How to...raise your value and visability
Jacqui Dove
Trainer & NLP Coach
you:unlimited
You are hardworking, productive, forward thinking and pretty darned good at what you do. In fact your boss is lost without you. So, why is it that you tend to get taken for granted? Jacqui Dove explains why you need the 'V' factor.
You walk into the office, early as usual, sit at your desk and start work. You know you are hardworking, productive, forward thinking and pretty darned good at what you do. In fact your boss is lost without you. So, why is it that you tend to get taken for granted? Sounds like you need to raise your value and your visibility. You need the 'V' factor.
So, what is the 'V' factor? When it comes to being taken as a serious player, factors other than performance come to the fore. That's not to say you can get away with poor performance – you and I both know that would be career suicide. The 'V' factor is about valuing yourself and raising your visibility – being noticed for the right things by the people who have influence over your career.
The 'good girl' or natural response to this is often: "But I don’t like to boast – and I shouldn't have to. Isn't it enough to do a good job?" First of all, raising your visibility is not about boasting. It is about building your own brand as a competent professional. Secondly, it’s all very well doing a good job – but the right people need to know that you’re doing a good job. The question then is: how do you inject the 'V' factor in a way that fits in with your own personality?
Step 1 – Identify the key stakeholders in your career
Your stakeholders will be those who have the power to make decisions about you, or influence the decision makers. Stakeholders also include those who could potentially put a block on your career. List them all. Think further than your immediate boss – what about colleagues, people in other departments that you work with, customers etc. Think about you as a major stakeholder. Where do you act as a blocker?
Step 2 – Talk yourself smart
Do you say things like, "I'm useless at…" or, "I’m stupid"? People remember what you tell them about yourself. And, what’s more, your own confidence is affected by the messages you give yourself.
Send out positive messages. For example, "I've not had much exposure to budgets so far, but I’m keen to have a go." "I’ve made a mistake and I’ve learned from it."
Step 3 – Know your worth
What are you good at? Get out a piece of paper and write a list. Can't come up with more than five? Then do the following – it's a real confidence booster. Ask a range of people; colleagues, friends, parents, significant others – people whose opinions you rate – to tell you what they value about you. What they come up with will often amaze you. Things about yourself that you take for granted are often what other people appreciate. Remember, these are people whose opinions you value – believe them.
Step 4 – Speak their language
How do your stakeholders influence other people? What drives them? Is it costs and the bottom line, or is it efficiency, or saving time, or how it affects other people? What words and phrases do they use? You probably use these quite naturally when your boss asks you to draft a letter from them. You know the terminology and the favourite phrases they use and, when your boss reads the letter, it really is as if they had written it themselves. During a conversation, the words people emphasise are usually the ones that are important to them. Listen out for them and use them in your conversations with them. They are more likely to hear what you are saying.
Step 5 – Get yourself noticed
Think of yourself as a brand. Get known and noticed by more people. So, go ahead, volunteer for those high profile tasks like managing projects, attending meetings, organising events, making presentations. Show how business focused you are. Consider how systems and processes can be improved and draw up a proposal with a cost/benefit analysis. Read work related publications and quality newspapers so that you are up-to-date with new trends in your sector and are able to contribute in meetings and discussions.
And, finally…
Let’s up the stakes. What else would you be doing if you were acting as if you really valued yourself?
Do's and Don'ts
- Find a mentor. Take your career as seriously as the Chief Executive. Get the support you need.
- Show an interest in the business and enthuse about what you do. The fact is people like being around people who are positive and steer clear of the moaners.
See people face-to-face instead of being a faceless email junkie.
- Don't assume your boss is too busy to discuss your career. If you are happy in your job and you have a positive profile in the organisation it reflects well on your boss too.
- Don't make assumptions about what you can/can't do. Remember the story of the goldfish in a tank. A glass panel was put down the centre and the fish soon learned not to bump into it and steered well clear. When the glass panel was taken away, the fish assumed it was still there and didn’t venture to the other side, even though there was nothing now to prevent them from doing so.
- When someone tells you that you've done a good job, don’t say, "It was nothing". Thank them instead – and what about asking them to put it in writing?
Quick trick
Imagine you are a client or a colleague who doesn’t know you and you are looking at yourself for the first time. In your mind's eye, run a movie of you in your normal work setting. What do you see? What are you doing? What are you saying? What do you feel when you look at you? What would be your first impression of you? What advice would you give yourself if you wanted to become even more successful in your job?
Five essentials
· Know and value your unique selling points
· Consciously market yourself
· Upgrade your skills and knowledge
· Make a business case for requests
· Volunteer for high profile projects and tasks
Good luck.
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