Raising your leadership profile
July 26, 2020 9:43 AM Subscribe
How do you raise your leadership profile? Looking for resources.
For several years, I had to downshift my work/career. I ended up doing a lot of other cool things. Now I am building back up again. I need to build up to a level beyond where I was before, in terms of my status as a business owner / influencer. The feedback I'm getting as I go along is super positive and, when people hear my story, they respond really well. To my surprise, when people hear why I had to step away from this field and what I am bringing back, they really want to help and can see what I have to offer. It's taken a lot of personal work to get to the post-traumatic growth stage.
But, to take my business / career where I want to go, I need to bring myself up to more intimidating (to me) levels of influence and credibility. I know a big part of this is impostor syndrome. I know I have all the skills, credentials, etc. But what I need are introductions, connections and more -- to a much higher level of influence. Everyone I have met so far is telling me that I have what it takes and people are helping. But I need to get up much higher in the influencer hierarchy and, to be honest, a lot of the people helping me are not at those levels. Government business advisors and entrepreneurship program managers vs people who are regional directors, national directors, heads of large organizations, etc.
So how do you cultivate a plan to raise your profile as a leader? I can see many people have board memberships, often with places that don't really advertise how to get on to their boards ,task forces ,and so on. I think it's all relational at this point. Probably people come up with plans somehow for this stuff?
I already have tons of credentials, lots of experience, strong media coverage, references, etc. So I know the piece I am missing is reconnecting and elevating my network. I am told I have really good networking skills and people skills and that I'm authentic and well liked and I think that is true. I have supports to work on the impostor syndrome pieces. I feel like I need some sort of practical leadership development that results in a much bigger network and a repositioning. I don't really want to write all the details here. But there are surely books and so on? I'm not talking about "how to become an authority in your field". I have done all those "things". It's the relational piece with connections. How do I move higher in the network of influence, so that I'm up there with the leaders? (The people I am connecting with are validating that I belong there and they were telling me this before I was ready to believe it. lol)
Thanks.
For several years, I had to downshift my work/career. I ended up doing a lot of other cool things. Now I am building back up again. I need to build up to a level beyond where I was before, in terms of my status as a business owner / influencer. The feedback I'm getting as I go along is super positive and, when people hear my story, they respond really well. To my surprise, when people hear why I had to step away from this field and what I am bringing back, they really want to help and can see what I have to offer. It's taken a lot of personal work to get to the post-traumatic growth stage.
But, to take my business / career where I want to go, I need to bring myself up to more intimidating (to me) levels of influence and credibility. I know a big part of this is impostor syndrome. I know I have all the skills, credentials, etc. But what I need are introductions, connections and more -- to a much higher level of influence. Everyone I have met so far is telling me that I have what it takes and people are helping. But I need to get up much higher in the influencer hierarchy and, to be honest, a lot of the people helping me are not at those levels. Government business advisors and entrepreneurship program managers vs people who are regional directors, national directors, heads of large organizations, etc.
So how do you cultivate a plan to raise your profile as a leader? I can see many people have board memberships, often with places that don't really advertise how to get on to their boards ,task forces ,and so on. I think it's all relational at this point. Probably people come up with plans somehow for this stuff?
I already have tons of credentials, lots of experience, strong media coverage, references, etc. So I know the piece I am missing is reconnecting and elevating my network. I am told I have really good networking skills and people skills and that I'm authentic and well liked and I think that is true. I have supports to work on the impostor syndrome pieces. I feel like I need some sort of practical leadership development that results in a much bigger network and a repositioning. I don't really want to write all the details here. But there are surely books and so on? I'm not talking about "how to become an authority in your field". I have done all those "things". It's the relational piece with connections. How do I move higher in the network of influence, so that I'm up there with the leaders? (The people I am connecting with are validating that I belong there and they were telling me this before I was ready to believe it. lol)
Thanks.
Start mentoring others. Getting your mentees out in the field will increase the reach of your influence. Also, speaking at conferences is a great way to up your profile. If you want to talk to those that are currently in the position you're seeking, ask them how to get those conference slots.
posted by irisclara at 10:48 AM on July 26, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by irisclara at 10:48 AM on July 26, 2020 [1 favorite]
Many cities have a Leadership “City” program that brings together a cohort of leaders from different fields for various leadership experiences over the course of a year. The goal is leadership development and networking. These are often managed by the Chamber of Commerce. My local one is here. This is a great way to meet people who have the higher profile and might be on the boards you are interested in.
My city also has a city-run program focused on preparing residents for service on the city’s boards and commissions. It was also a good way to meet people. Depending on the size of your city and their perceived prestige, the city’s boards and commissions may be very difficult to get on, or they may be constantly trying to get engaged members.
I had a good experience with a women’s coaching group run by a local life/career coach. The coach is well connected locally, and the group required a non-trivial $ investment so the women involved were professionally successful. I got connected to a local board I had been interested in for a while that way.
For nonprofit boards specifically, organizations do tend to prefer if you have some involvement with their org - through volunteering, donating, etc. Pick some orgs that do work you believe in and get involved. Then you can express interest in board service.
One thing to consider is reframing this problem as how to be of greater service to your community (however you define it). Rather than trying to find people to help you, look for how you can serve, and keep looking for opportunities to serve with bigger impact.
posted by jeoc at 1:25 PM on July 26, 2020 [2 favorites]
My city also has a city-run program focused on preparing residents for service on the city’s boards and commissions. It was also a good way to meet people. Depending on the size of your city and their perceived prestige, the city’s boards and commissions may be very difficult to get on, or they may be constantly trying to get engaged members.
I had a good experience with a women’s coaching group run by a local life/career coach. The coach is well connected locally, and the group required a non-trivial $ investment so the women involved were professionally successful. I got connected to a local board I had been interested in for a while that way.
For nonprofit boards specifically, organizations do tend to prefer if you have some involvement with their org - through volunteering, donating, etc. Pick some orgs that do work you believe in and get involved. Then you can express interest in board service.
One thing to consider is reframing this problem as how to be of greater service to your community (however you define it). Rather than trying to find people to help you, look for how you can serve, and keep looking for opportunities to serve with bigger impact.
posted by jeoc at 1:25 PM on July 26, 2020 [2 favorites]
The alpha and omega of business networking are:
* Be around, and fun to be around.
* Make your allies money.
I would hope the first bullet is self-evident.
The second bullet is not paying someone to mentor you, it's about figure out ways that your business can drive other people's success and doing that.
You are correct to observe that the "people" who are telling you positive things are not very useful ... they are people who are quite literally paid to make you feel good about yourself.
You're not on the right track about boards and speaking. The unfortunate truth about high profile industry board seats and speaking invitations is that they are one of two things: a capstone for someone who already has success, and are taken either for an ego boost, or for the opportunity to be of service, or they are pay-to-play, given in exchange for large sponsorship fees or donations or both.
You need to ratchet down your perception of influencing. Unless you're literally trying to become a celebrity of some sort, no one worth influencing is impacted by "influencing" in the social media sense.
posted by MattD at 1:52 PM on July 26, 2020 [3 favorites]
* Be around, and fun to be around.
* Make your allies money.
I would hope the first bullet is self-evident.
The second bullet is not paying someone to mentor you, it's about figure out ways that your business can drive other people's success and doing that.
You are correct to observe that the "people" who are telling you positive things are not very useful ... they are people who are quite literally paid to make you feel good about yourself.
You're not on the right track about boards and speaking. The unfortunate truth about high profile industry board seats and speaking invitations is that they are one of two things: a capstone for someone who already has success, and are taken either for an ego boost, or for the opportunity to be of service, or they are pay-to-play, given in exchange for large sponsorship fees or donations or both.
You need to ratchet down your perception of influencing. Unless you're literally trying to become a celebrity of some sort, no one worth influencing is impacted by "influencing" in the social media sense.
posted by MattD at 1:52 PM on July 26, 2020 [3 favorites]
Response by poster: Just following up to say that I ended up on a bunch of senior management panels, media and in a lot of high level meetings and they have unlocked a whole lot of other opportunities, board memberships and grants and awards nominations and lots of work. So I guess I was doing what I needed to do and was just impatient. lol
posted by Chaussette and the Pussy Cats at 7:16 PM on September 16, 2020
posted by Chaussette and the Pussy Cats at 7:16 PM on September 16, 2020
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posted by ananci at 10:07 AM on July 26, 2020