Do you ever feel like you are working hard but are overlooked for promotions or recognition? If so, you're not alone.

Many introverted leaders feel this way. Just like you, the one who holds the team together, always ensures deadlines are met, yet you don't always get the credit you deserve. In this episode today, we'll talk about how you can shine when you feel overlooked and undervalued.

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Transcript

I see you daily, in my day-to-day life, and across multiple large organizations. You're the one making connections, producing high-quality products, noticing gaps that need to be addressed – you work very hard behind the scenes. And – even if you aren't the project lead, you are THE one holding the team together, and everybody knows it. You work long hours, you’re focused, poised, and well-spoken, and people tell you at least ten times a day how they could not live without you.

Do you ever feel like you are working your rear off but are still overlooked for promotions or recognition? If so, you're not alone.

Many introverted leaders feel this way. Just like you, the one who holds the team together, always ensures deadlines are met, yet you don't always get the credit you deserve. In this episode today, we’ll talk about how you can shine when you feel overlooked and undervalued.

You listen to everything, notice everything, and soak up information without even trying. Over time, you've gained a deep understanding of the organization, the customer, and cross-organizational challenges. Basically, you've gained quite a strategic view of your industry. In fact, you’ve started to have big ideas and solutions that no one else seems to see. Sometimes you tell your ideas to your colleagues or maybe to your direct supervisor. When you do, they listen politely. A lot of times your colleagues will say that you should be the lead of this project, you should be in charge. The problem is, that is as far as it goes. Nothing changes, and eventually all the praise sounds like lip-service. They are just glad you keep doing all you are, so they don’t have to do it.

Every now and then, when you are feeling bold, you tell your ideas to your direct supervisor. When you do, they usually respond casually, "Great ideas, keep them coming!” or “Great idea, but a bit idealistic,” or “Good thinking, but it would never happen because it would be too hard." They always sound so polite, but it is evident they are not planning on spending another minute on the topic. At that moment, your idea falls on the cutting room floor. Can you relate?

This is a common problem for quiet, hardworking people who are very passionate about the work they do. You feel driven by a higher purpose. You justify your situation by telling yourself you ARE making a difference, that you aren’t here for the money, and you don't need to be (and aren't sure you want to be) in the limelight. You tell yourself that your time will come if it's meant to be. Yet, a BIG part of you wonders why couldn't you be the one leading a more significant impact across your enterprise? What would it take for people to see that you’re ready for more senior leadership?

WHY should you emerge from behind the scenes?

The reason is that you have something special. You offer a different perspective that is needed within your organization and across your industry. Your introverted personality gives you some distinct advantages as a leader. For example, you:

• Are a great listener

• Reflect before taking action

• Focus on quality over quantity

• Thrive in one-on-one interactions

These qualities in a leader lead to team members who feel individually valued and they in turn become very motivated to support this type of leader.

10 Steps to be positively noticed at work

1. Define what work success means to you.

a. What kind of impact do you want to have? What are your reasons for feeling so strongly about it? What skills do you have that make you the ideal person for this initiative? What kind of job excites you the most? When are you at your top form? What activities make you proudest in life, and why? Name three areas where you'd like to grow.

b. Action Step: Make a list of what you want and why you want it. Keep this list somewhere; you will see it every day to keep yourself motivated.

2. Learn to embrace discomfort

a. There is a difference between actively trying and "failing" rather than passively failing because you aren’t even trying, because you are not taking any action. Passively failing means that you want something to change and things to be different, yet you are not taking any steps to create the change you want. Your comfort zone is a self-defined set of mental boundaries, and these boundaries make an unfounded sense of security. There is limited personal or professional growth within your comfort zone and little chance of driving success when idle or lazy.

b. The greatest method to alter your circumstances is to modify your actions, methodology, or attitude. By attempting something new, you can expand your mental horizons. Take on a challenging project, tackle a long-standing challenge uniquely, or express yourself and contribute your thoughts during the next meeting.

3. Meet someone new every day

a. The world is full of interesting people. Strive to both be interesting and to engage with interesting people – everyday. In spite of social media and other technology creating distance and false connections, find ways to find real and meaningful connections. People like to work with, do business with, and spend time with engaging, interesting, upbeat individuals. Building strong business and social relationships generate a robust personal network that can be leveraged to create opportunity, broaden your resource base, and generate greater visibility and awareness.

b. Continuing to expand your network ensures that you have contacts and constituents that span multiple organizations with different demographics and perspectives. The broader your social and business network, the better they will help you stay current and keep you from becoming siloed within your current company, function, or narrow social circle.

c. Use LinkedIn or Outlook to manage and maintain your contact list. Monitor your calendar to ensure you stay in touch with current contacts by carving out time for breakfast, lunch, or coffee. Make it a goal to have a conversation with one new person each day or use the time to forge a deeper connection with a current contact.

4. Walk your Talk

a. Through your actions, demonstrate the things that are important to you. Understanding and communicating your value proposition is critical, and one of the most powerful ways to communicate it is to demonstrate. However, although demonstration is critical, it's not enough. In addition to the active demonstration of skills, attributes, and abilities, declare yourself. Let people know what is essential to you, what you aspire to, and what you are working on. Many people assume that people will notice if they do good work and demonstrate positive attributes. The reality is that people are busy, distracted, and unaware. Suppose you don't supplement the demonstration of your skills with the declaration of skills, interests, and desires. In that case, you will passively wait for others to create opportunities for you rather than let them know which avenues you are interested in and excited to explore.

5. Answer the door when opportunity knocks (and knock on a few doors yourself)

a. This is the crux of being both proactive and receptive. Cultivating a keen awareness of your personal and professional skills, abilities, and interests will help you look for situations and opportunities that might provide a match. When these present themselves, be ready to respond and react. Keep your resume current, and always be willing to have an exploratory conversation if someone reaches out to express interest. Sometimes, exciting opportunities will fall into your lap, but they will vanish just as quickly if you are unwilling or unable to respond in a timely fashion.

b. In addition to responding when opportunity knocks, you need to be proactive by identifying attractive opportunities and situations. Pursue and explore each of these with potential opportunities with enthusiasm. Leverage your network and engage them by letting them know what you are looking for, what you are exploring, and what you are learning. Think of these explorations as experiments. The value of an experiment is the learning and the knowledge. If you learn something new, validate an assumption, or clarify your perspective as a result of an initial exploration of a unique opportunity or situation, it's successful regardless of whether or not the opportunity came to fruition.

6. Measure your impact.

a. Even if you're in a role that doesn't lend itself to clear results like Sales, it's still important to show how your work positively impacts the bottom line. There are ways to quantify many of your contributions if you give them some thought. Consider the projects you oversee, clients you manage, meetings you attend, reports you produce, presentations you give, appointments you schedule, calls you to take, problems you resolve, and ideas you contribute. Follow the trail to how these activities value the organization and track your monthly impact.

7. Share your accomplishments and results.

a. If you're already tracking your impact, the next step is ensuring that others are aware. You may believe your boss knows what you do each day, but in reality, they have their own tasks and problems and isn't likely as attuned as you might think. Don't wait until your annual performance review to share your work - it may be too late. Instead, schedule a monthly check-in meeting with your boss, or ask for two minutes on the regular staff meeting schedule to provide an update. If you feel uncomfortable, remember that status reports can be presented as informational - a way to keep your department updated on what's happening on your team or projects.

8. Promote your team.

a. Another great strategy to increase visibility is promoting the visibility of others. Congratulate your colleagues on work well done, and thank them for their help. Do this in team meetings, or if appropriate, send a quick email to their manager sharing how much you appreciated the input. If your company has an award program, use it to boost others. Before long, you may create a culture of recognition, which comes back around to promote you, too!

9. Raise your hand.

a. When you approach work with a career mentality, you recognize that getting involved with projects that fall outside of your job description will help the company and help you. Look for projects that call for cross-collaboration with other departments or expose you to other leaders in the organization. Can't find one? Take initiative to solve a problem in the office (a former colleague started a fundraiser to purchase an extra microwave in the lunchroom to circumvent the noon backlog!). Getting noticed by other departments is an excellent way to ensure your name comes up for future opportunities.

b. Show up. Increasing your visibility includes getting to know people outside of your regular insiders. Attending company events, participating in committees or volunteer efforts, and initiating meetings with people on other teams increases the information that flows your way. Many careers have been made through casual conversations at happy hour or a random comment over lunch. It also means that more people know about you and can recommend you for the roles that open up down the road. If you're a remote employee, get to the office a few times each year and make the most of your time by pre-scheduling in-person meetings with your colleagues.

10. Don’t make them read your mind….

a. Your manager can't read your mind, and that's a positive thing in all reality. To land the opportunities you want, you have to make your goals known to others. Otherwise, they may assume you're content or create plans for your future that aren't aligned with your interests. Don't wait until your annual review to share your ideas. Your manager has access to information that you don't, and you may be surprised at what doors open up just for the asking.

How is your relationship with the organization leadership above your direct supervisor compared to your team members' relationship with the same higher leadership?

How have your employee reviews been? Besides having been told how you have been doing during your reviews, have you clearly stated your intention to get promoted? During your employee review, did you identify, together with your boss, clear-cut deliverables which, if met, would necessarily result in a promotion and salary increase? During the subsequent review, you need to pull out that list and follow up with the demand. Have you identified projects in which you could take a leadership role? Have you availed yourself of opportunities to present or demonstrate your projects to people external to your department or immediate team?

It is possible that, because of the closeness in age between you and your boss, they might be reticent in promoting you, as doing so would make you more of a threat to their role. If so, you need to address this by any/all of:

• Having a frank discussion about it

• Setting clear-cut promotion criteria and a time frame

• Identifying your specific skill and experience which you uniquely have

• Getting seen by people other than your boss

• Finding projects which cross into other departments; mingling with those in other departments

• Participating in outside-of-work activities which put you in informal contact with people outside of your immediate work team; then branching out with them while at work

• Getting known by people in your boss's role from outside companies

CONCLUSION

You may need to come up with a strategy for better positioning yourself, and it may have little to do with your actual technical skill and more to do with how you create values in other areas.

Career success is within your grasp; attaining it is your responsibility and decision. Rather than allowing yourself to be overlooked and overworked, implement these ten strategies and take control of your career. By being both simultaneously proactive and receptive as you approach the world of opportunity, you can make your vision of career success a reality.