A key nexus of working smarter not harder and being a savvy self-promoter is to focus on the high-profile assignments that your boss really cares about. That’s how you get the biggest bang. And in learning to recognize those moments, you will come to see that occasionally there are assignments that might threaten to wreak havoc with your schedule, but they might also provide you with a huge payoff. When the two of us give each other advice, we’ve taken to calling them Strategic Yes moments. These are the times when you need to realize how much mileage you will get out of saying yes. These are the times when it might cost you personally but it will pay off so well professionally that it’s worth that super early start, the Sunday in the office, that tedious trip to Houston. You need to keep an eye out for these opportunities and bank them, so you can coast later.
Here’s how:
1. Know Your Boss
Beyond your own job description, make it your business to be on top of your boss’s pet issues—if it’s his priority, make it your priority. Don’t bust a gut on something he’s not very interested in. But if he has a client, concern, or commodity he is keen on, you will get a lot of mileage by performing well, and putting in the extra hours, in those areas.
For Stephanie Hampton at Marriott the Strategic Yes moment came on an environmental project that she knew was very important to her boss. Marriott was planning to invest $2 million to protect the Amazon rain forest—and it needed a major communications rollout. This green initiative was personally sponsored by the company’s CFO and Stephanie’s EVP, so it had high-level backing.
“It was game-changing and the first-of-its-kind for the industry, so I felt like I was part of that. And I felt like if I did my job, we could help win the hearts and minds of many customers, investors, and employees through this very real initiative to address climate change. I had to work some late nights and a weekend or two, but it wasn’t systemic, so I was happy to do it.”
2. Keep Tabs on Company/Industry Buzz
This is similar to knowing your boss. You have to put a bit of extra effort in, but there are opportunities to score high here. If you can keep an eye on the current hot issues either in your company, or even more broadly within your industry, you can direct your energy into those high-profile, high-reward projects that are grabbing everyone’s attention. And if you are ahead of the curve on buzz, it also gives you a chance to leap on those areas early on and claim them as yours. It makes you and your boss look good, which helps everyone.
In our industry that means being aware of the new story lines that editors are fixated on—in yours it could be the implementation of a new technology, the effect of a new legal precedent, a hot new vein of medical research, or how to channel concerns about the energy crisis into profits for your company. Whatever it is, keep your ears and eyes open and make company news by being a trend leader.
3. Make Yourself Essential
Melissa James of Morgan Stanley says that especially when the economy is in a downturn, it’s critical to develop this skill. Assess what you do that nobody else can do, and that your boss could not handle without you. And if you’re not coming up with anything, focus on this fast. “But none of this is easy,” notes James. “It can be complicated to figure out exactly what is the best use of your time for your bosses and for you. It takes some intuition.” It also takes good communication. Don’t hesitate to check in with your superior frequently to go over priorities, yours and hers. Over time, you’ll see how you should best direct your energies.
4. Strategic Yeses to Make Up for Lots of Nos!
Both of us are constantly tallying our quotas of nos and yeses. It’s a question of balance. If we’ve turned down a run of assignments, trips, or stories we realize it may be a good time to say yes to a project. And if you want to get extra kudos, offer to take something on before you’re even asked. Make sure that yes is heard loud and clear for maximum professional capital (which of course you can spend later to win yourself time).
If you are generally allergic to taking on extra assignments, this may not come easily—so keep your female sixth sense on your boss’s expectations. If you pick up hints that you’ve seemed to be underperforming/slacking off/not quite a team player in recent weeks—throw out a keen, confident yes and knuckle under for a short burst.
And, a confession, we don’t always get this right ourselves!
I’d been on the road for work every week for three weeks back to back. Moreover, I had a trip to Italy coming up for Good Morning America that I was dreading, since I’d been gone so much. At the same time, I’d also been getting pressure to travel to Texas to cover Jenna Bush’s wedding just three days after the Italy trip. My husband and I wanted to have our daughter’s birthday party that weekend, so between that and all the travel I decided to say no to covering the Bush wedding. I thought that was the end of it. Hardly.
I got a call from an executive explaining that the execs felt I should go, and that everyone thought I had "enough” time between my trips to justify it.
For some reason that just made my blood boil. I called the female executive who was making this decision and coldly explained why I would not be going. She countered, saying that the network was assigning me and, again, I had "enough time” between trips. I exploded, questioning why they could make that judgment about my family life, reminding her I was not a "serf” (yes, I said that) to be dispatched at will, and throwing out all sorts of other things including hysterical tears. I ended by saying I was not going, and if that meant I’d be fired then so be it. (I happened to be writing Womenomics at the time, and I think all of the focus on empowerment was making me giddy).
Since Katty was in the middle of an interview, I called my husband immediately. Maybe he was thinking about our bank balance, but he encouraged me to take a step back. He suggested that we celebrate Della’s birthday the next weekend and that he’d be around for the kids if I had to go. Most importantly, he pointed out that this sounded like a high-profile assignment from the network’s point of view, and one that would get me a lot of airtime on a lot of
shows all in one swoop. I hadn’t seen the big picture like that. It took me a few hours to recover, but I called back later and told the executive I could in fact go. She was quite cheerful and grateful, and acted like my emotional outburst was no big deal. Phew.
Anyhow, I realized later than I should have seen that the trip to Texas was clearly an opportunity. And in fact it turned out to be. Three days in Texas, and I was on every broadcast. Now, maybe I was able to make an important point with my approach, and still get the benefit, but I’m not sure I’d suggest that as a strategy. Too draining. Especially for my husband!