This week I have been working with emerging leaders to build out their visibility action plans. Although they understand what visibility is now and why it is important, it can be hard for them to come up with the best actions that will help them make a bigger impact. Fear of failure, limiting beliefs, impostor syndrome and self-doubt gets in the way and holds them back.
My role as their coach is to ask them questions to help them make a shift. Here are just a few of the questions that I asked them during the session to help them think about what they really want to create for themselves as more visible leaders:
- What are traits that you admire in other leaders that you would like to grow or strengthen in yourself?
- Most of the time when you admire someone else, it is because you see something in them that you would like to emulate. Create actions that will help you grow these skills and show what you can do to decision makers.
- Ask someone who is good at those skills to be your mentor or hire a coach to help you accelerate your learning.
- What do you want to do next in your career?
- Knowing where you want to go allows you to take action to get there. A leader can strengthen and build on any skill or leadership gaps that they have now, so they are ready for that new role when it comes open.
- Build relationships with the decision makers who could have a role in whether you get that promotion. It is important to be in front of them, so they know who you are and the value that you bring.
- What could you do differently that would lead you to have more success?
- Think about past situations where things didn’t go as you hoped. If you could have a “do over” what would you do differently to have a different outcome?
- You can’t change what happened already, but now you can look at it from a different perspective. What would you do if it happened again? It allows new ideas and creative solutions to come into play.
How would you answer these questions for yourself? Would this type of reflection help you discover some new things about where you might be holding yourself back or help you identify how to move forward?
These visibility power hour sessions are opportunities for clients to think differently about themselves and how they could play bigger. Although most leaders have a general sense of the challenges that they have, they may not be able to fully articulate the issue and how to resolve it. There are also blind spots that prevent them from fully seeing where they are holding themselves back. For many of them and other clients that I have worked with, it can be hard to envision what type of actions are possible outside of their current knowledge and experiences.
By the end of our visibility power hour session, they have a plan and are motivated to move out of their comfort zone to try bigger things and grow their confidence. I love to help leaders open up their thinking so they can see new possibilities for themselves! Their energy shifts and they can see how these new actions can benefit them both personally and professionally. Each of the leaders was so excited to take action so they could be so much more visible!
Are you ready to take an hour out of your day and do something that is more impactful for you? An hour of your time that is focused and has intention behind it can make all the difference!