🌟 The Power of Visibility: Are You the Go-To Person?
In today’s telecoms & fintech world, doing great work isn’t enough—you need to be seen. If you're aiming to be the trusted go-to person at work, you need to adopt visibility strategies which separate the overlooked from the standout.
Visibility is no longer optional — it’s a strategic career advantage.
🔍 What Does It Mean to Be Visible?
It means you’re not just a name on the org chart. You’re:
- ✅ The go-to person for your team or industry
- ✅ Recognized for what you know and how you think
- ✅ Known for how you solve problems and lead others
Visibility turns you into a thought leader, a magnet for opportunity, and a voice that carries weight.
If you’re ready to take visibility into action, explore Real Strategy Happens in the Field — a practical take on aligning leadership with daily execution.
🚀 Why Is Visibility a Growth Lever?
- 📌 Opportunities come to those who are seen
You're more likely to be considered for promotions, stretch roles, and high-profile assignments. - 📌 It builds your personal brand
People associate you with competence, insight, and leadership — which multiplies impact. - 📌 It opens doors
New collaborations, career paths, or business opportunities often follow high visibility.
But visibility isn’t about noise — it’s about strategic presence.
💬 Reflect & Act
So... are you visible?
Not just to your team — but across your organization, industry, or niche?
💡 Visibility is built with intention — one insight, one contribution, one conversation at a time.
They don’t promote what they don’t see. Your results need a microphone — not a megaphone.
Why visibility matters more than “great work”
Being good at your job is no longer enough. People don’t promote what they don’t see. In every telecoms or fintech org I’ve worked with, the pattern is the same: two high performers — one gets pulled into strategic conversations and accelerates; the other keeps delivering but stays invisible. The difference isn’t talent. It’s visibility: connecting your work to outcomes in a way decision-makers actually notice.
The 7 Visibility Shifts (from The Visibility Checklist™)
1) Show what you do beyond the job description
Shift: Roles are forgettable — impact isn’t.
Example: “Business Analyst” is a label. “Cut onboarding time by 30% across two regions” is a headline.
Do this: Write one sentence that starts with a verb + business result. Share it in your next 1:1 and add it to your internal bio.
Read next: Results Fade. Environments Endure
2) Show how you solve real business problems
Shift: Visibility = Problem → Insight → Action → Result.
Telco example: Dropped call complaints rose 18% after a network change. I led a 10-day analysis, traced it to two misconfigured towers, and cut complaints by 76% within a week.
Do this: Turn one recent win into a 4-line mini case study. Share it with stakeholders who felt the impact.
3) Show what people say about working with you
Shift: Social proof builds silent trust.
Example: “Your one-page summary got leadership unstuck.” Add this to your performance doc and internal profile.
Do this: Capture two short testimonials (email, chat, or LinkedIn). Use a sentence or two — no chest-thumping needed.
4) Show the results you consistently deliver
Shift: Make value quantifiable.
Fintech micro-case study: Approval latency during peak checkout windows spiked to 900ms, denting conversions. We profiled the path, batched the slowest DB calls, and tuned a cache policy. Peak latency dropped to ~360ms; successful checkout lifted by ~3% — small change, big revenue protection.
Do this: Track one metric you influence (time saved, errors reduced, revenue protected, risk mitigated). Mention it briefly in sprint reviews.
Technical side quest: Loops in Programming — How to Repeat Code
5) Show your point of view on what works
Shift: Your lens = your leadership.
Example: “We don’t need more dashboards; we need a 3-line daily signal: what changed, what it means, what we’ll do.”
Do this: Share one 120-word POV per month. Propose a small pilot. Visibility scales when thinking scales.
6) Show how you influence decisions
Shift: Visibility isn’t speaking most — it’s moving direction.
Example: A debate stuck on features moved when we reframed to: “Which change removes 80% of churn reasons first?” We shipped outcome, not noise.
Do this: In your next meeting, summarize the decision, trade-offs, and next step in one sentence.
7) Show how you grow, reflect, and level up
Shift: Growth is visible only if you share it.
Example: Mapped PM gaps → took a 4-week course → asked to shadow → now leads 2 roadmap segments.
Do this: Start a “public progress log” inside your team: what you tried, what changed, what you learned.
Ship your work publicly: What Is GitHub? — A Beginner’s Guide
Quiet experts don’t need to shout. They need receipts.
A 30-day visibility plan (that won’t make you cringe)
- Week 1 — Inventory your value: List 5 outcomes you drove. Convert each into a one-liner. Share two with your manager.
- Week 2 — Publish one POV: Pick a stuck topic. 120 words: what matters, trade-off, smallest useful next step.
- Week 3 — Capture social proof: Request one short testimonial from a cross-functional partner.
- Week 4 — Make results recurring: Choose one metric you influence and report it weekly with a 20-second comment.
Environment matters: Results Fade. Environments Endure
Case study: the quiet expert who became essential
A senior analyst in telecoms kept saving launches at the last minute but wasn’t in early strategy calls. We applied the 7 shifts:
- Reframed from “analyst” to “de-risked 3 launches; protected ₦120m projected revenue.”
- Wrote 4-line mini case studies for two incidents.
- Posted a weekly “Signal → Meaning → Move” note for execs.
- Captured a one-sentence testimonial from a regional ops lead.
- Proposed a 10-minute “readiness barometer” in steering meetings.
Within a quarter she wasn’t just invited earlier — she became the default for de-risking go-lives.
Objections you might have (and the truth)
“If I work hard, they’ll notice.” They won’t. Package your work into signals that travel.
“Visibility is bragging.” Bragging is noise without receipts. Visibility is evidence — short, clear, useful.
“I’m not an extrovert.” Perfect. Visibility rewards clarity, not charisma. Most of this is written, structured communication.
Micro-move today: Write one 4-line case study — Problem → Insight → Action → Result — and share it with your manager.
Keep going: resources
🚫 5 Common Mistakes That Kill Visibility (and How to Fix Them)
Even the most talented professionals can sabotage their own visibility without realizing it. Here are five silent killers — and how to beat them.
1. Hiding Behind “Just Doing the Work”
You deliver excellent results… quietly. The problem? Invisibility is not humility — it’s a missed opportunity.
Fix it: Pair every result with a one-liner that links it to
business outcomes. Share it in team channels, sprint reviews, or
stakeholder updates.
2. Waiting for Permission to Share
Many wait for a manager to “greenlight” their updates. By then, the moment has passed.
Fix it: Adopt a “show-as-you-go” habit. Post progress notes,
lessons learned, or quick wins in real time. Decision-makers remember
the consistent contributors.
3. Overloading on Detail, Losing the Story
Dumping raw data without context buries your impact.
Fix it: Use the Problem → Insight → Action → Result formula. This transforms a wall of text into a concise, memorable business story.
4. Avoiding Cross-Functional Visibility
You’re only visible within your direct team. That’s not enough for career growth.
Fix it: Volunteer for cross-team problem-solving or pilot
projects. Your reputation spreads faster when more people experience
your value first-hand.
5. Confusing Visibility with Self-Promotion
Fear of sounding like a braggart keeps many professionals silent.
Fix it: Frame your updates as useful signals, not
self-congratulation. Share what’s useful for others — process
improvements, insights, or resources — and your credibility grows
naturally.
💡 Pro Tip: Visibility is about being top-of-mind when decisions are made. If you wait until promotion season to surface your impact, you’re too late. Build visibility daily, in ways that feel authentic and useful.
📌 Related reads on ItWithYusuf:
Ready to become the go-to person?
Let your results speak — and give them a microphone.
👤 Yusuf Datti Yusuf
From Field to Insights — Making Strategy Work Where It Matters Most.
#VisibilityMatters #Leadership #SalesExcellence #FromFieldToInsights #ExecutionWins #YusufDattiYusuf
👤 About the Author
Yusuf Datti Yusuf is a strategy-driven leader passionate about turning insights into impact. With deep experience across telecoms and fintech, he bridges field realities and strategic execution.
From Field to Insights — Making Strategy Work Where It Matters Most.
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