Lateral Career Moves Are Quietly Outperforming the Corporate Ladder

For most people in finance, career progress still means one thing, the next rung on the ladder. Yet inside StoneX., some of the most consequential careers have been built sideways, through lateral moves, global role changes and projects nobody asked for. A Women of StoneX panel brings that pattern into focus, with leaders from market commentary, human resources, corporate communications and Brazilian banking operations describing growth that rarely followed a straight line. For anyone mapping their next move, the lesson lands hard, because the fastest way up may not be up at all.

The panel, hosted by StoneX Senior Market Analyst Fiona Cincotta, brings together Neha Puri, Senior Manager for Global Learning and Development, Dana Grosser, Global Head of Corporate Communications, and Aline Perico, Senior Operations Manager for the firm's FX bank in Brazil. Between them they work across talent development in India, global media relations, and banking operations in Brazil.

Key Themes from the Discussion

• Career-defining risks run through every panelist's story, from building a bank from zero to relocating for an unfamiliar job.
• Careers grow horizontally through lateral moves and global roles, not only up the promotion ladder.
• Cross-functional projects outside the job description deliver growth nobody hands you, the panel argues.

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StoneX Leaders Redraw the Career Ladder Sideways

The idea that careers compound horizontally runs through the whole discussion, and it matters because most professionals still measure progress in promotions alone. Puri, who leads learning and development across StoneX globally, is blunt about the trap of only looking upward. "Just don't think that you have to grow vertically. It's horizontal growth as well." In her view, the diverse learning that comes from moving across functions is what builds the credibility, visibility and networks that leadership eventually requires. Grosser agrees that "progression is not necessarily a straight line", and Perico adds that a global firm multiplies the options, offering many different paths beyond the vertical one.

Lateral Moves Deliver the Growth Promotions Miss

"In my past I've definitely taken a job because it paid extremely well and I was miserable there," Grosser admits, a reminder that title and salary are a narrow way to score a career. What worked instead were the moves that widened her range, including relocating to New York for a public relations job she knew almost nothing about, in a city where she knew exactly one person. Puri describes a similar widening, as a result of transitioning from a country human resources role in India into a global learning and development seat that "gave me access to cross functional and regional networking". Perico's version is the most dramatic, joining 12 years ago to help start the StoneX business in Brazil from zero and building the FX bank structure that exists today. None of these moves came with a guarantee..

Stretch Projects Build Careers Outside the Job Description

So where does the extra growth come from, if not from the promotion cycle? Puri's answer is to volunteer for work nobody assigned. "Moving out of your traditional roles and stretching your boundaries by picking up cross functional projects, which is out of your job description and nobody's demanding it from you, is a way to deliver." Perico did precisely that when she took on leading the Women of StoneX network in Brazil, noting "it's out of my comfort zone, so I'm learning on the way", consequently gaining connections to women across other StoneX offices. The panel's shared conclusion is that readiness is overrated, and that waiting to feel fully prepared mostly means waiting too long.

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--- Guest: Fiona Cincotta, Senior Market Analyst, StoneX

--- Guest: Neha Puri, Senior Manager, StoneX Global Learning and Development

--- Guest: Dana Grosser, StoneX Global Head of Corporate Communications

--- Guest: Aline Perico, StoneX Brazil, Senior Operations Manager

--- Written by Gus Farrow, Senior Manager, StoneX Media