Have You Tried These High-Impact Ways To Improve Your Visibility?
Working hard is not enough to have success. You need to create personal visibility for yourself too. You can do that by following these 3 high-impact ways to improve your visibility and become the authentic leader you were meant to be.
Have You Tried Slowing Down to Speed Up?
When someone first told me that I should “slow down to speed up,” I couldn’t even process what that would mean for me. There was too much to do and no time to get it all done! If I slowed down, then I would fall behind even further.
But I realized that slowing down is what is needed to prepare for what is ahead. Taking the time to:
- Reflect
- Be strategic
- Plan
- Create new ideas or processes
- Think about how your team is progressing and where you can support them helps you move faster.
Some people have described the chaos that exists in their companies. I have been there. It is stressful, overwhelming, and difficult to manage. My favorite saying was, “I am on a merry-go-round, and I can’t get off.” The truth is that I was spinning in my head, not on an actual amusement park ride. There were so many things that seemed to be a top priority, it felt overwhelming.
Once I learned about slowing down, I realized that I had a choice to change the way that I thought about and dealt with the chaos.
I learned the importance of spending a small amount of time each day (15 or 30 minutes) to simply focus on what was happening and think about what I could do to improve it. Can you see the benefit of taking that small amount of time for you to think? You may come up with a small idea or some action to take if you think about your own situation. When you are in a spin mode in your head, nothing new or creative has the ability to show up. Slowing down gives you the ability to let your brain help you come up with ideas and actions so you can move forward faster!
Have You Tried Communicating With Impact?
Have you ever shared a situation or story with someone, and you can tell by their response, that they have no idea what you said because they weren’t listening to you?
We have all experienced this at one time or another, but why does it happen? Did they not find the topic interesting, were they thinking about something else, or maybe they were distracted? Any of those may be true, but something else to be aware of is that when you talk, the other person is experiencing many things in their head. Even if they are listening to you, they are processing the information quickly and trying to discern if what you are saying makes sense to them, aligns with their thinking, and how they will respond to you. No wonder it is hard to listen when all that is happening.
Every person comes into conversations with their own communication style, experiences, assumptions, and beliefs. We just assume that they are like us. And that they think the same way as we do and believe the same things. That may be true in some cases, but not all. Planning for a conversation can help to remove confusion and complexity.
If you want to be successful when communicating, you have to think about how to communicate in a way that they can hear you.
Include things that are important to them, ways that you can support their goals, and ideas you have to solve challenges that they face. You will be seen as a valuable resource in these kinds of conversations. Planning out a conversation and being intentional with how you want to show up for it, can make all the difference when trying to reach a successful outcome!
Have You Taken Advantage Of All The Opportunities That Come Your Way?
In every organization, there are processes that are inefficient, people who need training, frustrations about workload, and problems that need to be solved. These are just a few examples from many that exist in a company.
How come no one is trying to solve them?
The list of reasons usually sounds like this: lack of time, may not have the skills or expertise, don’t view it as part of their job responsibilities, or they are waiting for someone else to step in and do it.
What if you stopped seeing it as a problem, and inserted the word opportunity instead? Does that shift how you see it at all?
When you think of it as an opportunity, it implies something that can be good for you. It helps you see it in a positive light vs. a negative one, and you get to decide whether you want to take advantage of it. You could be the one that solves the problem, process, or challenge that no one else wanted to do. I remember a former manager of mine said, “look for the problems that need to be solved. When no one else is doing anything about them, you can step in to address them and be seen as a leader who takes initiative to improve things.”
This former leader of mine was teaching me about the importance of taking advantage of visibility opportunities. It is important because you can gain visibility for what you did when no one else would. You will get to show another side of your leadership, and it can change how people see you.
Look around and see how many opportunities exist all around you that you could make an impact on.
This is a leadership moment, and you get to decide: Are you ready to step up and solve problems or let the opportunity pass you by?
And If you need my support to help you with any of this, just reach out. Sometimes it just takes a single conversation to help you see what you may be missing and get you on the right track!
Susan M Barber, Author, Podcast Host, Former Fortune 500 IT Director, turned Certified Executive Coach helps business leaders to play bigger, increase their visibility and finally, shine a light on their leadership strengths so they can elevate their position in the workplace. She brings a depth of business knowledge to her coaching from her 25+ years of leadership experience at Kraft Heinz. As the author and podcast host of The Visibility Factor, she is creating a visibility movement for leaders to show their value and be seen for their true talent. Susan is married with three children and lives in the Chicago area.
