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Strategies for Being Visible

14 Profile-Raising Ideas for Emerging Female Leaders
Susan Ritchie • Business Books © 2019 • 152 pages

Women in Business / Women’s Careers

Take-Aways
• Competence or expertise doesn’t automatically generate recognition and advancement.
• Expand and nurture your professional network.
• To create an elevated profile, act with boldness and be prepared to handle conflict and risk.
• Be vigilant for new opportunities and open to creative possibilities, including volunteering.
• Give people a good reason to remember you. Listen deeply and speak persuasively and confidently.
• Speak up for yourself. Cultivate a sponsor who will advocate for you.
• Use social media consistently and wisely to raise your profile.
• Develop your individual voice through writing and public speaking.
• Make meetings work for you by preparing rigorously, participating effectively and following up promptly.
• Learn how to ask for, evaluate, incorporate and share feedback.

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 Recommendation
Career advancement is not an automatic reward for competence. If you want to rise to a leadership position,
you must make your achievements and expertise known. Leadership coach Susan Ritchie offers advice
on building a supportive professional network and elevating your profile in your industry through social
media, writing and speaking. She recommends cultivating connections in your field and being ready to seize
opportunities. Much of her guidance applies to men as well as to women, since Ritchie emphasizes planning,
authenticity, effective communication and consistency in your career-building practices.

Summary

Competence or expertise doesn’t automatically generate recognition and

advancement.

Despite significant strides in the last decades, women remain underrepresented at the highest corporate
levels. If you have career ambitions, the earlier you acquire the skills and strategies you need to raise
your profile, the more likely you are to realize your goals. Identify the results you want so you can
make the strategic choices that help you achieve them. Ask: What do I want my career to look like in two
years, and what do I need to do to get there? Work out what skills, contacts and experience you need now, in
six months and in a year. Develop a plan to get where you want to be. The sooner you begin, the better.

“I made a plan for my career, just like a business plan…I set a career path,” says Kate
Davies, CEO of Nottinghill Housing. “I thought to myself, what is there in my workplace
that I have to do to get the next step up?”

Keeping a professional journal can help you analyze your current status and determine your next steps.
Make journaling part of your weekly routine. Use your journal to log your achievements, review your project
performance, flag areas for growth, note new contacts and track important conversations. Consider
recruiting an accountability buddy to keep you both on track.

Expand and nurture your professional network.

A network supplies the social capital that funds your career. Start early in your career to build and maintain
your network – it’s essential to your progress. Formal networking groups can be valuable, but they aren’t the
only way to build connections. Create a visual map of all your personal, business-related and family contacts.
Review it to identify people who could contribute to your professional progress. Determine the people you
need to meet who aren’t yet part of your network. When possible, use conferences or other industry events to
make those connections.

Networks grow stronger when you consider not what they can do for you, but what you can do for them. To
make yourself memorable, be useful – for example, introduce two people who would benefit from knowing
one another.

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 “Every time you meet someone” advises Mary Kay Ash, founder of Mary Kay cosmetics,
“imagine they have an invisible sign around their neck saying ‘make me feel important’.”

Set up a tracking system, in software or in your professional journal, to log your contacts, keep notes and set
priorities. When you know you’ll meet new people, for example, at an event, block out time in your calendar
to reach out to them. Send a warm note, telephone them, provide them useful information or connect via
social media.

Institute your own network group, either internally with colleagues, locally in your city or even industry-
wide. Coordinating such a group will raise your profile.

To create an elevated profile, act with boldness and be prepared to handle conflict

and risk.

Everyone experiences self-doubt and lapses in confidence. Accept the discomfort that comes with taking
on new challenges that raise your visibility. Inventory your skills and strengths. Focus on where you
excel to reinforce your self-confidence. Use your professional journal to track what you learn and how you
improve. List 10 professional achievements that make you feel proud.

“It’s impossible to demonstrate your value to others if you cannot see it yourself.”

Don’t linger in your comfort zone: Reach for professional opportunities that make you stretch. Men are more
likely to apply for jobs for which they satisfy only 60% of the stated requirements; women generally don’t
try to compete unless they can check off 100% of the list. Consider that 40% of criteria you don’t yet meet as
potential areas for growth.

Getting out of your comfort zone means owning your opinions and presenting them clearly and
authoritatively. Stop hedging your statements. Expect disagreement; don’t take it personally or let it rattle
you. Remain respectful and calm, but don’t be afraid to stand out and be different.

Be vigilant for new opportunities and open to creative possibilities, including

volunteering.

You can’t profit from opportunities you cannot see. Stay abreast of developments in your field. Be ready
to sign on to a new opportunity with an attitude that presumes you’ll overcome any obstacles that arise.
Tenacity and determination make it possible to say yes in the face of uncertainty.

Curiosity helps you find opportunities if you ask the right questions. What could be done differently and
better? How could you step up and lead? On social media, don’t wait for invitations to participate in
discussions or debates about important topics in your field. Add value to the conversation.

“Your workplace may not be able to provide everything you need to grow and develop
yourself.”

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 Volunteering expands your leadership skills. Select volunteer work that encourages you to learn new skills,
use your expertise and stretch, but be sure you have the time and energy to keep your commitment. Choose
an engagement that allows you to demonstrate your abilities to a larger community.

Give people a good reason to remember you. Listen deeply and speak persuasively
and confidently.

To establish a memorable connection with people, reflect and affirm the values you share with them. Bring
positive energy to every interaction. How you show up may change depending on context, but remain
genuine.

Listening has three levels: surface – when someone’s talking and you don’t really engage; conversation –
when you’re paying attention, but looking for a chance to jump in yourself; and deep listening – being fully
present and actively seeking to understand.Deep listening makes others feel seen and valued, and they’ll
remember you for that. To practice it, you must set aside your preconceptions and judgments, your agenda
and your need to chime in.

“Authenticity is about understanding who you are in the moment and knowing that we
are complex creatures with different layers. We’re not one-dimensional.”

Cultivate empathy. A leader perceives and responds to other people’s needs and wants. If you understand
what matters most to your audience, you can frame your message to address their concerns. Questions
prompted by curiosity and concern build trust and reveal possibilities. Effective leaders seek a shared win-
win outcome from every dialogue.

Being empathetic doesn’t mean being a doormat or a people-pleaser. To be a leader, you must be ready to
challenge the status quo, to champion change, to be respectfully assertive and willing to take risks.

Speak up for yourself. Cultivate a sponsor who will advocate for you.

Men often talk over or interrupt women and some appropriate and restate women’s ideas. You must persist:
Learn how to be bold and get heard.

Small talk is a leadership skill. The ability to make others feel comfortable and establish a connection
with people above and below you in the hierarchy can work wonders. Few careers are built one reluctant
monosyllable at a time.

“The ability to engage others in conversation, put them at ease and help them to feel
accepted is a real skill, and people who have this talent are engaging and unforgettable.
How you leave people feeling in business and life really matters.”

Having regular conversations with your boss strengthens your working relationship. These conversations are
essential for managing up; finding common ground in conversation makes you a more effective employee
and your boss a more understanding manager and ally.

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 Talking with people in power gives you the opportunity to learn and to make the case for yourself. Ask for
training, ask for a promotion, and let them see your ambition and eagerness to learn. Ask the leaders you
meet how they got where they are and what their best advice is for someone with similar aspirations.

Such a conversation could lead to a higher-up becoming your advocate: a person who champions your skills
and potential and acts as an ally to smooth your path to new opportunities. This is a huge gift. It means
someone is willing to risk his or her reputation on your behalf. A network that includes senior personnel
assures you that people at the top see your achievements. It helps you stay in touch with those who share
your values. Moreover, an advocate for your career may emerge from among them.

Use social media consistently and wisely to raise your profile.

With planning and diligence, leverage social media for greater visibility in your industry. The broader the
recognition of your expertise and contributions, the more choices you’ll have and the more robust your
career will be.

Where do the people in your field hang out on social media? Where are the lively conversations and
information exchanges? When you figure that out, make yourself a presence there. One popular choice is
Twitter; its strength is that anyone can respond to anyone. If you ask an interesting question or contribute a
useful comment, you may initiate a dialogue. Over time, you may find a mentor, gain an invitation to write
for a blog, become a podcast guest, connect with experts, or become known for your contributions to a public
conversation.

“Consider what you want to be known for and then ensure that everything you post
online reflects that.”

Discipline is essential with social media. Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and other platforms can easily
become time-eaters and diversions. To manage your time, carefully select and follow the most inspiring
leaders and publications in your field. Post and retweet valuable information, including your own work.
Use hashtags to label your posts and comments by topic. Be consistent and stay on message. Respond to
productive questions and insightful comments.

Develop your individual voice through writing and public speaking.

Before social media, there was ink on paper and the human voice. Writing and public speaking remain
essential tools for becoming visible to a wider community. React thoughtfully to current events and hot
topics in your field. Craft an article for your company’s newsletter. Write a white paper showcasing your
expertise. As you become a more experienced writer, you might reach out to industry publications or even
consider writing a book.

“Your boss will think you’re fabulous,” says Carolyn Pearson, CEO of Maiden Voyage, ”if
you’re putting the discretionary effort into writing a white paper on top of everything
else you’re doing.”

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 Many people face anxiety at the prospect of public speaking, but it remains one of the most effective ways
to elevate your visibility. Build your confidence by starting small. Volunteer to do presentations – and get
training if you need it. Make sure you have something worthwhile to say at every meeting. Propose a brief
talk for a networking event. After you’ve gained experience, respond to conferences’ calls for speakers.
Organizations like Toastmasters can help you hone your public speaking skills.

After each speech or presentation, give yourself credit for three things you did right and identify one thing
you might change. Avoid seeking others’ opinions, but acknowledge any commentary graciously. Use your
talk as an opportunity to follow up with important audience members, particularly if you otherwise would
have no reason to connect with them.

Make meetings work for you by preparing rigorously, participating effectively and
following up promptly.

Every meeting is a chance to make a positive impression. To get the most out of a meeting, prepare. Know
the agenda and identify how you can contribute useful input. Study the materials in advance. If you’ll need
allies in the room, identify them beforehand. Arrive early to chat with other participants. Use your calendar
and professional journal to set aside time to prepare before every meeting, as well as to outline your take-
aways and next action steps. Plan to follow up with contacts afterward.

“If you’re not speaking up, then why are you around the table?” asks Charlotte Sweeney,
CEO of Charlotte Sweeney Associates. “If I’m halfway through a meeting, and I haven’t
said anything, I ask myself, what value am I adding here? ”

Make sure you have an opinion to offer or well-informed, pertinent questions to ask. Keep your remarks
focused and brief. Don’t let yourself be talked over or interrupted. If someone tries, continue your
comments and focus your gaze on the meeting’s leader. In some instances, holding up a “stop” hand to
silence the interrupter is effective.

Learn how to ask for, evaluate, incorporate and share feedback.

If you aspire to leadership, feedback tells you how others perceive your actions and helps you calibrate your
behavior. Beyond its direct utility, soliciting and receiving feedback makes you more visible. It can help you
cultivate a relationship with a potential mentor or advocate.

Don’t overdo requests for feedback. Seek it for major project milestones or specific intervals a few times a
year. Request specific guidance you can act on: What one thing am I doing especially well? What one thing
could I do to improve? Pay attention to feedback from a variety of sources that reveals repeating motifs.

“Feedback is the best learning curve anyone can have,” says Heather Melville, director
for strategic partnerships at the Royal Bank of Scotland, “and the cheapest market
research you can get! ”

While you don’t have to honor others’ opinions – especially unsolicited ones – try to set aside any reflexive
defensiveness. Determine if there’s truth to the criticism and decide whether to act on it or not. When

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 feedback is positive, share it with your boss, colleagues, mentors and professional network. That’s not
boasting; that’s ensuring that they recognize your good work.

About the Author

Leadership coach, blogger and speaker Susan Ritchie also wrote Strategies for Being Brilliant: 21 Ways to
Be Happy, Confident and Successful.

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