Motivational & Special Event Speaker Conferences
The Invisible Leaders: How to Find Them and Let Them Shine
To be a leader you must be visible. Leadership and visibility require each other. When your people have both qualities, others will see them as individuals with power, influence, authority, and leadership. Others will know who they are and what they do, and will appreciate the value they bring to the table. Without visibility, they will never be noticed, and their value to the company will be lost.
Who are these people, and how can you unleash their hidden talents?
Here are just a few of your leaders who may be hiding in plain sight:
- The introvert who is intimidated by the extroverts around him
- The talented but shy person who is afraid of self-promotion
- The budding star who chose the parent track over the fast track
- The person of a different race or culture who has been taught not to put themselves forward
The Impact of Visibility
The Invisible Leader is a topic Joel often speaks on as a motivational speaker at conferences.
You undoubtedly have people who are performing well, but unless the right people know how well they are performing, they will constantly be overlooked, especially if they are part of a team of shining stars. The people who make decisions about who gets promoted and who doesn’t will not be aware of their value.
Joel’s presentations as a speaker at conventions, conferences, and special events will show your invisible leaders how to actively display their true value so that they begin to show up on the radar screens of your key decision-makers.
The Company Wins When People Are Visible
Both the company and the employees win when Joel is chosen as a motivational speaker at a corporate conference.
Here are some of the key benefits the company will enjoy when its hidden talent becomes more visible:
- Employee engagement will improve.
How do you make sure your employees feel like an integral part of your company? By giving them the visibility they desire and deserve. Training your people to exercise their visibility says, “You matter to us.” It makes employees feel emotionally involved with the company. As their loyalty grows, they are much more likely to be engaged, and to stay with you for the long term. - When people feel valued, they produce better results.
Becoming highly visible gives your less visible employees the opportunity to enjoy the recognition that comes with good performance. They begin to feel more confident. When they feel confident in their abilities, they work harder. Hard work equals increased productivity and greater profits. It’s a win-win for the employees and the company. - When individuals shine, the team shines.
A good manager is not a soloist. As a manager, you need a high performing team of people behind you. When they succeed, you succeed. As a corporate leader, you’re enhancing everyone’s success by raising the visibility of your team’s profile within the organization. - Team effectiveness improves.
As a manager, what do you know about your team? What do you NOT know? That’s where the hidden talent lies. Teams rely on having diverse, yet cohesive, skills and abilities. When managers become aware of hidden talent and take steps to make people more visible, they create a more collaborative culture. - Improved visibility leads to greater responsibility.
People who are learning and growing will start to crave high visibility assignments. These meaningful, high visibility assignments keep them motivated and engaged. Other people in the organization, particularly upper management, start to become aware of them. There’s a high probability that these emerging stars will be picked for the next opportunity that comes along. Combining visibility with opportunity creates a positive endless loop: visibility = opportunity = even greater visibility. - Visibility improves retention.
When upper management and Human Resources have taken steps to increase the visibility of the most talented individuals, they can be more fully leveraged, especially during talent review discussions. By fostering visibility, your valuable talent pool won’t be overlooked. Instead, they will be more clearly identified and utilized.
The Visibility Process: A Participant’s Perspective
How does the process of becoming visible actually occur? How does someone go from barely being noticed inside your organization to actually being valued and having impact?
Joel’s motivational conferences and speaking appearances take participants through this six-step process:
Step 1 – Get noticed.
Learn how to make others aware of you, your work, and your contributions. For people who are comfortable hiding out and not having others be aware of them, it can be difficult to be seen at work. Getting noticed, however, is the initial necessary step toward becoming visible in the organization.
Step 2 – Learn how to stand out.
Put yourself out there by informing others of your accomplishments with confidence. Speak up and increase your exposure. This step involves raising your profile and becoming known inside the organization by being outspoken. It requires you to inform others of your accomplishments, and be direct and candid in your decisions and opinions.
Step 3 – Start to be recognized.
After you begin to stand out, others will start to recognize what you are doing to benefit the organization. Receiving recognition is a vital source of positive feedback and it is necessary at this stage in the visibility process. You may begin to feel a bit uneasy with the amount of visibility you’ve generated as you work on making yourself known, and this uncomfortable edge brings with it a degree of vulnerability. However, the energy and enthusiasm you get from the recognition you receive makes you better able to conquer this feeling of uncertainty and keep moving forward.
Step 4 – Be remembered.
People in the organization, especially those who have influence, will begin remembering who you are. You are beginning to establish a solid reputation and earn respect. You have established yourself as someone your colleagues know, see, and appreciate. Every person wants to reach this stage—to be someone to whom others turn for knowledge and expertise.
Step 5 – Become valued.
You’ve become a known and desired commodity within the company. People know how much significance and importance you bring to the organization and therefore they seek you out. Now you are playing at a higher level and you feel comfortable with your higher profile and greater participation.
Step 6 – Have impact.
Now you are having a genuine, tangible effect on the company. You’ve become a valuable person whose efforts and input are necessary for the organization’s current and future success. You are consistently working at a high level of visibility and influence. Management knows who you are, what you do, and how much value you add to the company.
The Bottom Line
Here’s what your invisible leaders need to know: If you aren’t telling people what you are doing, they will create their own story about you. And the story they are creating is based on their perception of you, which is not necessarily the truth.
Show your invisible leaders the clear path from invisibility to impact. Whether for a convention, conference, or special corporate event, booking Joel as your speaker will show your potential leaders how to shine.
Getting Ahead Books Are Available for Each Participant
Joel’s book, Getting Ahead: Three Steps to Take Your Career to the Next Level is the perfect companion tool because one-third of the book features a specific, detailed guide for how to “Increase Your Visibility and Raise Your Profile.” As a motivational speaker at conferences, Joel knows the value of having this book be a resource for all participants.
