Are You Visible or Living “Under the Radar”
Women are responsible for 85% of all consumer purchases. Women over 50 control 75% of the wealth in the US. You’re very visible to people who want to sell you things.
Yet only 17% are top wage earners. Even worse, after a divorce, a woman’s lifestyle decreases by 40%.
Clearly there’s a disconnect. You can blame a glass or cement ceiling all you want. But very often, it’s self-sabotage. You let yourself be invisible to the people who should be noticing. They don’t notice because you aren’t doing the things that make the people who matter pay attention.
In today’s fast-paced world, it’s hard to get attention from anyone – especially your boss or your kids – unless you make a little noise. The old adage stands: the squeaky wheel gets the grease. You don’t have to be obnoxious about it, but you do have to get in the game.
What can you do? Here are three suggestions:
- Volunteer. Don’t just jump on a committee and do the work. Head a team and practice your leadership skills.
- Network with key people in other departments. Don’t just be friends, let them know what you do and that you are good at it. When people know you and like you, they find a way to do business with you.
- Make yourself unavailable. One woman adopted the “24-hour rule.” She would do anything for family and friends as long as she had a twenty-four hour notice. If they didn’t give her that, she said “no” and reminded them of the rule; she didn’t feel guilty about it. Pretty soon her family and friends started noticing how much she did for them – especially when they had to do it themselves!
Poke you head up and give it a go. Yes, being visible will feel uncomfortable at first. Others might be shocked. But if you have something to say, they might also appreciate it differently – and give your opinions more weight. More importantly, they will see something in you that they hadn’t seen before – something that might be just the quality that is needed for that other job – the one with more money and more power. Expect the missteps but victory up and keep going. You never know whose life might change for the better because you do!
