From Overlooked to Outstanding:
How Experienced Pros Can Claim The Recognition They Deserve
Photo by Greg Rosenke on UnsplashTo have a successful career, experience matters. Those who've been around for a while usually know their stuff. They've put in the time and gained heaps of experience, becoming essential members of their teams.
Yet, there's a problem that quietly plagues many of them: feeling ignored.
It's something plenty of seasoned professionals face. Despite their years of hard work and valuable input, they often get overlooked for promotions or recognition.
Instead, it's the fresh faces, full of promise, who move up the ladder.
This leaves long-time employees wondering what they're missing. And It’s usually not skill or effort.
Instead it’s how they are perceived by others.
If this sounds familiar, here’s how to step out of the shadows and claim the recognition you deserve.
The fallacy of merely doing your job well.
Let’s start with the obvious: Performance.
Performing well in your role matters. But it isn’t enough!
Research from Harvey Coleman shows that only 10% of your professional success is determined by fulfilling your job description. In other words, it’s just your entry ticket to career success. No less. No more!
So, if it’s not performance, what is it that elevates your career?
Here are our RAISE tips that will help you raise your profile and get noticed.
Re-evaluate your personal brand:
Your personal brand might have served you initially, but could it be outdated? Have you evolved, while perceptions of you haven't?
Find out by asking a few people to describe you in three words. Include people outside your immediate team for a broader perspective.
Assess the responses. And if you’re not happy with what you are hearing or it doesn’t reflect qualities of confidence and consistency, then it’s time to intentionally reshape your brand.
Strong personal brands don't happen by accident - they're crafted with intention. It’s why companies pour billions into projecting, promoting, and protecting their brands.
Assessing and understanding your current brand is the first of three crucial steps to securing the brand you want. You’ll find the other two steps in our article A mug of instant coffee costs pence, Starbucks pounds.
Advocate for yourself:
Many of us struggle to highlight our achievements, yet visibility is key for career progression.
Here are three ways to advocate for yourself while maintaining your integrity and authenticity:
Keep a running record of your contributions and achievements. If you don’t have one already, start yours today, and practise talking about it.
Talk about your ambitions. Know what you want and share those short-, medium- and long-term career ambitions with your boss and other key stakeholders. Remember, they are not mind readers and can only help you if you share where you want to go. If you’re struggling to articulate your career goals, then do check out this article.
“If one does not know to which port one is sailing,
no wind is favourable.”Lucius Anaeus Seneca
Be an ally for others: While advocating for yourself is important, remember to help raise others too. Endorsements of your peers, whether verbal or written, can significantly amplify your credibility. Plus, people are likely to return the favour.
Increase your visibility:
As exposure is by far the biggest contributing factor to our career progression, we must increase our visibility. Here are some ideas for where to start:
Volunteer. Engage in high-profile projects, lead initiatives, join employee groups, chair meetings, and speak or present to demonstrate your leadership and expertise.
Network. Your current network likely reflects your present circumstances. To reach future goals you need to build a network that supports where you aim to be.
INSEAD professor, Herminia Ibarra, provides outstanding insights into the power of networking. This 15-minute clip is a great place to start learning how to build one.
Get social. Use LinkedIn to boost your professional visibility.
Regularly update your profile to reflect your career aspirations.
Stand out by posting achievements; while LinkedIn seems a busy place, content creators are actually few & far between.
After successful collaborations ask people for a LinkedIn recommendation and do the same for others.
Seek feedback, sponsorship, and mentoring:
Asking for feedback can be daunting, but you need it - regularly. It’s the data that informs where to focus your learning to help you get where you want to go.
“It takes humility to seek feedback.
It takes wisdom to understand it, analyse it,
and appropriately act on it.”Stephen R. Covey, author
Proactively seek out mentors and sponsors - don’t wait to be asked. These relationships can offer invaluable learning, increase your visibility, and support your career advancement.
Enhance your skills:
What do Barack Obama, Bill Gates, and Oprah Winfrey have in common? - They dedicate five hours weekly to learning. It’s known as the five-hour rule.
So, consider what skills you will need to flourish in your current role, your next job, and in life?
Don’t miss the opportunity to ask for a budget or to tap into your company’s learning and development resources. If you don’t ask, you don’t get.
And consider investing in coaching. Because another commonality that Gates, Obama, and Oprah share, is they all recognise the value of feedback and coaching to advance your career.
“Everyone needs a coach.
It doesn’t’ matter whether you’re a basketball player,
a tennis player, a gymnast, or a bridge player.”Bill Gates
Standing still for too long in the workplace is akin to volunteering to be leapfrogged. So if you feel you need to step out of the shadow, use our RAISE tips to raise your profile and get noticed.
June 2024
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