It's Called Show and Tell
It’s not enough to be good at what you do. You have to be able to TELL people about it.
In your role as a project manager, welder, electrician, posthole digger – or in any job – it’s critical that you learn to share your successes in a way that gets you noticed and appreciated for your contributions.
First, let’s acknowledge that this doesn’t happen naturally.
Unfortunately, not every supervisor is going to notice that you work harder, produce better, or have higher quality standards than anyone else.
Instead, you are going to have to take responsibility for drawing attention to your good work when you want it.
If you don’t, you won’t get the raises you want, the promotions you want, the projects you want, the credit you deserve, or the attention you’ve earned.
It’s probably a lot like your personal life, right? You can work your tail off running kids here and there, keeping the house in order, making sure everyone is clothed, fed, and ready for bed, and you may – or may not – get a “thank you.”
On the job, communicating your value on the team is part of your job.
Here are four things every woman in infrastructure should be doing regularly.
Keep a file of your “Atta Gals.” I call mine my Laurie File. In it you’ll find emails from customers and clients that mention something I’ve done that they appreciate. Just recently I put in a copy of my MOXY column when it went international. You’ll want to include a project report where you got high marks on something you’ve worked on. Be sure to include copies of your positive performance reviews or emails from peers and colleagues saying “Atta Gal!” And if you got a “Thank you” from a customer or anyone on your team, include it.
Share these items with your manager with an email that says, “Look what I got!” or “Thought you’d like to know that the customer is happy with our work on the project!” My mom taught me that it’s not bragging if it’s true.
Build a bridge between your team and management. Communicate with upper management about the successes of your team. They don’t know what you’re doing if YOU don’t tell them. Recently, one of my coaching clients was commiserating that his upper management didn’t take the time to appreciate his team’s work. When I asked if he had shared the team’s latest accomplishments, he confessed that he hadn’t. That’s your job – to build the bridge between your team and your management. Share their successes.
Impress them with your numbers. Compile a list of your accomplishments this quarter/year/project. Imagine how impressive it would be to read that you have run 100 miles of electrical wire, laid the equivalent of a football field of asphalt, used more nails than there are people in your state, or finished more projects without lost time than in the last five years – or whatever your impressive numbers are.
Learn to share your successes in meetings, and make a concerted effort to share your accomplishments with your managers, leadership, customers, and peers so that you can get the accolades you deserve, the raises you want, and the promotions you’ve earned.
It’s not enough to be good at what you do. You have to be able to TELL people about it.
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