The Most Expensive Lesson I Learnt

We grow up believing that if we work hard, the rewards will follow.

I know this firsthand. I graduated with a heavy student loan, and I was convinced that working hard was the fastest way to earn more, build my career, and create the life I wanted. So I put my head down and I worked.

The most expensive lesson I learnt was that hard work was only 70% of the work.

The ones who do the other 30% really well are the ones who rise to the top. And that 30% has nothing to do with effort. It has everything to do with visibility, relationships, and how you are perceived by the people who make decisions about your career.

Hard work is only the entry ticket. It gets you in the room, but it does not determine what happens next.The reality is that visibility, politics, and perceptions are equally important. And when the right people cannot see your work, your efforts get attributed to someone else, or worse, go unnoticed entirely.

The most successful people are always trying to figure out why things are not going their way, learn from it, and try again.

Here are three things you can do when you find yourself in this situation.

1. Get clarity on what success actually looks like

Never assume what success looks like. From all the years I have spent leading teams, success is rarely what is written on a job description.

You want to be prompting and asking questions to gain clarity, even if your manager does not volunteer those details.

• “How would success in this role be measured in 3 months?”
• “What key aspects do you need me to deliver on to build a strong business case for promotion?”
• “Other than my technical skills, how would you rate my visibility within the organisation and what would an increase look like?
  

Most managers are not trained to give that clarity proactively. So if they are not being clear, ask the questions that help you align on what good looks like and what great looks like. 

2. Figure out where the power lies

In every organisation, there are formal and informal lines of power. Your direct boss is not always the person who makes the decisions that matter for your career.

Your job is to figure out who holds the influence and how you can make sure they see your work too.

What can you do?

-Set up quarterly one-on-ones with that person 

-Proactively find ways to share what you are working on

-Identify stretch projects that give you direct exposure to them

Visibility is something you have to build intentionally.

3. Ask for feedback and close the gap

When things do not go your way, the goal is to understand why.

If you were passed over for an opportunity, ask for specific feedback. Not knowing why is the most disempowering position to be in. That gap between what your organisation thinks of your performance and what you think of your own performance is something only a conversation can close.

Once you have the feedback, work with your manager to co-design ways to close the gap and actively drive conversations to track against it.

Doing good work is the baseline. Managing relationships and optics is what ensures that work gets seen and valued.

Over To You

If this resonates, I have a free resource that walks you through exactly this. My Career Power Move Playbook is a five-step roadmap to get clear, get noticed, and get ahead in a high-impact career. Download your free copy here!

Rooting for you,
Angel Kilian
Founder | Career inFocus