When I was a director in biotech, I didn’t think visibility was my problem. Because on the surface, it wasn’t.
I was part of the senior leadership team. I reported directly to the CEO, and my peers were VPs and C-suite execs. We were a startup, so it wasn’t a massive organization where you could get lost in the mix. I knew everyone on the leadership team personally, and they knew me. I’d had countless conversations with these people about everything from business strategy to our partners and kids.
So the truth is, I never really thought about visibility or whether that could be a problem. Because they knew me! They knew what I did and what I brought to the table. Or so I thought.
Because I sat in that director's chair for five years.
At the time, I couldn’t make sense of it. I was doing VP-level work. I was leading a team, driving revenue, and making strategic decisions every single day.
It wasn’t until later, when I actually became a VP and started doing things differently, that it clicked. I was new to the company, so I was much more intentional about creating visibility for both my team and me. I saw what an impact it had on my leadership brand, and it hit me that I had never put this effort in before.
I also saw how leadership talked about people when they weren’t in the room. Things like, “She’s solid. She'll make sure it gets done – she always delivers.” And I realized that these were exactly the types of things that were probably said about me in my last role. And although all of these things were true, none of it was the language of someone being considered for a VP role. It was the language of a really valued manager or director.
I was visible. I was known. I had strong relationships with every person on the leadership team. But I wasn’t visible for the things that actually mattered for my next step. And I had no idea.
So today I want to dive into the topic of ‘strategic visibility' because if you're producing results and still stuck, this is likely why.
Let’s dive in…
Being known is not the same as being positioned
I see this all the time with the women I work with. When I bring up visibility, they don't believe it's an issue. They’ve been at their organization for years, and leadership knows them well. They’ve had personal conversations with their boss’s boss about shared hobbies or weekend plans. They feel known.
But here’s what I’ve learned: being known and being positioned are two completely different things.
Being known means leadership knows your name and can tell you something about who you are. Being positioned means leadership can tell you why you should be at the next level. Very different things.
When I ask these women to think about what leadership actually says about them when they're not in the room, they've usually heard that people say things like: “She’s great. She’s so reliable – we'd be lost without her. Her team loves her. She always gets things done.”
This sounds like positive feedback – and it is – but it's not the type of feedback that's getting you promoted to VP.
If this sounds like you, you're known, but you're not positioning yourself. And the gap between those two things is exactly where most women get stuck.
The question that changes everything
If you take one thing away from this newsletter, let it be this question: what comes up when your name comes up?
Not whether it comes up, because it probably does. But what are they saying about you specifically?
There’s a massive difference between director-level visibility and VP-level visibility, and it comes down to the words people use when you’re not in the room.
Director-level visibility sounds like: “She’s so reliable.” “Her team runs like a well-oiled machine.” “Give it to her, she’ll get it done.” “She never drops the ball.”
VP-level visibility sounds like: “She always sees things 10 steps ahead.” “She thinks about the business, not just her function.” “I want her perspective on this.” “She’s the obvious choice.”
And this feedback can be about the same person. Same talent. Same work ethic. But a completely different perception.
And the tough part is, you can’t hear what’s being said about you when you’re not there. Which means most women have no idea that the visibility they’ve built is actually reinforcing a perception that keeps them exactly where they are.
You can’t shift what you can’t see
This is the part that frustrates me the most, because – if this sounds like you – you're doing so many things right. You’re delivering results. You're leading great teams. You've built strong relationships. You’re checking every box you think matters.
But nobody has ever told you that the box you’re missing is the most important one: being visible for the way you're thinking, not just what you're doing.
You're so used to working hard with your head down and waiting for the right people to notice that you have no idea what creating strategic visibility even looks like.
Or maybe, unlike my situation, you're newer to your organization and don't know the senior leadership team at all. So how can you get in front of the right people and make the right impression so that when your name comes up, they're saying what a great strategic leader you are?
It's tough to fix this on your own. You often need someone to help you see what you're doing wrong today and what to start doing differently. But once you know how to build the right visibility with the right people, the shift can happen fast. I’ve seen it happen in weeks with women I’ve worked with.
That’s exactly what we’re doing in my upcoming workshop.
From Invisible to Influential: June 23rd
On June 23rd, I’m running a workshop where we’re going to dive into the mistakes women make when trying to create visibility and create a plan for creating the type of visibility that gets you to the next level. This isn’t a webinar where you watch me talk. You’re going to do the work in the session and walk out with a visibility plan that’s specific to your role, your organization, and your goals.
Last time I did this, the feedback blew me away. Women told me it changed how they thought about every meeting, every conversation, every interaction with leadership. If you know you’re working hard and not getting credit for it, this is for you.
It's just $37, and you'll leave with a plan you can implement immediately!
Until next time friends… ✌️💜
Katy
