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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I can remember that I had questions in meetings, but I stayed quiet. I can see now that I wanted to avoid judgment, didn’t want to be wrong or waste other people’s time and I made the assumption that the attendees probably already knew the answer and I didn’t. I would hold on to my questions and ask someone after the meeting had ended. I was avoiding visibility. How often has this type of situation happened to you? What prevents…
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Climbing the corporate ladder isn’t for everyone. There are expectations that that you will do more outside of normal work hours. Attending conferences, dinners, happy hours, or attending meetings in other time zones are but a few examples. These are some of the sacrifices to your personal time that you may need to do. For example, when co-workers were in town, there would be dinners and happy hours that were planned that I would need to attend. These were…
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Creating visibility for yourself is important, but it is equally important for you to do that on behalf of your team. Give them opportunities to show their value and make a name for themselves. It will help them to prepare for future roles and build their confidence. Set an intention that you will do this for them just as much as you do it for yourself. John, who is one of my clients, wanted to ensure he was giving…
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