See and Be Seen: Four Investments You Can Make in Yourself to Advance Your Career

One of the greatest privileges I have experienced professionally has been the opportunity to mentor young professionals and help them grow, sharing the tips that have helped me advance my own career.  The real joy is to watch someone, whom I have nurtured, blossom in their own career and accomplish stature that actually eclipses the success and fame I have had in mine.  

There are several common themes that emerge from all the mentoring I have done over the years. 

Do Your Research, Understand Context

Too often when we are in junior positions in companies, we just tuck our heads down and do the task assigned to us.  We don’t ask why.  But knowing context for what we are tasked with day to day is critical, for a number of reasons.  First of all, when the work gets hard or tedious, as it inevitably does, your motivation to do your best will be enhanced if you know that greater objective for your task. 

More importantly, it makes you smarter about the business your company is in.  

Dig into the details that impact your employer’s business.  

• What is your Company’s history and its core value proposition?  
• Who are their competitors? 
• What are the revenue objectives for the Company?  
• What clients does your Company serve and what are the latest trends and vulnerabilities faced in their respective industries?  
• What do other departments in your Company do and what products/services do they deliver, and how does your group interact?  

Practically, getting a grasp on the context of your company’s business makes you more knowledgeable, articulate and valuable.  And this will come in handy if a new and better role opens up for which you might be eligible to apply. Inside your current company . . . . or out!)   

Ask for Explicit Feedback, Early and Often

Have you ever had a supervisor say at an annual review: “You are doing great” or “You need to improve your performance” but offer no detail?  A colleague of mine has always said “Feedback is a gift”. I would add that feedback is also your most valuable weapon.  It is the criteria on which you will build the strategy for your own career path.  

So, breaking this down, first, let’s explore the idea of asking for explicit feedback.  If you are doing great, ask for details about what specific aspect of what you are doing is “great”.  

Ask explicitly for your supervisor’s definition of whatever “GREAT-ER” would look like!

Would there be other responsibilities that you could take on, new methodologies you could learn, new skills you should try to master?  How could you build on being seen as great?

If the message is that you need to improve (and this is really important)… ask for explicit benchmarks for improvement and areas ripe for renovation.  

Name the metaphor: blueprint, roadmap, recipe, formula, checklist. This is the contract that you will construct with your manager, which if you meet it, will be the unambiguous criteria for advancement. These will be the unambiguous steps you both will agree on to get you out of the danger zone of being considered “under-performing”. Clear to you, clear to them.  

So How About Early? What Does that Mean?  

If you wait until your annual review, you are approximately 14 months too late. Why? Because your performance over the last twelve months, when covered retrospectively in the annual review, should have been guided by that plan you had constructed with your manager that unambiguously laid out expectations.  Not emotional but unequivocal, unambiguous KPIs set as a plan.  

The Annual Review then is a validation of what you have achieved against that plan. If you wait till the annual review, you can’t go back and change something if your supervisor expected “XXX” and you thought that a good job was delivering “YYY”?  Be proactive.

Set those expectations at the beginning of the cycle. . . not at the end. 

Now… Why Often?

The annual review is often mandated at a corporate level and it is the last thing that the busy manager wants to make time for.   

But you need data.  You need regular bits of feedback that can help you course-correct, shift, and accommodate changing corporate imperatives.  You want to be seen as essential and indispensable at every step of the business cycle.  If you don’t have data to guide you on what is considered important and how you can help, how can you adapt to fill that essential niche?  So, a frequent, even if unofficial “How and I doing?” is your best intel on how to make yourself irreplaceable. Tough in these very volatile times.  But essential to you, if you aspire to survival and covet advancement.    

Advocate for Yourself.

I used to think it was a gender thing. You know, how women are often characterized as feeling like they shouldn’t have to ask to have their needs met? I have come to realize that for many young practitioners, the struggle to speak up for yourself is an equal opportunity pitfall.  

And sadly, the consequence for you can be “Don’t ask. Don’t get.” 

I had an instance in my own career in which a cycle for promotions came up and, to my disappointment, I was not included in the company-wide announcement for a promotion and title upgrade that I thought was all but in the bag.  Apropos of the last recommendation, I had gotten explicitly positive comments in performance reviews, I had followed up and actively demonstrated that I had operationalized the constructive feedback and shown that I had taken new responsibilities, above and beyond my existing job description.  

But I never actually asked the question. When could I expect a promotion?  

When I summoned up the courage to actually discuss it with my boss, having rehearsed the dense and emotional argument for why I deserved it, he said: “Why didn’t you tell me?  I had no idea you wanted it!”  

Ouch! But we had both lost the moment and had to wait until the next cycle 6 months later, to achieve what I could have had if I had only spoken up. 

Busy execs with personal and departmental goals, objectives and KPIs often respond only to the circumstance that begs for action.  There is always triage that takes place when negotiating for compensation and acknowledgment of the accomplishments of the staff that reports to them. And mentoring itself doesn’t necessarily come naturally to all managers.  It may not be what you think you need to do, but you have to advocate for yourself.  

You might see it as an uncomfortable conversation.  But if you position it as a benchmark or just a candid exploration of your own career planning, it won’t feel like a demand.  It can be more like an anchoring and framing exercise, to enlist your manager in a collaborative process for your own development.   You might have to invest and build beyond your current expertise.  Promotions are not given just because you have been in the same job for a long period of time.  You have to step up and provide more value to your employer.  But at least if you have the conversation you will be on record for what you aspire to.  

Get Involved, Give Back

Early in my market research career, I got a piece of advice from an employer that I never lost sight of.  He told me to be successful, “insinuate yourself into the local fabric of market research”, to volunteer and get involved with industry groups and the business organization community.  His reasoning was that it would be an effective way to market the Company’s brand as well as to establish my own.  

I took it to heart . . . and I was fascinated by how easy it was to become known as a “doer” who was welcome in leadership roles, organizing activities, and acting as a spokesperson, and it was often actually fun.  By getting involved I have built credibility for my knowledge and expertise, met some lifelong friends, and risen to the ranks within a number of business and trade associations. It opened doors for me that helped immensely as I have built my career.

There are many ways to get involved.  You can join a local chapter of an industry group and just show up to events and network.  You can offer to help organize events, even in the age of COVID.  There are always Calls for Submissions for young practitioners to present at conferences or be considered for competitions.  You might be surprised how willing your employer would be to support the prep work for a research project, the results of which you would deliver.  There is a halo effect for their company, hiring such smart young people, and it is a terrific way for you to differentiate yourself.  

You can also mentor your peers and even reverse mentor to the older staff who are less fluent in tech.  Are you a wiz at Excel or video editing tools?  Have you mastered the tricks of posting on social media?  Offer to teach an internal webinar on some skills you have that would benefit the company.  Start a book club at your employer, discussing the thought leadership that is the foundation of your company’s value proposition

You can be part of the effort to inspire the next generation of researchers.  Volunteer to go to the recruitment fairs at colleges, or in this time of COVID, write something for your website’s careers page about what got you interested in the business, and what you have found rewarding and interesting. Organize a charitable activity for your company like a food drive, or some activity that gives your company visibility in the community.  

You may say “But I am already too busy”.  That is probably true.  But my experience would suggest even just a little bit of effort when you have downtime will pay dividends.  

No one will pay as much attention to your career as you will.  That is empowering but also a serious responsibility.  It is up to you to keep your career moving forward.  If you figure out small incremental steps to see and be seen, I guarantee that you will reap the benefits!