Being Valuable and Visible to the Organization are two different things

 

Are You Valuable and Visible? Being good at your job and being seen as ready for the bigger role are not the same thing.

That gap explains a lot of career frustration.

Some professionals create tremendous value but remain almost invisible outside their immediate team or function.

Others become highly visible but the substance behind that visibility is thin.

Neither position is sustainable.

Career progression usually requires both:

VALUE - The quality of contribution you make. And.

VISIBILITY - The extent to which the right people understand that contribution.

The interesting part is that these create four very different career situations.

That’s a 2X2 matrix and you know how Consultants love their 2X2’s (been a change consultant for over 2 decades so 2X2s are inescapable)

HIGH VALUE + LOW VISIBILITY
You are trusted by the people closest to you, but senior decision-makers may not fully understand what you contribute. You become the organisation’s best-kept secret.

HIGH VISIBILITY + LOW VALUE
People know who you are. But visibility without substance eventually damages credibility. You may be noticed quickly but trusted slowly.

LOW VALUE + LOW VISIBILITY
This is usually a capability problem first. Before worrying about personal branding or executive presence, there is work to do on contribution.

And then there is:

HIGH VALUE + HIGH VISIBILITY

This is visibility built through:

• solving meaningful problems
• contributing beyond your immediate role
• being present in consequential conversations
• communicating outcomes, not activity
• building relationships across the organisation
• becoming known for sound judgment
• making sure others understand the value you create

You should understand that VISIBILITY is not about being seen everywhere. It is about being appropriately visible where decisions about your future are being made.

And VALUE is not simply about working hard. It is about creating outcomes the organisation genuinely cares about.

And this leads to another conundrum (we consultants love them too):

Do the people making decisions about my future understand the value I create today and can they imagine me creating value at a larger scale tomorrow?

If the answer is no, working harder may not solve the problem. Neither will louder self-promotion. The goal should be to build something credible and get due recognition:

Build value. Make that value visible. Let reputation grow from evidence.

So, this weekend, spend some time thinking which side is limiting your career today: Value without visibility or visibility without enough value or wishful thinking without both (which is an altogether different problem)

In case you need a sounding board to discuss the same, happy to hop on a call with you for some uncomfortable conversations. Just reach out.

#CareerGrowth #Leadership #ExecutivePresence #LeadershipDevelopment #ExecutiveCoaching #CareerProgression #PersonalBrand #MidCareer #ProfessionalDevelopment