Annie [00:00:01]:
Welcome to the Whole Assistant Podcast, where assistants come to embrace their badassery and discover how to show up more strategically for their careers, their executives, and most importantly, themselves. I'm your coach, Annie Croner. Join us as we dive into the skills, strategies, and mindset that will help you unleash your full potential. Let's go. Welcome back to the Whole Assistant Podcast. Today I am sharing 3 missteps that are killing visibility. So I've been thinking a lot lately about visibility and just how much my people struggle with this. And I understand why, because we're often the behind the scenes person, don't wanna be braggadocious, or we think that if we are really highlighting our wins, that it may put somebody else down, or it just makes us uncomfortable, right? But visibility isn't about ego.
Annie [00:00:54]:
And it's not about being loud. Visibility isn't about becoming someone you're not. I have several clients that I've coached who have been very introverted and have improved their visibility so much. They have taken risks, taken steps to improve it, and I think that's great without becoming another person. So I don't think that that's what visibility has to be. And there are certain things like influence leverage compensation opportunities where visibility is going to be necessary. And I have to say, I've come to the conclusion that you can be exceptional and invisible at the same time, that those two things can coexist in the same human because visibility isn't about working harder. It's not about hustling more or doing more.
Annie [00:01:46]:
So that's what we're going to talk about today. I just want to start this conversation by defining what visibility is in the context of our roles. Visibility is highlighting the value you bring to your executive and organization, highlighting the value you offer to your executive and organization. And to be clear, there is a difference between worthiness your value as a human and the value you're offering your organization. And oftentimes those two things can be conflated or switched. They had been switched for me in the past. I just wanna bring this home for you guys. When I talk about the value you bring to an organization, that is separate from your value as a human and your worthiness.
Annie [00:02:32]:
Worthiness just is. You are worthy just by drawing breath as a human. You are worthy. That's the baseline. And the value that you bring to your executive and organization is something different. It is much more related to the outcomes of the business and to all the value that you offer as a human in your unique way to your organization and to your executive. Okay, so that's where I wanna start this conversation. The definition that I'm gonna be working from in terms of visibility for these roles is highlighting the value you bring to your executive and organization.
Annie [00:03:07]:
This is really challenging for a lot of us because what comes naturally to us It doesn't come naturally to everybody else, but we assume it does. And so highlighting what we're actually contributing can be a challenge. There's so much power in creating visibility. First of all, visibility creates clarity. First for you, when you articulate the value you're offering your executive and organization, it can be super empowering. I have this process that I walk my people through. The systems audit and we outline everything that we do, everything that we manage on a daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, and annual basis. We write it all out and this may take time to track, especially if you have been in your role for a decent amount of time, but that can be very powerful to be like, oh my goodness, look at all that I am managing for my executive.
Annie [00:03:58]:
Look at all that I'm managing on behalf of this organization. That alone. Can help us to feel an increase of confidence. And so that visibility creates clarity around what you do for you first and foremost. Secondly, visibility creates clarity for your executive with regards to the value you bring. I see this with everybody I have ever supported, ever. Their executives don't understand the full breadth and depth of all that they manage for them, all the executive assistant manages for them, or all that you're keeping off their plate. This is chronic.
Annie [00:04:34]:
And why would they, unless they're actually executing on those things themselves? Of course they're not gonna know all that you manage for them. Of course they're not gonna know what you keep from landing on their plate. Of course they're not gonna know what you've taken from them or taken off their plate without their realization, unless that is actually articulated as a piece of your value proposition. So in order to create visibility, we actually have to be having these conversations with our executives, and I'm gonna share a few strategies on how to do that later on in this episode. Also, when it comes to the power of visibility, visibility creates leverage. Once you understand how to articulate your value, you'll be able to leverage that value to ask for things like a raise, like flexibility, like working from home. That is a beautiful, beautiful thing. And it's one of the best parts about creating visibility and being more visible in our roles and actually communicating more around all that we're offering to our executives and organizations that can be super, super powerful and transformative for us in terms of our personal life, right? And then last but not least, visibility creates confidence.
Annie [00:05:48]:
I like to view confidence as a byproduct. Whenever I am on a discovery call with somebody and we're talking about confidence, I'm like, oh, don't worry, confidence is gonna come along for the journey. By articulating your value, by doing these different things, confidence is an interesting byproduct of having those conversations. It's an interesting byproduct of actually advocating for yourself. It's an interesting byproduct of actually understanding and knowing the value you bring to your executive and organization. Okay? So now I'm gonna cover a few missteps that I have noticed over my time as a coach when it comes to visibility, and these are pretty common. They're very common. The first is discounting your contribution.
Annie [00:06:31]:
We often think that what comes naturally to us comes naturally to everyone, but I spent the last 7 years of my career supporting high net worth people, and common sense is not that common. It's really, really not. And so really understanding that what makes you unique, what makes you light up, what makes you enjoy your role, what feels easy to you, may very well be your superpower. Please, please stop discounting your contribution just because it may come naturally to you. Also, within the admin role, within the admin community and the larger executive assistant world, we all have different strengths. I would never want to do anything related to event planning because it requires so much collaboration and so much back and forth and everyone's changing their minds, and that just does not sound like fun to me. I've done it before, it's been fine. I've navigated it just fine, but it doesn't light me up like it does some people.
Annie [00:07:27]:
Some of you are excellent event planners. You love to plan events. You love the collaboration piece. You love to pull things together. You love the creativity of it. Just wasn't for me. So understanding that piece too, we can tend to look at other people in the admin world, other people in our profession, look around us and compare and despair. But I am going to have you first of all, knock that off because you have your own unique set of strengths that is unique to you.
Annie [00:07:55]:
You're the only one in the world like you that has your unique makeup, your unique way of thinking about things, your unique perspective, your unique history, your unique experiences. You bring all of that to the table and those things should not be discounted. Okay? The second common misstep that I see is that people try to create visibility by doing more. So they aren't getting the recognition they feel they deserve. They aren't feeling that they're noticed. So what do they do? They take on more and more and more work. This is a losing proposition because this can create stress, it can create burnout, and you can't hustle your way to increased visibility. It doesn't work like that.
Annie [00:08:40]:
And I understand why we do this, because we don't wanna have the uncomfortable conversation. We don't wanna put ourselves out there. We don't wanna advocate. It feels braggadocious, but Take it from somebody who's suffered a stroke because she thought she could make everyone in her life and world happy. Doing more is not the way to go when it comes to increased visibility and to creating that leverage and all the great benefits of visibility in these roles. Okay? So another last and final common misstep that I see a lot Which I just barely touched on is failing to communicate your value proposition. I see this happen all the time where someone comes to me and they feel like their executive doesn't understand all that they do for them. I have not supported one assistant yet who's like, oh no, my executive fully understands all that I'm keeping from landing on their plate.
Annie [00:09:36]:
My leader understands already all that I manage for them. My leader gets how how intense the coordination process is for their life and for their work world, right? I have never ever had an executive assistant come tell me that ever. Not once. Of course, your executive doesn't understand what you do, and they won't until you communicate that to them. So this one is a big common misstep, and I'm gonna share some strategies on how to overcome this misstep in a minute. But before I do that, I just also wanna highlight one thing that I have noticed in our roles and how challenging it can be to actually communicate our value proposition is this idea of posturing or feeling like we're bragging if we are highlighting our wins or feeling like we're being braggadocious or like that we are trying to toot our own horn. There is a difference. Between creating visibility and communicating value proposition and posturing.
Annie [00:10:42]:
Nobody wants to posture. Most executive support professionals that I know are very genuine humans and they genuinely have everybody's best interest at heart. And so this idea of sharing all that they're managing and talking about all they've accomplished and kept from their executive plates and that sort of thing, it doesn't feel good. Because there's this misconception in our brains that we are somehow posturing, or we're somehow trying to get ahead, or we're somehow trying to, like, brag. No, no, no, no, no. We are not trying to prove our worthiness when we create visibility. We are standing on the worthiness that already is. I'm gonna say that again.
Annie [00:11:25]:
We are not trying to prove our worthiness When we improve our visibility, we are already standing on our worthiness. So creating visibility is actually standing on the worthiness that just is. Remember at the beginning of this episode, I talked about worthiness just being, whether you recognize it or not, worthiness just is by taking up space on this planet. You are worthy. Okay? And so we wanna stand on that worthiness as a human and advocate and share what we have done for our executives. For their clarity and our own when it comes to this piece of creating visibility, that will be tremendously helpful for you. Visibility requires that we capture and acknowledge the value that we bring within ourselves first. We have to capture that knowledge first.
Annie [00:12:19]:
We actually have to write down what it is we manage on a daily, weekly, monthly, yearly basis We have to systematize it, and then we can start drawing the link between that value piece that we're adding and business outcomes, the actual business outcomes. It's going to be so powerful for you if you do this, and I'm going to be sharing how we can utilize that language in an upcoming masterclass called the Visibility Blueprint. Please check it out. You can go to wholeassistant.com/visibility. I've also linked to the link in the show notes below. The live masterclasses are gonna be on Thursday the 19th and Friday the 20th. I believe those are the correct dates. Yes.
Annie [00:12:59]:
So please check out this masterclass where I'm gonna be sharing about the language of how do we actually communicate this value in a way that feels good to us, to where we don't feel like we're being braggadocious. And then communicating that value proposition in terms of business impact. Visibility requires these two things. Posturing, on the other hand, will feel braggadocious because it is. Because when we're posturing, we are actually trying to prove our worthiness. But there again, if worthiness just is, there's nothing to prove. Posturing is coming from a place of insecurity and not from standing on our own enoughness. I also understand how uncomfortable it is when we first start talking about our value proposition with our executives, when we first start articulating these things.
Annie [00:13:47]:
I just have seen so many people get in so much trouble when they don't articulate this piece though, when they aren't sharing how they're utilizing their time, when they aren't sharing all that they kept from landing on their executive's plates. It can be really, really hard for the executive because then the executive, especially if you manage multiple people, and this has happened to me in the past where everyone wants to know how your time is being utilized. They want to know it. They're like, how much time are you spending working for so-and-so? How much time are you spending working on this? How much time are you spending working on that? If you're not capturing that information, if you aren't articulating those things to the people that you support, they won't know it. And then your work will be called into question because they aren't sure how you're actually utilizing your 40 hours or more per work week, right? They aren't gonna know how you're utilizing your time. So visibility requires that you capture and communicate your value proposition. And also one last thing about posturing. Whenever we're trying to prove our worthiness, it's almost like this arrogance versus confidence conversation.
Annie [00:14:47]:
Which I've had with a number of my clients too, where I'm talking about this articulating value proposition piece, there is this thing that comes up around confidence versus arrogance. And a lot of executive assistants don't wanna come across as arrogant, so then they don't tap into their confidence. Confidence and arrogance are two different things. Arrogance there again is trying to prove worthiness. It's coming from a place of insecurity. Confidence is coming from a deep knowing and understanding of your ability to be resourceful and resilient and know that you can handle any situation. Like, my confidence is fully grounded on the fact that I am resourceful, and I know that anything that life throws at me was meant for me, and that I can navigate it with grace because I've proven that to myself time and again. So look back over your history, look back over your life and ask yourself, where have I tapped into my resourcefulness and how has that resourcefulness gotten me through a sticky situation? That's the premise of your confidence, not this trying to posture thing, not this like insecure arrogance, right? So there is a difference and we really do need to lean in to the confidence and into actual visibility instead of posturing.
Annie [00:16:14]:
Okay, so how do we improve visibility? First and foremost, we have to, have to, have to show up consistently. You may think that your leader doesn't know if you don't show up consistently, but I am here to tell you they 100% do. As someone who was a support professional for over 20 years and now runs my own company, I know when my people aren't showing up, I know it. And I know that some of them in the past have thought that they didn't know that I knew, but I knew, right? Showing up consistently shows integrity. It shows accountability. We need to have that consistency piece in place, which is why I'm such a fan of processes. Because when we create a process, it helps us to show up consistently. It also helps to mitigate mistakes.
Annie [00:17:03]:
I think it's also important that we systematize our showcase. And by that I mean we need to create a system by which we communicate our value proposition on a weekly basis. In my last role, I was trying to figure out my executive's communication style. This person had created an app, sold it for a lot of money. I'm like, he's gonna love Trello. I'm gonna give him access to my Trello board. So I set him up with my Trello board on my phone and like let him know where things are at. He did not look at that thing once, not once.
Annie [00:17:34]:
So it may take a bit of trial and error to figure out your executive's communication style, especially if you are newer in your role. What finally worked for us, where I landed in terms of communication style and systematizing how I was communicating my value proposition, was in a weekly update email to my executive. And I had an email template that I used. I get asked about what that email template looked like. I had buckets of work. And then at the end I had things I needed from him and my plan for the upcoming week. And every Friday I would prepare this email and I would send it out. And on the rare occasion that I wouldn't prepare it, that following Monday my executive's like, Annie, where's my email? I need my email.
Annie [00:18:11]:
That's how I knew that I had discovered the best way to articulate that value proposition piece weekly. For you, it may be a weekly touch base or a couple of biweekly touch bases. But you actually need to be sharing what has been accomplished and where you're at in terms of process with projects and tasks that you have been given. We also need to learn to translate our contribution into business outcomes. Oftentimes we can be really myopic and in the weeds. We also need to zoom out, figure out where we fit in the rhythm of business, figure out where our value lies in terms of our executive and their values and what they're valuing, and then attach the tasks that we're doing to what they're valuing. That is a great way to improve your visibility. And all of this is going to require us to lean into some discomforts because many of us aren't used to being visible.
Annie [00:19:11]:
We aren't used to articulating our value proposition. We aren't used to having these conversations with leadership. We aren't used to advocating for ourselves or someone else. Of course there's gonna be some discomfort. Nothing has gone wrong just because you're experiencing some discomfort around all of this. Okay? So now I just wanna take a moment to invite you once again to the Visibility Blueprint, 3 Power Moves to Stand Out and Build Influence. I am really excited about this masterclass. I have never taught it before.
Annie [00:19:41]:
This is new thought leadership in our space that I have created that I am really excited to share with you all based on my many years now. Of coaching executive support professionals and the thousands of hours I've logged supporting you all. Uh, I'm very excited about this masterclass and it is going to be next Thursday, February 19th and Friday, February 20th. You can go to wholeassistant.com/visibility to register. Those are two different dates and times. They're gonna be hour-long masterclass sessions. So you can go to wholeassistant.com/visibility to register or simply click the link in the show notes below. I hope to see you there.
Annie [00:20:20]:
I hope that we can talk about improving visibility in the context of our roles, and this is going to be a deep dive session. So I hope you can join us, and I also hope you have a great rest of your week. That's all for now. If today's episode gave you language clarity or just a quiet, oh, it's not just me, I am so thrilled you're here. If this podcast has been helpful for you, the easiest way you can support the show is by taking 30 seconds to rate and review it on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. This helps more assistants find this work. And if you're ready for ongoing support, guidance, community, and growth that actually fits into your life, Empowered Seat is where we continue this work together. It's affordable, flexible, and designed for assistants who are done white-knuckling their careers in isolation.
Annie [00:21:06]:
You can learn more and join at wholeassistant.com/empoweredseat, or click the link in the show notes below. And until next time, go embrace your badassery.
