Friends, here is something I have noticed. Many people will jostle for position to get on the agenda of SteerCo (Steering Committee) meetings or other sessions with senior leaders.
Many people think that the way to get noticed is by raising your visibility with senior leaders – and having the opportunity to present your work.
Here is my contrarian thought on the subject.
If you angle to get into front of senior leaders, and then present your work as something that leaders should know about, or you contrive a situation where you ask for guidance/direction in the hope that you are seen as a leader, then stop doing this. Right now. I can tell you for a fact that senior leaders will see straight through this, and it will work against you.
Here is a more effective and generous way to get visibility of leaders.
Invite a junior member of the team to present the work. In your preamble, introduce the junior member, and advise all that they are here because you want them to learn:
- how to present to senior leaders.
- how SteerCos work in real life and how decisions are made.
- senior executives are people and not just their roles.
- speaking up and being confident is a useful skill that will serve them well.
Your senior leadership will then see you as a leader who is growing and developing others. You will be known you for your leadership behaviours, and not just your work.
And friends, of course it goes without saying that you need to do this because you have generosity of spirit and you really want to shine the spotlight on others. Don’t forget the reflected light will fall on you, too.
And how am I so wise? Because I do this all the time – and it’s only recently that I realised in shining the light on others, I have been shining the light on myself all along. But my motives were pure. I suspect if I was doing this for selfish reasons, everyone would see straight through me. People are wise like that.
#leadership
