Credibility" Comes from "Outside the Building"

The fastest way to change how you're perceived at work has nothing to do with office politics

Nov 22, 2025 • Marina Krutchinsky

💥 Your UX Skills Are Worthless (Without This)

What they don't tell you about the gap between Senior IC and Director

Nov 15, 2025 • Marina Krutchinsky

Do you "own" your career?

Why some people are always introduced first

Introduction order in senior meetings isn't accidental. It’s a signal of who the room is looking to for direction before the conversation even starts…

Jan 6 • Marina Krutchinsky

Why “impact without titles” is a lie told to keep designers complacent

Own Your Career, issue #11

Dec 16, 2025 • Marina Krutchinsky

5 hard truths about how being “trusted” quietly caps your growth

Own Your Career, issue #10

Dec 9, 2025 • Marina Krutchinsky

How high performers get trapped in "fake growth"

Own Your Career, issue #9

Dec 2, 2025 • Marina Krutchinsky

Why being indispensable is not the same as being seen

Own Your Career, issue #8

Nov 25, 2025 • Marina Krutchinsky

Why “FAIR PAY” inside big companies rarely exists (and what to do instead)

Own Your Career, issue #7

Nov 18, 2025 • Marina Krutchinsky

The Sponsorship Gap

Own Your Career, issue #6

Nov 11, 2025 • Marina Krutchinsky

Competence Ceiling, or How Excellence Stops Paying Off Once It’s Expected.

Own Your Career, issue #5

Nov 4, 2025 • Marina Krutchinsky

The Shadow Org Chart

Own Your Career, issue #4

Oct 28, 2025 • Marina Krutchinsky

The Good Soldier Trap

Own Your Career, issue #3

Oct 21, 2025 • Marina Krutchinsky

Loyalty Illusion

Own Your Career, issue #2

Oct 14, 2025 • Marina Krutchinsky

7 Hard Truths Nobody Told You

I’ve led design teams and coached UXers for over 25 years.

Oct 7, 2025 • Marina Krutchinsky

UX Mentor Diaries

Ex-VP sharing secrets for beating the game without becoming it. Subscribe for exclusive content.

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