There are some topics that come up over and over again, and visibility is one of them. And it’s easy to understand why. Many women (ok, most) don’t feel comfortable doing this. Growing up, we’ve been told to be humble, not too loud, and put others first.
The idea of sharing how great we are feels icky and uncomfortable. But here’s the problem: if you aren’t doing this, I can almost guarantee that it’s impacting you in one way or another.
Here are some of the signs you’re not creating enough visibility into your work and impact:
- Your colleague is getting credit for your work
- Your boss isn’t seeing your value
- You’re overlooked by leadership for roles you should get
- You’re unable to influence your peers
- You don’t do as well on your annual review as you expected
I could go on…
All of these ‘problems’ are a product of the same issue: you are not creating enough visibility into the great things you’re working on or have achieved.
My goal for this newsletter is to convince you that you need to put some intentional focus into this area.
If you’re convinced, and you want to know how to effectively create visibility into how awesome you are, and be recognized for your impact, I want to invite you to my brand new workshop: From Invisible To Influential – My 4 Step Recognition System.
It’s happening Monday, Nov. 17th and costs only $27, AND when you sign up, you’ll receive my newly updated Executive Toolkit for free (value $97). We’ll be going through 4 different exercises together, so you leave ready to tackle this head-on.
But before I share more, let’s dive into why creating visibility is so damn important and the mistakes you’re probably making today…
Why do I need to focus on visibility?
If you haven’t been prioritizing this, I get it. For years, I was the ‘work hard with your head down and wait for the right people to notice’ girl. I thought anything other than that was bullshit politics, and I had zero time for it.
Things changed for me when this stopped working and I got stuck. For years. I had to ask myself whether my strategy was working, and the clear answer was ‘no’.
The big thing that needed to change was my mindset. Instead of viewing this as ‘butt-kissing’ or ‘politics’, I started viewing it as ‘strategic’ and even ‘helpful’.
The cold, hard truth is this: Your boss and the rest of the leadership team are thinking about many things other than you and your development. They are solving bigger problems and managing teams. They are putting out fires and re-assessing the strategy. Assuming that they will spend the time to look into what you’re doing and the impact that you’re creating is going to leave you disappointed.
The goal with creating visibility for leadership is 1. to get recognized for the work you’re doing and ideally secure your merit increase, and 2. to ensure you’re the no-brainer choice when that next leadership opportunity (or project etc…) comes up.
The mistakes you’re making today
The biggest mistake is obviously not doing anything to create visibility into your work and wins. If this is where you are today, that’s great, because you have a lot of room for improvement!
But what if you are updating your manager and still not getting the recognition you deserve? Chances are, you’re not doing it in a way that’s effective. There are some key mistakes I see women make in this area that may be to blame.
Mistake #1: Waiting for your annual review
So many women I know do this, and are disappointed when they see that their self-assessment doesn’t match the assessment from their manager. The problem here is that your manager has either forgotten the great things you’ve done throughout the year or wasn’t aware of them in the first place.
Neither of these is good, and these conversations are awkward at best.
Solution: Ensure you’re creating visibility regularly
Mistake #2: Making updates too casually
You mention the big idea you’re working on in your 1:1 or cc your boss on an email to that big client, and then you’re surprised when they say they don’t know what your priorities are or what impact you’ve been able to create over the last quarter.
This is frustrating and disheartening, and I hear it all the time from my clients.
Solution: Create a more formal process/method for updates
Mistake #3: Putting all of your eggs into one basket
I’m referring to the basket that is your manager! Ughh… the number of times I hear this:
“I have a new boss and I’m so stressed out. I’ve put so much effort into showing my last manager my impact. Now I have to do it all over again.”
Or, “I can’t believe it – my boss just got let go. He had promised me a promotion, and my new boss doesn’t seem to know anything about it.”
Y’all, why are you putting your future in one person’s hands?? I don’t care if your manager is the most wonderful, supportive manager in the world. That doesn’t mean:
- They are great at advocating for you
- They aren’t going to get fired
- They won’t go find another job
So many things can happen that will throw a wrench in your plans. Don’t let that happen.
Solution: Create visibility with key stakeholders
So tell me, are you convinced??
If so, come to my workshop on November 17th, which is the first-ever workshop like this I’m making available to women outside my paid community.
You’ll learn to create visibility in a way that feels good, not icky.
You’ll learn how it actually helps your manager.
AND we’ll workshop key exercises together as part of my 4 Step Recognition System, so you leave with the tools ready to implement and a list of next steps you can take.
I’m confident that you will walk away feeling this was just about the best way you could spend $27 and 75 minutes. If you want to go from invisible to influential, grab your spot here.
Until next time friends… ✌️💜
Katy
