13: Sharing Your Narrative Could Potentially Save Your Job

WEBVTT

00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:07.620
As a manager, a recruiter, and a coach, I've heard the following words come out of senior leaders mouths on more than a few occasions.

00:00:07.980 --> 00:00:14.250
And those words are: I'm not sure I even know what that person actually does.

00:00:15.109 --> 00:00:23.750
In most cases, that thought has been expressed when a senior leader is reconsidering the staffing of their team or in their organization overall.

00:00:24.289 --> 00:00:36.229
And when they don't know what, and I'm putting this in quotes,"a person actually does," then that person or those people are potentially first in line for the cutting block.

00:00:36.770 --> 00:00:41.810
So does your boss or do the senior leaders in your company actually know what you do?

00:00:42.289 --> 00:00:52.549
If you suspect they don't or you suspect that they don't know the full extent and value of what you do, then stick around and let's figure out how to fix it.

00:01:31.777 --> 00:01:37.447
Have you ever suspected that the decision makers in your career don't really understand what you do?

00:01:37.956 --> 00:01:49.656
I'm talking about your boss, skip level, an HR or talent rep, or anyone else who might have a say in whether you advance in your career, or even if you keep your job.

00:01:50.137 --> 00:01:58.387
If you suspect that any, or let's say all of them, don't then it may be time to consider your narrative and how you're communicating it.

00:01:58.927 --> 00:02:08.826
If you've listened to Episode 1 of the podcast, What's Your Narrative, then you know my position on the three components of a well thought through personal narrative.

00:02:09.247 --> 00:02:12.366
And they are: One, what do you do?

00:02:12.676 --> 00:02:15.366
Two, what context do you do it in?

00:02:15.727 --> 00:02:19.026
And three, what's the impact of your work?

00:02:19.806 --> 00:02:33.877
In previous episodes, I've discussed how you can apply this framework to the overall narrative you create for yourself and share with others in various settings and applications, like networking, interviewing, your LinkedIn profile, in your resume.

00:02:34.417 --> 00:02:41.526
In this episode, let's consider how you might apply it to, well, let's call it a little internal PR.

00:02:42.187 --> 00:02:47.556
The MBA graduates and others that I work with are a dedicated and hardworking group of people.

00:02:47.977 --> 00:02:57.757
And they often devote so much time and energy to meeting the objectives of their jobs and companies that they neglect a key component of a successful career.

00:02:58.146 --> 00:03:06.727
And that's helping others understand their work, how it fits into a company's overall strategy, and the benefit it delivers.

00:03:07.477 --> 00:03:11.676
In other words, many of my clients aren't natural self promoters.

00:03:12.067 --> 00:03:16.116
You'd think they are given the stereotypes of the cutthroat MBA.

00:03:16.477 --> 00:03:25.687
In fact, when I turn the conversation in this direction the typical response I get is one of more than a little discomfort and shame.

00:03:26.526 --> 00:03:29.646
A client might say: I'm so bad at that.

00:03:29.887 --> 00:03:34.717
Or: Isn't it enough that I just do a good job and meet my goals?

00:03:34.776 --> 00:03:35.917
Won't that be enough?

00:03:36.606 --> 00:03:45.276
And as I like to say, and it's become a bit of a tagline for me, if you don't define your narrative, then someone else might do it for you.

00:03:45.576 --> 00:03:47.706
And you might not like what they come up with.

00:03:48.247 --> 00:04:03.622
Many of my clients would prefer to lay the facts of a job well done out on the table through their day-to-day activities and let those above them, who they assume are smart and paying attention put the pieces together themselves and come up with a good story.

00:04:04.102 --> 00:04:12.051
A story that includes the function or work my client does, how it fits into the bigger picture, and what the benefit of their work is.

00:04:12.912 --> 00:04:22.661
Now that last point is an important one, because it's the point that, in the end, justifies their salary, their bonus, and their benefits.

00:04:22.932 --> 00:04:24.581
Essentially their job.

00:04:25.331 --> 00:04:30.252
Now to put that all together and come up with that story, that's a lot to ask of someone.

00:04:30.732 --> 00:04:36.791
If there's one thing that I know that's true for all the senior leaders I work with, their schedules are packed.

00:04:37.091 --> 00:04:42.612
They have a lot more information to take in and digest than is reasonably possible.

00:04:43.002 --> 00:04:45.851
And they're often on the edge of exhaustion.

00:04:46.482 --> 00:05:06.041
So are you really going to rely on them to string together the bits and pieces of information they receive from you and likely dozens of other people on a regular basis to come up with an accurate and complete understanding of your role, the context that surrounds it and the benefit it offers to the larger organization.

00:05:06.732 --> 00:05:08.201
It sounds risky to me.

00:05:09.012 --> 00:05:11.891
So why not go on a stealth campaign to educate them?

00:05:12.281 --> 00:05:17.112
I'm not saying you need to schedule a meeting to communicate the key elements of your personal narrative.

00:05:17.622 --> 00:05:19.512
That would be a bit much.

00:05:20.023 --> 00:05:36.312
Instead, why not look for opportunities to share this information in a low key way over time so that your boss and the senior leaders in your company, whether that's a senior leadership team, a board or investors, are naturally exposed to the information.

00:05:36.762 --> 00:05:50.742
Every meeting presentation, email, DM, or chance in-person encounter, if you haven't gone fully remote, is an opportunity to share the essential elements of your personal narrative and that of your team.

00:05:51.372 --> 00:05:56.293
Not all of them, of course, but bits of information dripped out over time.

00:05:56.773 --> 00:05:58.692
Think of it like advertising.

00:05:58.853 --> 00:06:06.432
You know, I worked in consumer products for a lot of years, so I tend to think about these things like a good advertising campaign.

00:06:06.853 --> 00:06:10.572
You have a message that you want to communicate and you have a target.

00:06:10.882 --> 00:06:18.322
In this case, your message is your narrative, and your target is the decision makers who can help advance your career, or not.

00:06:18.833 --> 00:06:27.023
So let's consider a few examples of times where you have an opportunity to share your narrative or your team's narrative or bits and pieces of it.

00:06:27.663 --> 00:06:30.273
An obvious one would be your annual review.

00:06:30.723 --> 00:06:36.963
As a coach, I've read quite a few people's annual reviews before and after they've shared them with their bosses.

00:06:37.483 --> 00:06:41.853
An annual review, it's an ideal opportunity to talk about impact.

00:06:42.182 --> 00:06:51.093
And many people do talk about the checklist of items they've completed or achieved for the year, but what's usually missing is context.

00:06:51.452 --> 00:06:59.463
It's a lot less common to see people connect their achievements and contributions to the larger strategy of their company or organization.

00:07:00.093 --> 00:07:10.742
Now the clients that I've worked with writing these statements for their annual review are putting those achievements, those accomplishments on the plates of their manager or HR.

00:07:11.112 --> 00:07:17.973
Now there's a good chance that your direct manager will be able to make that connection, that contextual connection in their mind.

00:07:18.543 --> 00:07:20.223
But what about your skip level?

00:07:20.492 --> 00:07:22.142
Will it be as easy for them?

00:07:22.423 --> 00:07:34.928
And what if your manager or skip level or both get replaced and your new manager or new skip level is reading your review without the benefit of that written contextual connection.

00:07:35.579 --> 00:07:36.928
What happens then?

00:07:37.528 --> 00:07:44.608
And are you in danger of those new people saying: I'm not really sure what this person does.

00:07:45.262 --> 00:07:54.862
Another opportunity to share all or part of your narrative might be a budget meeting where you're trying to get funding for what you consider to be a critical project.

00:07:55.232 --> 00:07:58.262
And in this case, who's in your target audience?

00:07:58.622 --> 00:08:00.781
Well, it would be your friends in finance.

00:08:01.382 --> 00:08:12.781
My guess is that they'll need information that reinforces their sense that the funds being requested are integral to fulfilling the company's plans for the coming year or the next few years.

00:08:13.172 --> 00:08:14.762
So give them a little context.

00:08:15.062 --> 00:08:22.021
How does your proposal or work fit into the larger context of the company's revenue or profit generating activities?

00:08:22.351 --> 00:08:27.812
What impact will you and your work have on the top or bottom line, or both?

00:08:28.262 --> 00:08:37.022
Don't make them guess, spell it out and do everything you can to ensure your understanding of these two points is their understanding.

00:08:37.361 --> 00:08:51.611
It will probably help you get the funding you want, and it could also help ensure that your friends in finance speak up on your behalf if it's your role that's being considered or reconsidered, and not just your project.

00:08:52.331 --> 00:08:56.291
And a final example is the semi-endangered hallway conversation.

00:08:56.921 --> 00:09:00.640
Now it doesn't have to be a conversation in an actual hallway.

00:09:01.000 --> 00:09:08.051
I'm just thinking of any incidental conversation that happens throughout the course of a day, week, month or year.

00:09:08.471 --> 00:09:17.851
It's the time when a manager or other leader in your company needs to make small talk and they say something to you like: So, how are you doing?

00:09:18.432 --> 00:09:41.711
When that happens, rather than wasting the opportunity with a,"things are great, thanks!" consider saying something that might remind the person who asked about either your role or your work how it fits into the larger context of the company's activities or the impact that you and your team are having or will soon have on the company.

00:09:42.251 --> 00:09:46.451
I'm thinking back to my time as the person in charge of Neutrogena's website.

00:09:46.871 --> 00:10:00.011
At that time, websites and digital marketing were pretty new, and I had the sense that senior leaders had very little concept of what I or my team were doing and why it was important for the company.

00:10:00.371 --> 00:10:04.211
Hard to imagine now, I know, but that's the way things were.

00:10:04.678 --> 00:10:11.219
Now the space that my team and I just happened to be occupying was on the way to the company President's office.

00:10:11.729 --> 00:10:16.139
A lot of people ended up hanging out near us when they were waiting to see the President.

00:10:16.558 --> 00:10:19.259
And the President himself often passed by.

00:10:19.859 --> 00:10:30.568
As a group, we decided that we each needed to have something on the tip of our tongue to say that we could share with anyone who might be hanging out or passing by.

00:10:31.042 --> 00:10:45.591
That would help them gain a better understanding of what we were doing, especially because it was new, how it fit into the company's larger objectives and strategies, and how it was making a difference or would be making a difference.

00:10:46.011 --> 00:10:47.542
It wasn't that hard to do.

00:10:47.812 --> 00:11:05.091
Consider the following example, I'm sitting in my office typing away and a member of the senior leadership team strolls by and they realize that they're a little early for their meeting with the President, and they stick their head in my office and they say: So, how are things going, Doug?

00:11:05.572 --> 00:11:08.991
And I say: Great thanks! I'm really excited.

00:11:08.991 --> 00:11:13.162
We just finished testing a prototype of the new skincare evaluation tool.

00:11:13.822 --> 00:11:16.101
And they say: Oh, what's that?

00:11:16.341 --> 00:11:24.621
And I say: Oh, it's, it's a new tool for the website and it looks like it's really going to help simplify choosing products based on skincare problems.

00:11:25.192 --> 00:11:34.432
Now, even back then Neutrogena had a lot of SKUs and choosing the right Neutrogena product for the right skincare problem wasn't always easy.

00:11:34.943 --> 00:11:50.004
Mentioning the skincare evaluation tool for the website in a casual conversation like that was an easy way to reinforce that my team and I were working on things that would help drive top-line revenue for the company.

00:11:50.653 --> 00:12:06.163
In a very quick conversation like that, I was able to educate or remind a senior leader in the company what my team was working on, the context in which we were doing it, and the impact it was going to have for the company.

00:12:06.813 --> 00:12:17.193
And if I had stopped at"things are great" and ended it there, it certainly wouldn't have had the same effect or the same benefit for me and for my team.

00:12:18.043 --> 00:12:28.183
So, consider opportunities you might have on a day-to-day basis to share elements of your narrative, or your team's narrative, with senior leaders in your company.

00:12:28.663 --> 00:12:30.923
Don't wait for a big presentation or meeting.

00:12:31.313 --> 00:12:32.504
Don't make it formal.

00:12:32.533 --> 00:12:40.573
Look for any opportunity you might have to share what you do, the context you do it in, and the impact of your work.

00:12:41.527 --> 00:12:49.386
If you do this regularly, you and your team are more likely to be seen as essential to your company's short and long-term success.

00:12:49.897 --> 00:12:59.647
And it's a lot less likely that your manager, your skip level or your leadership team will ever wonder what it is that you actually do.