Want to Create a Highly Successful, Visible team? Do This.

There is no one size fits all approach to visibility that works for everyone. The actions that you take should be authentic and as they begin to work for you, inspire you to do more! The ideas that I share here, in the book, and on the podcast are practical and my hope is that you can see ways to put them into practice quickly. You are learning so much about what it means to be visible and now you have a chance to share it with others. Today, I want to focus on helping you think about your direct reports.

More specifically, I want to talk to you about how to help your team grow and be more successful while creating visibility for you and your team.

Here are the 6 things you can do to make that happen.

1. Ask these five questions

When you want to do more to develop your team it’s important to know what is and isn’t working for the group. Know that taking new action will help them show their value and talent. Here are some questions I ask when I’m working with a leader who wants to do more to develop their team.

• Where are you doing too much for your team and how can you help them grow by delegating that work instead?
• What are some challenges that your team is facing that they could own and solve?
• What could your team take on that would help them show a different side of their leadership?
• How can you push them a bit more out of their comfort zone to try something new?
• What are some opportunities for you to help the whole team shine more?

2. Be vulnerable

Leaders who build the strongest connections with their team members are willing to be vulnerable. They ask their team members to challenge their ideas and decisions, believe in being transparent (where they can be), and give their team members opportunities to shine.

When you, as a leader, show up with vulnerability, it sets the tone for your team. It shows that you are open to collaboration and can admit when you are wrong. That there is no need to take things personally. It shows that as a team, they can stand for each other’s success and challenge each other when needed to move the business forward.

3. Build connection

When you take time to build affinity with team members and understand who they are, trust grows. This isn’t easy and it doesn’t happen overnight. The team member needs to believe that you care about them as a person and want to see them succeed. As a leader, you need to understand what motivates the team, provide support, develop them, and celebrate their success. Assume the best of others and provide coaching to help them grow. It starts by being consistent with actions and words to build trust.

4. Show your value

Am I showing my value or hiding it? Think about how you would answer that question for yourself. If the answer is that you are hiding or not showing up in a big enough way, then you can do something about it. Imagine what can happen now simply because you stopped to think about it. What actions can you take and how many opportunities could you gain by increasing how you show up in a bigger way?

At the end of your work day, do a review of what happened and ask yourself some of these hard questions.

• Did I stand out or stay in the background more than I did the day before?
• What could I do differently tomorrow?
• What do I commit to doing tomorrow to play bigger?

Spend five minutes being honest with yourself to answer these questions and your thinking will begin to shift. You will see that you can be doing more to be visible, even if it is only 10% more. The goal is to take action even if it is a small step more than the day before. This is a long game and action, even if it is small, is what makes the difference.

5. Trust yourself

If you focus on what everyone else is doing, you are operating from a place of doubt, fear, and insecurity. You believe that others are better than you, causing you to play small. If you just slow down enough to listen to your thoughts and ideas, you will see that you know more than you realize. You have the experience and knowledge to make the best decisions for the company and your team.

You just need to trust yourself. Because leaders who trust themselves show up with confidence. And if you show up with confidence team members will want to stay on your team and new team members will want to work for you. Start by making decisions and building internal trust. If there is new information that comes up later, a change can be made.

6. Spend your time wisely

Even though people may not say it, they want to know their work matters, that the time they spend on their work is worth it, and that they will be recognized for it. After all, you only have a finite amount of time. You have to be strategic about where you spend it. The choices that you make have to be a win-win for you and the company.

Leverage the questions below for your own work and share them with your team so they can learn how to assess where to spend their time too!

• What actions can you take that will give you the biggest return on your time investment?
• What is at least one action that you could take that will help the company move forward on its business objectives?
• What project or actions will help you (and your team) gain visibility and get in front of your management?

Your team is there to support you so you can get things done on a larger scale.

If you aren’t growing your team and preparing them for future opportunities, then no one else is either. It can be really impactful to slow down and focus on what your team needs for success. Your goal is to help them have experiences so they can learn how to make their own decisions, solve problems, and drive results.

If you need a partner to help you come up with ideas and actions so the team can grow, please set up a time with me. We can partner together to help you achieve that goal faster!

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.