I recently read a Harvard Business Review article called “Interviews with 59 Black Female Executives Explore Intersectional Invisibility and Strategies to Overcome It” and one of my takeaways from the article was how these women executives went from unnoticed to discovered. They all shared a similar view as other African Americans in the corporate world in such that they were underrepresented within their company, often the only black female and the only black employee. They all gained a greater sense of self awareness early on in their careers, which I personally think is an advantage, although they were at a disadvantage because of underrepresentation. Being the “only one” did not stop these women from achieving the level of success that they desired and by mid career they understood that in order for them to have a chance to climb the pyramid they had to get noticed and that meant taking on high risk roles within their companies. You often hear people saying “The higher the risk the higher the return”, well this is also true in the professional world. African Americans who desire to climb the corporate pyramid must go from being unnoticed to being discovered and the way to do this is by taking on a certain level of risk. These women were not scared and neither was I.
I started my new role as Associate Vice President of Customer Success in October 2015, which was 2 months before I completed by MBA. One of my goals when entering grad school was to exit with a Vice President title at my current company or at a new company. Another company offered me the position first and was a better fit for my personal career growth so I accepted their offer. I started my new role on my birthday in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. That week, I developed a better understanding of my role, the people within my organization and the incredible city of Kuala Lumpur. I uncovered that the current General Manager was retiring and the staff was anxious that they were going to be without a leader and would be eventually replaced by a team in India. I learned this by having personal one on one discussions with my team throughout that week. I flew back to the US and a few months went by. In March 2016, during a discussion with my manager I made a suggestion that I be the one to move to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to combat the attrition issue we were experiencing since we had no plan to replace that staff with India. My manager loved the idea and asked if my wife was onboard, I said, well I haven’t spoken to her yet. I already knew that she would love to experience living internationally because of my career discussion with her early on in our relationship and our obsession with watching House Hunters International. Little did we both know how much we would love it. That same day after discussing it with my wife, my manager was on the phone with HR to get this in motion right away. He is a wonderful guy and if he thinks an idea is good, he doesn’t wait to put it in motion. We moved to Malaysia in June 2016 and not only did I have responsibility for my previous duties but I received a promotion to Area Vice President and Site Lead. I was now responsible for every organization within that office and although they didn’t all report directly to me, I was now the go to person for HR, legal, finance, accounting, professional services and my customer support and customer success teams. One of the issues the office was facing was attrition because of the lack of leadership and direction. I was there to improve retention and provide that direction to 111 employees. We lived in Kuala Lumpur for 2 years and 4 months. We never lived internationally before, let alone in South East Asia. A man from Orangeburg, South Carolina, 31 years old asking to move a new country and take on a major leadership role. Was I fully prepared? Was I properly trained? Did I know the Malaysian language? Was Malaysia a safe country to live in? Did they have good health care for my daughter? I wasn’t sure and I didn’t completely know. Many financial models are built around the premise that an investor should expect high returns if they are willing to accept more risk. This premise is no different for the careers of African Americans looking to climb the corporate pyramid. Moving your family to the other side of the world is just one example of a way to differentiate yourself and get noticed. Is moving your family to the other side of the world the only way? Of course not. So what are some other ways for you to get noticed? Challenge yourself to be present, ask professional questions and speak up, don’t sit back and remain unnoticed. Challenge yourself to understand your weaknesses and strive to turn those areas of opportunity into strengths. Challenge yourself to workout and become a healthier you. Challenge yourself to join a group or a professional network that you have an interest in but aren’t completely familiar with to help you grow both personally and professionally. Challenge yourself to attend happy hours and work functions so you can have a consistent face within the company. And challenge yourself to be comfortable with the uncomfortable, get out of your comfort zone and take a risk. These are all example of ways that you can get from unnoticed to discovered.
BH nugget. Going unnoticed sucks. It’s like being part of a team but never getting play time. The coach never calls on you or even looks at you. What if a person in your organization resigns or gets promoted? What if a major project is underway and they need more individuals primed and ready to join the team? Will you be ready? Will you have been noticed enough to be chosen for these career opportunities? Will you have a voice and make yourself available for these career opportunities, whether you are completely ready or not? You must always ask yourself, What am I doing to get noticed in my professional career? Be discovered.
Sources:
Alexis, Nicole Smith, Marla Baskerville Watkins, Jamie J. Ladge, Pamela Carlton, “Interviews with 59 Black Female Executives Explore Intersectional Invisibility and Strategies to Overcome It”, 2018, May 10,
https://hbr.org/2018/05/interviews-with-59-black-female-executives-explore-intersectional-invisibility-and-strategies-to-overcome-it, HBR, Accessed 9/23/2018
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