You know the basics. Be on time, look smart, and make things happen. But it is not enough. You want to send out “above-and-beyond” signals. It’s time for you to take your career by the reins.

How to Get Noticed at Work

1. Achieving results puts you in the spotlight
2. Tune up your communication skills
3. Personal leadership will take you to the top

One of the biggest challenges for many is to promote themselves at work.

Some people want to puff their chest out and go shouting about how great they are. Here’s the good news. You don’t have to become a self-centred, obnoxious narcissist.

In most organisations, you have your hard workers, the mediocre people who get by, and the high-performers. The trouble is that some companies expect excellent output from employees without systems in place to evaluate objectively and reward those who truly deserve it.

The challenge of “How can I stand out at work?” might dawn on one when you want a career promotion, salary increase, or some recognition for your hard work. To get ahead, you have to learn how to promote yourself.

The best ways are to achieve results, communicate exceedingly well, and display personal leadership.

Fair warning, though… You will not see the results immediately.

Prove your value, no matter how many years of experience you have. The only way to get respect from inside and outside your company is by delivering stellar results. It is about perseverance and going beyond the rest for career progress. Demolish obstacles in your way.

Someone once said that achieving great results makes you bulletproof.

It does not matter whether you work for a startup or a larger corporation. One of the biggest challenges is building credibility, especially when there are “political” colleagues who bask in undeserved limelight.

To get promoted, you need to do more than your job and establish a track record of success.

Business is all about what you can do for the company, after all.

Prove yourself to be an asset. Perform well in all your projects and under-promise and over-deliver. The results we achieve are connected to our team’s or department’s goals. Higher-ups will see the value in your work and promote you.

Professionals who desire a raise, promotion, or even to keep their job ought to show how they add value. It is all in that old chestnut, “what gets measured gets improved“. And it isn’t just about doing things right.

Sometimes you have to create opportunities to shine. Unfortunately, some manipulate perverse pleasure and self-satisfaction that come from delivering trash and blaming others.

Results will speak louder than words – it means doing a better job than anyone else currently doing it.

Whether you’re starting a new job or you’ve been in a position for several years, no matter what, how you communicate at work impacts your success.

This is not about getting a makeover, fake it until you make it, or engaging in some desperate or deceitful initiative.

It’s not appearing as the office politician or anyone other than who you are. Instead, it’s about fine-tuning your skills of effective communication so that you can stand out.

Communication spreads ideas, and relationships grow. Then comes the opportunity to have your voice heard and to make a difference. It is our duty as professionals to be on message, on brand and on point. When communicating at work, success is all about knowing when, where and how to make your voice heard. Bring the right attention to the right things.

Few people like self-promotion, but it is required in today’s job market. How you communicate can have a big impact on others’ perceptions of both your abilities and your personality.

Influence in the workplace can help you make positive changes. Before long, you might find yourself as one of the “rising stars”, which will put you in the sightline of the HR department and upper management.

The trick is to do it in a manner that your boss does not perceive any boisterous creativity or endeavours as bluster and ego-centric self-promotion, but as diligence and dedication.

Great communication goes beyond telling people what they want or need to hear; it requires speaking clearly, concisely and with conviction. And that may be the most important element of this whole equation. The Meerkat Motivator #MeerkatMotivator

Rational conviction arms you with a message that comes from within, one that you are convinced is worth sharing.

To get ahead in business, you’ve got to learn how to communicate interactively with your co-workers, whether it’s by email, text, chat or face-to-face communication. Good ideas and doing good work can take you only so far. You also need to do things that set you apart from others.

Good communication is the cornerstone of our work. There are situations where your self-knowledge and technical skills alone aren’t enough. Meerkat Motivational Speaker #MeerkatMotivationalSpeaker

This is when you need to use your communication skills and relationships to deal with those tricky situations in the workplace, show what you can offer, get better projects and make a climb up the career ladder. 

People are often promoted at work for their skill sets and technical prowess. This typical path to promotion relies on the successful demonstration of your technical skills.

Many career books are filled with platitudes about making yourself a more valuable employee by improving your competencies, taking on new challenges, and fostering teamwork. There was a time when promotions were largely given out based on seniority. If you stuck around for long enough and were deemed knowledgeable enough, your title would automatically go up.

That’s all fine, but the fact of the matter is that we need to move beyond the cubicle to get that next promotion or corner office. If you want to work your way up the food chain in the organisation without resorting to buttering up or being obnoxious, there’s a superpower: personal leadership.

Personal leadership means the ability to inspire and influence others.

It is about getting things done, both for yourself and your peers. Show what you can do for the people around you, and your manager will recognise that you have the potential for a higher position (either at your current job or elsewhere). As a leader, manage your ego to do what is best for the team instead of yourself.

The biggest difference between leaders and followers is their vision for the future, willingness to take risks and persuade people.

With personal leadership, there is no one-size-fits-all answer.

There are “natural born leaders” and those “meant” for the role of leading others. They are achievers who seem to be born with the ability to lead and command a crowd without going through years of training.

But, there are also the leaders “who are made”. One can develop leadership skills. It can be learned and practised. Estienne de Beer #EstienneDeBeer

You do not need a boss title to step up and lead at work. It is a characteristic that shows how you connect with others. If you are not the boss, demonstrate leadership qualities to help improve your status and expand your network.

Leadership is more than a job title; it’s an attitude and approach to various situations. By focusing on these attributes, you improve your chances for success.