Are you hitting the marks? (“The what?” you ask.) The marks.
When actors are on stage, they have to be in a certain position, at a certain time, so that other actors will know where they are and be able to react to them. Stage managers put down little pieces of masking tape on the floor as marks.
In business this means, are you doing the right things at the right time? Are you where you are supposed to be? Are you producing as you should?
If you’re hitting your marks, reports are done on time; you’re on time for meetings; you always make more coffee when you empty the pot. That makes you a valuable commodity because people can rely on you. You’re doing everything that is expected of you.
Going Up
Now is the time to take it to the next level. Now you have to find ways to expand your notoriety, to increase your influence, to impress people with unexpected accomplishments. That is called hitting ALL your marks and is a sign of being really accomplished. How do you do that?
Leadership Skills
You may be quite talented in technical and functional areas and that will serve you well, but research has shown that your ability to lead, to direct, and to manage people, teams, and projects is vital. If you show the ability in setting goals, coordinating groups, and achieving milestones, that is going to get you further than pure talent with tools.
You know that brilliant coworker in IT who can make a computer dance at his command? He’ll be there forever because he’s not great with people but technically he’s a genius. He has no skill or desire to lead. He’ll get raises and maybe one day he’ll run the department, but he’ll never be CEO.
You, on the other hand, want to lead. That is not going to happen if you continue doing what you’re doing now. Your current skills got you to where you are; they’re not going to get you to where you want to be. You need a change in perspective; you know that you are qualified to do your current job. Now you have to expand your horizons, your awareness of things going on around you.
Glain Roberts-McCabe is the Founder and President of The Executive Roundtable and advises “Practice collaboration: Doing our own job is only part of the equation. Seek synergies across departments/silos. People in the middle have the strongest opportunities to build and add value across the organization, which can get you noticed and get your projects noticed.”
Building Your Leadership Reputation
Volunteer your time and skills around the workplace:
- Attend a meeting in a different department.
- Find a project that somebody else is working on where you can volunteer and learn something new.
- Find a colleague who needs a hand.
You’re not looking to take over; you’re there to learn about the process of being a leader; you’re there to contribute and see if you can help other people solve problems. You’re 
there to support, to make suggestions and help people develop ideas. You don’t want any credit, rather you want to make a point of telling them what a great job they’re doing.
Now you’re building a reputation as a facilitator; as someone who gets things done; as someone who gives credit where credit is due. You’re starting down the road to becoming a leader; you’re becoming a person that people will willingly follow.
Don’t expect things to magically change overnight. This will take a few projects. It will take some time. And eventually this will pay off as it becomes more ingrained in your personality, something you do automatically without even thinking about it.
Jean Kelley (Peoria Magazines.com) advises, “If you’re well-read you can give examples from other industries and companies of what worked and what didn’t. Remember that in order to be promotable you have to be on top of your game at all times; being knowledgeable is one way to display your competence.”
Respond Positively
Think more about your speech choices, too. If that guy Mike that you helped recently walks up and says “Hey, do you remember that thing we worked on last month?” Don’t respond with, “Is that still giving you problems?” Be positive in your response, such as “Yes, I do. Did you come up with some new ideas for that?” Now you’ve implied that you think Mike is suitable for solving this problem, instead of incapable of finding a solution. It’s subtle, but it makes you a better leader to have positive expectations of your people.
So, let’s take these first few steps and get the ball rolling. You’ve got the idea now. I’m pretty sure that you can take it from here.
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