Hi there, it’s Jill!

A few years ago, during a career development conversation, an executive said something to me that changed how I think about career growth.

“Jill, you need to showcase your work more to other executives so they know you’re ready for the next step.”

That conversation taught me an important lesson about careers that many of us don’t realize early enough:

Doing great work is important. But making sure others can see and understand that work is just as important.

In the last post, I shared how to advocate for yourself without feeling awkward [Link]. Today’s post is the companion to that conversation: the importance of continuously showcasing your value to others.

Why does this matter so much for your career, and how can you do it in ways that feel natural rather than uncomfortable?

Let’s dive in.

Lesson I learned that day: great work doesn’t speak for itself unless we help it be seen.

Towards the end of a fiscal year, I had a career development conversation with an executive about my next step.

Everything was going well, until he pointed out one thing.

“Jill, you need to showcase your work more to other executives, so they know you’re ready for the next step.”

“Hmm… what do you mean?” I asked. In my mind, I thought I had already shared quite a lot. After all, I had presented my work several times throughout the year.

He leaned back slightly in his chair, half his face falling into shadow.

“Not enough.”

Then he continued.

“You’ve done amazing work this year, and the nature of your role actually makes it easy for you to connect with different executives. I’d love to see you ask other leaders if you can present your work to them individually, or even at their team meetings. People are usually curious about what others are working on. There’s a lot of value in cross-learning.”

In that moment, a dozen thoughts rushed through my mind.

I wanted to say that I didn’t think people outside my field would be interested in my work.
I wanted to say that I probably needed permission from my own team leader and business partner first.
I wanted to say that I worried it might look like I was showing off.

But those words stayed in my throat.

Because in that moment, something clicked.

Yes, there might be logistics to figure out. Yes, it’s always important to align with your team and leaders. But those are manageable details.

The bigger realization was: the power of being seen outweighs many of the fears that hold us back.

At the end of our conversation, he leaned forward and said one sentence that stayed with me:

“When you’re developing your career, visibility matters.”

That conversation helped me realize something important:

There’s a common assumption many of us carry in our careers: if we do great work, people will naturally notice.

To some extent, that’s true.

But over time, I’ve realized that relying on that assumption alone is a passive approach to career growth.

People need to know:

And opportunities come when people see your contributions and begin to imagine what else you might be capable of.

If you’re doing meaningful work right now, consider one small step you could take to showcase your value:

Sometimes growth is simply about doing one extra thing: having one additional conversation, sharing your work with one more group of people, or reaching out to one more leader.

Small actions like these can open doors to opportunities you never expected

Looking back, I’m incredibly grateful for that career conversation.

You don’t have to promote yourself loudly, but you do have to make sure your work doesn’t stay invisible.

Before we finish, here’s a small reflection for this week:
What is one piece of work you’ve done recently that more people should see?

And what would it look like to share it with just one more audience?

— Jill

Founder of Anchor Growth Newsletter

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