It feels like you described my own work environment. I used to care about my title bur after I had to create my own title, I realized that the titles don’t mean much. Your post confirms that what really matters is what you can deliver. Sadly, the other part of the job is to ensure that the right people know your results.
Thanks Alain for the note, and you’re definitely not alone in that. You’re spot on about the fact that we also need to make sure the right people get to hear the actual impact, beyond the buzzwords
A colleague once told me that and it stuck with me. I always thought that results speak for themselves but they don’t. Only you can speak for yourself.
This is a great example of years of experience summarized into 8 digestible and actionable observations.
As a person who's always been responsible for revenue generation (either directly or indirectly) I always found it helpful to establish a general communication framework with team members. Nothing strict or rule-based. More so just ways to flag urgency on timing and prioritization.
The goal isn't to put guardrails around communication. It's to make sure urgent tasks and initiatives are supported with the right level of attention and detail.
Gaurav, In matrixed or enterprise organizations, it is remarkably easy to advance by managing impressions ("impression management") rather than delivering value. Very interesting take home messages. Thank you for the story that you began with.
Going through the motions of leading will always catch up with you. I fear many leadership development programs focus more on teaching the motions than genuinely developing the person to lead effective
"You’re closer to the VP than you are to the work"
That one hits close to home. In more than one company I have seen this, where the VP selects someone to work "Special Projects" or some such thing... and the person ends up being a cross between a personal assistant and project manager.
Thank you for your perspective, this has definitely given me the cause to pause for the introspection that I was delaying for many years.
Glad this resonated, thanks for the feedback!
It feels like you described my own work environment. I used to care about my title bur after I had to create my own title, I realized that the titles don’t mean much. Your post confirms that what really matters is what you can deliver. Sadly, the other part of the job is to ensure that the right people know your results.
Thanks Alain for the note, and you’re definitely not alone in that. You’re spot on about the fact that we also need to make sure the right people get to hear the actual impact, beyond the buzzwords
A colleague once told me that and it stuck with me. I always thought that results speak for themselves but they don’t. Only you can speak for yourself.
This is a great example of years of experience summarized into 8 digestible and actionable observations.
As a person who's always been responsible for revenue generation (either directly or indirectly) I always found it helpful to establish a general communication framework with team members. Nothing strict or rule-based. More so just ways to flag urgency on timing and prioritization.
The goal isn't to put guardrails around communication. It's to make sure urgent tasks and initiatives are supported with the right level of attention and detail.
Gaurav, In matrixed or enterprise organizations, it is remarkably easy to advance by managing impressions ("impression management") rather than delivering value. Very interesting take home messages. Thank you for the story that you began with.
Thank you for your note!
Loved the article Gaurav. Your opening story has me still smiling.
Haha… thank you Jules!
Going through the motions of leading will always catch up with you. I fear many leadership development programs focus more on teaching the motions than genuinely developing the person to lead effective
💯
"You’re closer to the VP than you are to the work"
That one hits close to home. In more than one company I have seen this, where the VP selects someone to work "Special Projects" or some such thing... and the person ends up being a cross between a personal assistant and project manager.
💯
Gaurav, thank you for this. Frankly, titles like that gentlemen's and corporate linkediin speak are nails on a chalkboard to me.