Early in my profession, I missed out on promotions regardless that I labored laborious. As an engineer by coaching, I assumed my success can be performance-based. I mistakenly thought that my worth to a corporation can be measured solely by my technical expertise — how shortly and precisely I may compute the costs of complicated monetary derivatives.
It wasn’t till years into my banking profession that I noticed my mistake: I had ignored picture and publicity. Harvey Coleman’s 1996 research on profession development revealed that profession success relies on a mixture of efficiency, picture, and publicity (PIE). In truth, solely 10% of success correlates to efficiency, whereas picture accounts for 30%, and publicity for a staggering 60%.
Should you’re delivering outcomes however are nonetheless being handed over for promotions, it’s time to take inventory of the lacking items in your PIE.
Picture: Your Popularity at Work
What are you identified for at work? In my first job as a international alternate (FX) gross sales skilled at a Singapore financial institution, I didn’t do properly as a result of I lacked social expertise. Regardless that I improved my promoting expertise considerably after a yr, the poor impression my colleagues and executives had of me was mounted. It was tough to alter their minds. If I had stayed on, I’d have been a mediocre salesperson at greatest. So, I left to pursue my grasp’s in finance.
After I joined Citi in 2001 as a derivatives structurer, I confirmed a powerful curiosity in instructing. I volunteered to conduct product coaching for each purchasers and colleagues. In a short time, I constructed a popularity not simply as a talented structurer but in addition as a wonderful coach. This popularity led to invites from gross sales heads throughout Asia to coach their groups and clients, considerably enhancing my private model.
Construct Your Private Model
Develop a signature talent, one thing that’s totally different out of your core experience however might be included into your work.
For example, when you’re a junior analysis analyst in an asset administration firm, you would develop video enhancing expertise. By providing to shoot and edit movies for senior colleagues presenting at funding conferences, you’ll be seen as a beneficial workforce participant whom they wish to carry alongside to occasions.
You probably have already labored at your present firm for greater than a yr, altering your inside model could be a problem. I recommend specializing in growing your exterior model and letting it affect your inside standing.
Volunteering with a CFA society, organizing occasions, or serving as a speaker liaison are nice methods to do that. I’m proud to be a speaker on the CFA Institute LIVE 2025 occasion in Chicago subsequent Could. Share these experiences on LinkedIn and different retailers, as I do, to showcase your capabilities as a grasp networker or organizer. Your employer will see you in a unique mild. Study to be a storyteller. Tales resonate extra deeply than details and figures. Use your tales to let folks find out about your persona, talents, and values. They’re essential elements of your private model.
Publicity: How Nicely Do Folks Know You?
Publicity is about guaranteeing that the suitable folks — your colleagues and senior leaders — are conscious of your contributions. With out visibility, you received’t get promoted.
I discovered this the laborious means. After I was a vp (VP, a mid-level rank) at an American financial institution, my boss went on vacation and requested me to current the weekly market replace to the gross sales and structuring groups throughout Asia on his behalf. I instructed him I couldn’t host the assembly as a result of I used to be busy getting ready for my skilled exams. However this was simply an excuse. In actuality, I feared public talking. He bought one other VP to do it as a substitute. By year-end, when it got here to promotion nominations, guess who my supervisor selected to advertise to director stage? That’s proper, not me, however the different VP.
Should you carry out properly in your job however don’t communicate up in conferences, you’re making it tough for managers to find out about your work. Even when your personal boss needs to advertise you, nobody else within the firm will help you as a result of they hardly know you. It comes right down to this easy equation:
How good you’re × Your presentation expertise = How good folks assume you’re
So not solely should you do good work, however you will need to additionally seize alternatives to let folks know in regards to the work you do.
Improve Publicity
Converse Up Throughout Conferences: Share your insights, ask considerate questions, and ensure your voice is heard.
Volunteer for Excessive-Visibility Duties: For instance, provide to emcee the corporate’s annual dinner.
Pursue Worldwide Alternatives: Inside transfers to totally different places of work or nations can considerably enhance your publicity. I labored in London and Hong Kong throughout my profession, and these stints allowed me to construct relationships with world leaders.
Interact with the International Group: Attend CFA occasions outdoors your own home nation to attach with a broader community.
Full Your PIE
Promotions require extra than simply laborious work and outcomes. By mastering the PIE framework, you’ll place your self for long-term profession success.
