Getting Seen

Success at work relies on many things: dedication, excellent work, sound judgment, strong relationships, and a proactive approach are among them. And you can add to the list—getting seen.

Getting seen was not a value I was raised with. The message in my family was, “Work hard, give your best, and you will be rewarded. Don’t draw attention to yourself—that’s a sign of selfishness, which is a sign of weak character.” Perhaps. But there’s a problem with that philosophy: bosses can’t reward what they don’t see. No one can.

When I was in high school, I went straight from class to track practice to get ready for the next race, and then to the barn to get ready for the next horse show. In track, winning or losing was clear—there was no question who crossed the finish line first. In horseback riding, things weren’t as clear. Especially when it came to equitation events. Take the fences (jumps) out of the ring, and put a bunch of horses and riders in, and you have a very difficult situation in which the judges must try to get a good look at all of the riders, judge their form, and decide whose is best. And I remember my trainer telling one of my fellow riders, dejected after not placing at all in an event, “You didn’t get seen. You have to get seen or you can't win, you can't even place.” I thought hard about that. It flew in the face of what I’d been taught. Yet I knew it was true.

Work is a lot more like riding than track. There are few obvious and visible finish lines and timers like in track. Managers have their hands full. They want to have a clear picture of their department and who is really performing, and this is often difficult. Take responsibility to make it easy for them. Without embellishing, keep them informed:

• Be sure they know what you’re working on
  
• Tell them your “wins”- they need to know!
  
• Be proactive with your ideas and contributions
  
• Ask for feedback (research shows that employees who ask for feedback are viewed favorably by senior management. It shows confidence and the desire to improve and contribute more)
  

Don’t go to the extreme—you won’t win favor by being in their office every two seconds keeping them informed on your activities and accomplishments. Simply make it a part of your weekly or monthly status meeting or update document.

If you’re doing great work, a good manager is going to want to know about it. Who knows? This could help them make the decision about who gets the promotion. Do them a favor, and don’t make it difficult for them to decide. Take the responsibility to get seen.