I remember working for someone who wanted to know updates on what I was doing each day. It made it difficult to get anything done with all her requests and I wondered if she had lost trust in me. She was a bit of a micromanager, but I also understood that she was under a lot of pressure from our management. We were working on a high exposure program that had high expectations and impact for the organization. My manager…
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A leader who doesn’t feel ready for leadership responsibilities will struggle to trust their abilities. They will compare themselves to everyone else, live with doubt and insecurity. They want to show up authentically, but because of their own doubts it isn’t easy for them. Brene Brown said that “authenticity is a practice and you choose it every day.” I like to believe that all leaders are doing the best that they can to show up authentically. They may not even realize that…
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It is important to celebrate the wins that my clients have as they increase their confidence and become It is important to celebrate the wins that my clients have as they increase their confidence and become more visible. They can’t always see how far they have come, so I like to spend some time reviewing their progress with them. Have you reflected on how far you have come in your own visibility journey? Think about where you started and where…
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I know you think your manager knows what you are doing, but you need to know the truth, they don’t. They are in as many meetings as you are and don’t have the visibility to all of the things that you are doing. They can’t possibly stay completely up to date with the latest status of your projects and your team unless you tell them. You may want to ask them how they would like to stay updated. You can…
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Look at the choices that you make every day. Are you focused on doing the easy things that keep you in the background or the harder things that could put you into the spotlight? This isn’t always a conscious thought, but more than likely the easy things are what you already know and would be considered the safer choices. The harder choices are what can help you be more visible and give you more career options. They are scarier to…
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“You need to stop doing so much for us and let us try things.” This was one of the comments in the performance review feedback from her team that made Renee pause. She led a team that had a lot of potentials, but they were more junior in experience. In her mind, she was helping them, but her team clearly didn’t see it that way. Leaders who want to support their teams may jump into “help” when they see the…
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When you have tried to do something repeatedly and it doesn’t work, then you have to shift gears and try a different approach. Sam was faced with this challenge in his role as a program lead supporting his executive leader. Although he is a director, he has the responsibility for getting many VPs to deliver what is needed for the program. He understands that they are busy, but he feels like he is constantly trying to track them down to…
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If you don’t know anything is wrong, how can you change? One of my favorite quotes from Maya Angelou is “Do the best you can until you know better. When you know better, do better.” I have taken that to heart in so many ways in my business and as a coach. I have stopped focusing on perfection so much and focused on taking imperfect actions. For example, I took imperfect action this past week when I launched The Visibility Podcast!…
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I wrote a blog about International Women’s Day five years ago that focused on my Mom who inspired me more than she knew. It was her perseverance to succeed in her career that taught me that I could do it too. She was a huge role model for me and in the time before the internet existed, she helped me see what was possible. Today is about the celebration of women and helping others to see the great things that…
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“Now, what am I going to do?” It is the decision that every people pleasing leader dreads. They have held time for themselves to work on a project and someone else sends a meeting invite for the exact same time. Do they give their own time up to take that meeting and make the other person happy? Although they may not want to, a people pleaser will give up their own time in a heartbeat to make others happy. Why…
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