According to Senior Vice President of People at The Learning Experience, Traci Wilk, stepping up to be a leader by focusing on helping others rather than thinking of yourself may be the best ways to be noticed by your boss.
Business Insider reported in a story in their HR Insider column that the former Executive to Starbucks and Coach that leadership doesn’t necessarily equal being a manager or having workers who are subordinate to you. Wilks says she is impressed by leadership no matter what form that it takes.
Wilk credits having been inspired by other C-suite occupants. She was particularly impressed by the words of James Caan, CEO of private equity firm Hamilton Bradshaw. Caan and Wilk seem to agree about workers who take charge. Caan wrote an article which appeared on LinkedIn where he wrote;
“Every manager is impressed by self-starters, and somebody who takes the initiative in areas where the business may be weak is putting themselves high up the list for a promotion.”
When it comes time for employee performance reviews, Wilk herself will look at whether a worker is or has been willing to work above and beyond by taking a leadership role. This might mean working on projects that are outside of an employee’s assigned duties, assisting their peers and managers or even volunteering for projects in other departments in order to address challenges within the organization.
“Is this somebody that can see when there’s a challenge in a part of the organization that may not have a direct impact on their role, but they see that they can be helpful?”
Wilk believes being that kind of a problem solver is important and admits that during staff meetings, those are the kind of individuals that she’s on the lookout for.