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You may have observed a situation like this at your workplace. It could even have happened to you. Two employees put in long hours and turn out excellent work, providing tangible results for their company. However only one lands a promotion and climbs to the next career level while the other is passed over – sometimes, repeatedly. What’s going on here?

After working for almost two decades with thousands of executives, senior managers, directors and employees at some of the world’s leading companies (including Amazon, Starbucks, Ritz-Carlton, Google and Bank of America), executive coach Joel A. Garfinkle says he can answer that question. He has learned that employees who are most successful in moving up the career ladder use three specific skills involving what he’s dubbed PVI – for Perception, Visibility and Influence.

In his book Getting Ahead: Three Steps to Take Your Career to the Next Level (published by John Wiley and Sons), Garfinkle identifies ways you can use PVI to determine your own advancement, instead of leaving the fate of your career totally in the hands of others.

Here’s a look at Garfinkle’s PVI strategies for success:


The power of perception.
“Others are constantly viewing and making judgments of you. The impact of this can happen quickly; it takes only a few seconds to form an opinion,” Garfinkle writes. How you are perceived by higher-ups is crucial to career advancement, he adds, because it can be relied on more for advancement than your actual work and accomplishments.

Of course, you can’t control how others view you, but you can control certain actions that substantially influence how you are perceived. First, take a candid look at yourself. Are you known as team player? A good listener? If not, work on these areas. Then consider your close contacts at work. The more you associate with people who are respected in your company, “the greater that respect will rub off on you,” Garfinkle notes.

He also advises taking stock of your online presence, which has added another dimension to the importance of perception. Three out of four people you interact with at work are engaging in social networking and everything you say online that is visible to the public can reflect on you and your company.

Be more visible at work.
You may have received promotions based on your hard work and merit, but then your career stalled. The reason could be lack of visibility, according to Garfinkle. “Talent and ability to perform take you only so far. If you don’t proactively leverage and utilize visibility, your career will stagnant,” he writes.

He advises getting over a fear of the spotlight while building self-confidence and boosting visibility with these tactics:
  • Share your accomplishments through writing. Use well thought out e-mails and texting to inform others of how the work you are doing directly benefits the company. Consider writing articles for your company newsletter or submitting blog posts that discuss your work and successes, too.
  • Before important meetings and events, write out what you want to discuss. By preparing ahead of time, you’ll be ready and confident if the opportunity arises for you to share your accomplishments.
  • Practice the art of small talk. “The odds are that you have countless opportunities to reach out and interact with people who are senior to you,” Garfinkle explains. If you are heading to a meeting with higher-ups or seeking out a senior executive to ask a questions, create a couple of open-ended queries ahead of time that will bring out information about the other person. For example, ask “What projects are you working on?” or even “How was your weekend?”
  • Use one-on-one meetings to your advantage. Do you have difficulty being yourself in a group? Schedule meetings with the people who need to know you and work on creating your visibility one person at a time.
    Volunteer for committees and groups at work that aren’t directly related to your job duties . You’ll gain an opportunity to approach colleagues you may not get a chance to know otherwise.
  • Think before you speak. “Although thinking before you speak means that you may speak less often, it also means that you will think through and articulate your ideas and opinions more clearly,” Garfinkle writes. “Others will take notice when you do speak, listen intently to what you have to say, and respect your opinions.”
How to influence others.
In his book Getting Ahead, Garfinkel explains that people who have influence are those who make things happen, move companies forward and get results. Depending on what career level you are in, you acquire and use influence differently, of course. However you don’t have to be a manager or executive to be influential, Garfinkel emphasizes. “No matter where you sit within an organization or in your life, you can make an impact,” he says.

Ways to help you influence leaders in your company and propel your career forward include:
  1. Learn what’s important to higher-ups and determine how you can support their priorities.
  2. Know the expectations of senior management and understand what they require and expect from you.
  3. Imagine yourself in the situations that people above you face. By developing empathy for them, you’ll be able to customize your messages to managers and executives and boost your influence in your organization.
  4. Work on becoming a strong presenter and speaker. You’ll gain immediate credibility and respect because leaders in your organization will see you as more of an equal, rather than an underling.
  5. Align your work with your company’s big-picture plan. Become a strategic thinker that looks at your company as a whole. You’ll communicate your ideas better and gain respect and more influence.
  6. Find advocates for your ideas. Increase your influence by making it a point to know the people who can advance your ideas in your company.
Sherry Baker is a writer from Atlanta, Georgia. She last wrote the article on What You Need to Know About Holiday Leftovers for Synergy.
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