“What’s the best career advice you were given when you were just starting out?”
I honestly didn't get a lot of advice when I was just starting out, but there’s one piece of advice I can share. It isn’t advice I was given — it's the advice I wish I’d been given. This is something that took me years to figure out on my own, and it’s a huge game changer for any career.
Here’s the advice I now give to all my mentoring and career coaching clients:
Be visible.
This holds true whether you're just starting out or you're years into a career. Be visible. Make yourself and your work seen. I know that you do great work. I know that you’re intelligent and capable and talented. But are the people who matter in your career also seeing this?
Want to be promoted? Your leaders need to see great work from you regularly.
Want to get in on the next great project? Your leaders need to see the skills and experience you can bring to it.
Want to have recruiters reach out about new opportunities? They need to know you’re an expert and someone worth headhunting.
Want to hear about speaking engagements and other opportunities? People need to know that you’re a thought leader and someone with an opinion worth sharing.
These things don’t just happen. They happen when people see evidence of your skills, your expertise, and your perspective. And because people are busy and distracted, this can't be an occasional thing. You need to be seen often. You need to be visible regularly and consistently.
You also need to reach as many people as possible. Be visible within your immediate team, but also within your organization. Be visible to every level of leadership. Be visible to your network and your community. Hell, be visible to friends and family — you never know where your next opportunity might come from.
Visibility = opportunity.
Debunking the myth: Great work should speak for itself
One thing I often hear from clients is that “great work should speak for itself.” I'll be honest, I used to say that myself! It took several hard lessons to change that perspective for me.
It's true — great work should stand out.
But here’s the thing: Great work doesn't have a voice. It can’t speak for itself.
If you want your amazing work to be seen, recognized, and valued you need to be the voice for your work. For everything you bring to your job, your role, and your company. And for all that to be seen and recognized and appreciated, people need to see it. They need to hear it. They need to witness it. That only happens if you share widely and often with as many people as possible.
Great work can only speak for itself when you bring it to others' attention.
Be visible!
I truly wish someone had shared this advice with me early in my career. So no matter where you are in your own career, let me share this now: Be visible. Let people see the incredible work that you do. Share often, and share widely.
P.S. Visibility is such an important career skill that I’m working on another blog post to go deeper! In an upcoming post we’ll move from the ‘why’ to the ‘how’ of being visible. If you'd like a heads-up when the next post goes live you can sign up to my mailing list. More soon!
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