Joel helped me learn how to enhance my leadership potential and be recognized by top management for the value I bring to the organization.
Debra Waggoner, Director, Global Government Affairs,CORNING INCORPORATED
Clients often ask me, “Why should I increase my visibility? Why can’t I let my work speak for itself?” My response has always been, “You can’t assume decision-makers are aware of your accomplishments. How can you expect to get ahead if you don’t get noticed?”
We’ve been programmed to think those who work hardest get ahead. But we look around and see that isn’t necessary so. Working hard, long hours, and being a team player are all important, but you can do all of these things and still feel your growth trajectory has somehow been derailed. Why? If you fail to make yourself recognized at work, senior management and even your boss may be clueless about the work you’re doing or the impact you’re making on the company.
Let’s take the example of a client named Ascher, who worked in a medical technology firm. Ascher had been making an effort to enhance how others perceived him over the past six months, and he felt things were going exceedingly well:
- He felt certain his coworkers saw him in a positive light. Those who worked most closely with him had been commenting on his strengths.
- His presentation and executive presence skills had dramatically improved, a colleague had noted after their last meeting.
- His confidence had been soaring as of late due to both of these changes.
Yes! Ascher had thought to himself. My plan is working!
However, Ascher wasn’t getting the same comments from his boss, or his boss’s boss. It seemed he needed to do something differently. But what?
I sat down with Ascher and quickly got to the root of the problem. He’d enhanced his perception, but he needed to take the next step: increasing his visibility in the organization.
Number #1 Factor for Career Success: Increased visibility in Your Job
Now is not the time to hide your light under a basket, I told Ascher. You’ll never get ahead at work by lurking in the shadows. And by remaining visible only to those who work directly with you, you’re doing just that. In every career path, there’s a level at which leadership skills and visibility play a much stronger role in promotions than job skills. To advance further, you need to actively promote yourself to ensure your visibility increases throughout every level of the organizational hierarchy.
Are You Flying Under the Radar at Work?
Are people aware of you and talking about your work? Are you getting the highly visible jobs? In your annual review, is your boss commenting on some of the outstanding projects you’ve done?
Ask yourself these three questions to determine your current level of visibility at work. If you’re like most people (even the highly talented ones), your visibility is sorely lacking.
3 Important Questions to Determine Current Level of Visibility at Work
1 – How Does Your Work Bring Value to the Company?
For some, this is an easy question. They develop a product and the sales bring in revenue. But in middle management, sometimes there are more steps between your work and the bottom line of the company. It’s helpful to chart them out. Look at each thing you do and connect the dots to the company’s profitability in order to tactfully brag about your achievements.
2 – Can Your Coworkers Identify This Value?
Coworkers can be strong advocates in raising your visibility. They can praise your work to others or share your memos that tell what you are working on and why it’s vital. One way to enlist their support is to speak highly of them in front of others.
3 – Does Your Boss Know What You’re Doing?
Make sure senior management knows about your work, your projects, and your successes. You can do this as you:
- Schedule review meetings with them.
- Send weekly updates on your projects.
- Bring them into the loop by consulting with them on thorny problems.
- Speak up at meetings with thoughtful questions and good solutions.
- Send updates on your remarkable achievements.
There are many ways to increase your visibility and let your boss and upper management know about your achievements. You need to let them know you’re ready for more. A one-paragraph, timely email simply stating the outcomes of a project (in a non-boastful way) can speak volumes. Better yet, ask a client to pass along the good news when you’ve solved a problem or provided excellent customer service. And whenever possible, use “we,” “our team,” or “our group” instead of “I,” when talking about your triumphs. “Our team worked overtime to get this report ready to present by the meeting. They really pitched in.” Others will implicitly know you led them to success.
This week, I encourage you to try to find one, just one, opportunity to promote yourself at work. You’ll find it’s not as difficult as you may think.
This requires taking some risks. But frankly, doing nothing to promote your visibility may be the greatest risk of all. Challenge yourself to start stepping out of your comfort zone and stepping into your purpose. These eight strategies for boosting your visibility will all influence decision-makers’ perceptions of you, so you’ll have more advocates in your corner when it comes time for the next promotion decision.
8 Key Steps to Increase Your Visibility at Work
Do you want to increase your visibility and improve your relationships with
key decision makers? E-mail Joel now and get started developing specific,
measurable strategies to improve your visibility in the company.
1 – Take on projects that others find too daunting.
Take on a project that no one wants, but that is important. Volunteer for a tough assignment—maybe the one no one else wants to do, because they all fear they’ll fail. This could be a project that directly influences the organization’s bottom line but doesn’t have an easy solution. You’ll gain incredible recognition if the project proves successful. Even if it fails, you will be seen as someone willing to try.
2 – Tackle new projects—and take smart risks.
Be willing to take on new projects or pilot new ideas. This involves taking risks because they could fail. However, championing a groundbreaking idea and bringing it to fruition will greatly boost your visibility. You need to take risks to increase your visibility. Find out what’s most important to your boss as well as your boss’s boss, and seek out opportunities to volunteer for those projects. Or, pitch a novel solution to an issue that concerns them.
3 – Add value to projects.
Look for opportunities to add value in any project or interaction that you have. This is about not just doing your job well, but doing something additional that brings you in contact with other influential people and makes your abilities known to them. Offer to utilize your unique skillset to handle a particular component of a coworker or superior’s project.
4 – Find projects outside your own line of business.
You can get visibility outside of your own organization or group by finding projects outside your own line of business to work on. Think outside the box about where your skill set could prove helpful.
5 – Involve your boss’s boss.
One of the most effective ways to increase visibility is to have your boss inform his or her boss about the important things you are working on, your successes, and the impact you’re making in the department. When your boss shares this information with higher-ups, it creates a positive perception of you. Others will take notice and realize what an important commodity you are.
6 – Get on high-profile projects.
Involve yourself in high-profile projects so your name comes up frequently (and positively) in discussions at the top levels of the company. Successfully contributing to high-level projects will do wonders for your visibility and reputation.
7 – Gain face time with executives.
Find the executives who have the most influence in the company and get to the meetings, video conferences, or spaces where they can be found. The more face time you have with executives, the better the chance that they will get to know you and see your worth and value to the company.
8- Share your results with advocates and executives.
You’re bound to increase your visibility and gain appreciation from the endeavors outlined here—as long as people know what you’re doing and hear about the results you get.Your work will not speak for itself! Send your boss, your boss’s boss, and other key players periodic updates about your progress. They will be just as excited about it as you, and they’ll have a better sense of how much you contribute as a result. They will have key project updates and talking points to share at the leadership team meetings.
Developing your leadership abilities and promoting yourself in these ways will help you to truly shine—and get noticed. And through these strategies, you won’t just get noticed; you’ll also be remembered. You’ll make a strong impression that illuminates your strengths and the outcomes you achieve, so others will fully recognize the value you bring.
Ascher made a list of the key qualities he wanted leaders in his organization to associate with him. “Resourceful” and “innovative” topped the list. He set up a meeting with his boss to talk about his boss’s most important priorities and how he could help resolve persistent challenges. Since he knew his boss had long been struggling to track the results for a particular line of projects that was her brainchild, Ascher came up with an innovative system for doing just that. His boss was floored. This would help her to score points with higher-level leaders, and in turn, she became more invested in promoting Ascher’s success.
Like Ascher, look around for the opportunities to solve problems that others may have given up on fixing. Don’t hesitate to ask, too. For example, ask your boss this question: “If you could snap your fingers and have something that has been frustrating you suddenly start working, what would it be?” Search for ways that others in your industry or outside of it have tackled similar problems. Seek out high-profile projects as well, especially those that align with your boss and other leaders’ priorities. Make your boss look good by getting outstanding results, and she’ll be in your corner when it comes to advancement opportunities. Your visibility will increase dramatically when your boss becomes one of your best advocates. Once you master the key strategies for increasing your visibility at work, you will see your career move forward at an accelerated pace.
Joel can provide executive coaching to put you on the fast track to cultivating perception, visibility, and influence at work. His expertise in successfully navigating the promotional process by building visibility will propel your career to the next level. Contact him to start leveraging the PVI model now, and evaluate your visibility so you can learn how to become known for your actual impact at work. For more creative strategies for getting noticed and advancing in your career, read Joel’s book Getting Ahead: Three Steps to Take Your Career to the Next Level.
