Rainmakers
The 3 Levels Of Personal Recognition : Where Are You ?
By Dr . Clifford Ferguson
As a young consultant right out of graduate school , I immediately noticed there were two types of partners in my firm : Those who fed off the business brought in by others , and those who were getting phone calls directly from top executives asking them for help . I imagined the former as baby chicks hoping mom would be home soon to deliver a tasty morsel into their beaks .
While I hadn ’ t yet learned the full extent of what it took to succeed in my profession , I did know one thing : I wanted to be like those partners who had pink phone message slips , from prospective and current clients , piled up on their desk . ( Yes , in those days we made phone calls on these clunky corded telephones … and we got little message slips from the administrative assistants ). I didn ’ t want to be at the mercy of the business getters - I wanted to be one myself and control my own career .
There are many things you must do well to succeed in business , but today let ’ s just focus on one essential strategy : Achieving the recognition that leads to relationships .
There are three levels of recognition you should strive for .
Level One : Internal Recognition
One year after starting at my firm , my then-girlfriend and I decided to get married ( so far so good - we ’ ve been married 39 years this coming November ). At the time , however , I was living and working in Boston , and she was employed in the international division of a bank in New York City . So , we hatched a plan to end up in the same city .
To make a long story short , I asked - and our CEO agreed - to move to London to help start up our new office there , and my fiancé convinced her bank to also move her to London . All at the same time . How did we swing that ? Internal recognition .
In my case , although wet behind the ears , I brought some modest qualifications : I spoke three foreign languages reasonably well and had prior experience living abroad . Perhaps more importantly , in the space of a year , I had made friends in the firm . I performed well on my projects , worked
Develop your expertise in a specific area , then add value to your client ’ s business and build trusted relationships with client executives . It ’ s Value + Relationships . If you add value but have weak relationships , you are an “ expert for hire ” who can easily be let go . If you have good relationships but don ’ t add value , you become an “ empty suit .”
hard , and pitched in when colleagues needed help . After checking carefully with other partners who had worked with me , our CEO called me up and said he ’ d be delighted to have me move to London as part of the startup team .
Getting both our employers to move us to London , at the same time , felt like a supernatural event . But the explanation is much simpler : We had both achieved internal recognition , and this opened up a great opportunity for us .
Internal recognition can create career breaks for you and important opportunities to earn client recognition . In any company , leadership will put people with the best reputations for delivering results into high-profile , client-facing roles as well as in senior functional or business unit positions .
Fundamentally , internal recognition grows when you build key relationships and add value to the organization in meaningful ways . This means : consistently delivering quality work and achieving your goals ; developing an in-demand expertise ; being seen as a team player - someone who collaborates well and willingly helps colleagues when they need a hand ( but not a doormat ); and building trusted relationships with key stakeholders such as your manager , colleagues , senior executives , mentors , and so on .
What are the signs of strong internal recognition ? For example : you get regular promotions and pay increases , you have the clout to influence your work assignments , you are asked to join committees and task forces , and more senior executives seek you out for their teams . Developing Personal Promoters : You need to learn how helping clients on both organizational and personal levels can dramatically increase your referrals . Enroll
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