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Visibility Counts -
Five Strategies for Staying Visible
While conducting a stakeholder interview with a senior executive of a national health care company, I asked my coaching client what she could start or stop doing to be even more effective. She replied, "Increase my visibility." When asked to explain what she meant by visibility, she replied that she must be seen more by other executives and peers, not just hide out in her office.
This got me thinking about my father's sage advice that "out of sight, out of mind, out of business." The other sage advice comes from Woody Allen who is credited with the statistic "showing up is 80 percent of life." In both statements, the overarching insight is the importance of showing up and being visible.
Staying visible takes time, effort, and especially discipline. You must attend. The law of physics that says "a body at rest will stay at rest unless acted upon by an outside force." Inertia or the tendency to do nothing or remain unchanged keeps us in our office, interacting with a one dimensional screen, and getting task after task accomplished.
To overcome this inertia, here are five strategies that will help you be more visible:
Strategy #1 - Show up. Use the opportunities to interact with your colleagues and the executives in your organization. Attend charity events, lectures, town hall meetings and after work hours social events.
Strategy #2 - Speak at least three (3) times. Whenever you attend a meeting, your voice must be heard at least three times. If others don't hear your voice three times, you are invisible. Ask a question, make a comment, or share an idea.
Strategy #3 - Consult your boss. Meeting with your boss's peers without his/her knowledge is considered a "skip level conversation" which can become career suicide. Instead, ask your boss whom he/she would suggest you meet with at his/her level. Let your boss know you are interested in being more visible and would like to know with whom to begin the process of relationship building.
Strategy #4 - Ritualize networking. Make a list of key individuals outside your organization you would like to meet. Contact them to see if you could meet with each of these individuals to learn more about his/her business. Ask for a short period of time or suggest buying lunch.
Strategy #5 - Sales is life. Relationship building and increasing one's network is key to any professional person's success. Selling is actually what we do when we meet with people in other parts of the organization and begin or nurture the relationship. It is not only sales professionals who need to sell to be successful.
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"Networking for People Who Hate Networking-A Field Guide for Introverts, the Overwhelmed, and the Underconnected"
by Devora Zack
Since being visible means relationship building and networking, this book provides techniques to those who are allergic to networking. The author, being an "off the chart" introvert has identified ways to make networking palatable. The techniques are for those who regard meeting new people as creating "unmitigated terror as opposed to general unease."
The underlying theme of the book is that networking is an essential business activity.
The author provides methods to overcome an introvert's total distaste for networking and the extravert's method's that require ongoing exercise.
The author suggests the three P's for introverts to network with more ease:
Pausing - Introverts think to talk. - Since introverts take time before they interact socially, they need to pause. They need to strategize the approach they want to take, consider the different options, and review their goals. Introverts need time to plan before networking.
Processing - Introverts go deep. - Introverts like to focus intently on what they do. When introverts network, they don't want to be gliding through glib conversations. Instead, they prefer to focus on one or two individuals and then work hard to get to know them.
Pacing- Introverts energize alone. - Introverts direct their attention inwardly. Once engaged in networking, the introvert needs disengage from others to recharge. Once recharged the introvert has the energy to begin networking again.
Extroverts network differently from introverts. Here are the methods recommended for extroverts.
Jump on in. - Extroverts feel comfortable and generally confident introducing themselves to strangers and taking over conversations. Introverts, when listening to conversations with extraverts, can learn information they can use to start meaningful conversations.
Sell yourself. -E xtroverts naturally showcase and promote themselves. Extroverts have no problem talking about themselves. In contrast, self-promotion to an introvert is a foreign concept. However, introverts can sell themselves by asking intelligent questions.
Maximize time with others. - Extroverts enjoy the company of others and refuel energy by being socially engaged. Introverts need be selective of which networking events to attend. Networking in small but consistent doses makes networking palatable but not overwhelming to the introverts.
The most important principle to follow for both introverts and extroverts is the "Platinum Rule." The rule states "treat others how they want to be treated." When networking, have the attitude of being helpful to others. Become sensitive to other people's preferences or conversational styles. Work hard to make the other person feel relaxed, valued, and comfortable.
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"Fear Your Strengths: What You are Best at Could be Your Biggest Problem"
By Robert E. Kaplan and Robert B. Kaiser
This eloquent, evocative book includes many references and insightful quotations that capture the corrupting nature of overusing strengths. The authors provide a novel and provocative approach to preventing the derailing reality of overusing strengths.
According to the authors, below are three realities that underscore the need to fear your strengths.
- Most leaders will overuse their strengths, which can derail their effectiveness.
- Taken to excess, personal strengths can destroy careers and even companies
- To prevent self-sabotage, identify your personal and professional strength
The authors prescribe three critical tips to "dialing it back" as a way to balance one's strength. The three tips are:
- Accept yourself - The leader you are is the person you are. Become familiar with that person. Step outside of yourself and see how others see you. Courageously internalize what others say about you. Seek ongoing feedback from others.
- Test yourself - True change takes time and effort. Facing challenges and overcoming obstacles is a critical way to become strong. Transform your thinking where you welcome the challenges that test you. Venture out for new experiences. Changing your repertoire of experiences will change you.
- Offset yourself - Stop chasing perfection. Don't demand or expect perfection. Even overcoming the vicissitudes of being a leader, perfection is an illusion. Every leader needs strong talented people to offset his/her weaknesses. "The difference between a good CEO and a great one is the ability to attract big people."
The authors provide this warning to become an effective leader: find strategies to dial back your primary strengths so they don't overwhelm you, endanger your career, and harm your organization.
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Leading Research -
The Role of Building Relationships
A study of 438,000 respondents was conducted by the Center for Creative Leadership (CCL) to understand the role of building relationships. The study found that two-thirds of the respondents said that "building and maintaining relationships is a critical (leadership) competency."
According to CCL today's senior leaders are not adept at either relationship building or collaboration. Relationship building ranked 10 out of 17 competencies; while only 47% of managers believed that "leaders in their organization were highly skilled in collaboration."
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- The best insurance against career derailment is to systematically nurture, nourish, and become noteworthy to your network.
- Remember that any hiring process must include at least three sources of information before making a final decision. Do a background check, checking references, conducting assessments, and interviews with multiple people.
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COACH'S NOTE
Visibility counts. Relationships count. Being visible and building relationships are the best insurance against career derailment. Introverts need to network by asking questions and being judicious about which events to attend. Extroverts find being with others part of their DNA. The research has confirmed the importance that building relationships are critical to leadership effectiveness. Take time to be visible. Remember visibility counts.
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Solving People and Management Issues
The Heller Group focuses on coaching for senior level executives. We facilitate change within an organization that results in more effective leadership, increased productivity, innovative thinking, and improved employee morale and retention.
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Dr. Bruce Heller
Dr. Bruce Heller, founder of The Heller Group, Inc., has over 20 years experience consulting with managers and executives on executive education, leadership development, and organizational.
He is an adjunct professor at Southwestern Law School.
Dr. Heller is a consulting psychologist and member of the American Psychological Association Consulting Psychology Division. Dr. Heller holds a Ph.D. and Masters Degree in Education from the University of Southern California.
Dr. Heller is the author of The Prodigal Executive-How to Coach Executives Too Painful to Keep, Too Valuable to Fire.
Read the book.
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