When it comes to asserting one's visibility in the workplace, it turns out that "too much" can be as dangerous as "too little." Dr. Stacy Blake-Beard, a nationally recognized authority on mentoring, workplace diversity, and strategic networking (and a member of MentorNet's Advisory Board), has co-authored an article that describes the "Catch-22" minorities face while trying to manage their visibility in the workplace.
In "Releasing the Double Bind of Visibility for Minorities in the Workplace" Dr. Blake-Beard and Dr. Laura Morgan Roberts describe two frequently–employed strategies for "making a mark" in the workplace: 1) make yourself stand out in a crowd so "others can truly see what you have to offer and appreciate and respect what you bring to the table," and 2) blend in and slip under the radar — a more "cooperative and collaborative" approach.
Danger, Will Robinson!
The Catch-22 or "double bind" is that both strategies come with risk factors that can potentially undermine a person's ability to lead.
The danger of "standing out," the article states, is that it can quickly lead to "hypervisibility, where people are paying attention to the wrong things."
The danger of "slipping under the radar" and pursuing a more collaborative/cooperative approach is that it can lead to "invisibility, where people aren't paying attention to you at all."
Many minorities fall into the trap of becoming chronically invisible or chronically hypervisible because they do not know how to pick the right moments to shine and how to make sure the right qualities and characteristics are exposed in a given situation.
Six Tips for Managing Visibility in the Workplace
The article offers the following tips:
1. Establish your network of allies. An important factor will be the relationships you build — you need to have allies in all quarters of your organization... Who "has your back" in your organization? Who is really concerned about your advancement and achievement and will advocate and work on your behalf during important company decisions? Who will stand up and make sure others pay attention to your strengths and contributions so the burden of promoting yourself doesn't always fall on your shoulders? The importance of mentors, sponsors, allies, and friends cannot be underestimated.
2. Keep track of your internal compass. As you gain visibility and notoriety in your organization, it is critical to keep sight of your own "true north." Don't stand out just for the sake of standing out; instead, be clear about what you stand for and know what you absolutely refuse to condone.
3. Take ownership of your identity. You are the sole owner of your identity, and therefore, you are in charge of your visibility. This means that you get to decide when you "show up" to the table, how you show up, and what rules you will follow.
4. Avoid overexposure. Make sure the life of the organization does not always revolve around your thoughts and actions.
5. Time your visibility. Pick the right moments to be in the spotlight, when you can truly shine because you are at your best.
6. Control the content of your visibility. It is your job to make sure that your audience is paying attention to the right things about you. You get to choose what you share with other people; you do not have to put every detail of your personal life on public record. Decide what aspects of your story you are comfortable sharing with others.
Walking the Tightrope between Hypervisibility and Invisibility
To avoid becoming either "too" visible or "invisible," the authors suggest that minority professionals temper their visibility by continually searching for cues about when the time might be right to step into center stage and when it might be wiser to remain backstage or in the wings.
The best way to address the "Catch-22" of visibility, according to Drs. Blake-Beard and Roberts, is to "stay in touch with your internal compass; let it guide your decisions about how to manage your visibility so that you don't short–change your right to be recognized as a substantive contributor to your organization's success."
For more information on this subject, read "Releasing the Double Bind of Visibility for Minorities in the Workplace," co-authored by Dr. Stacy Blake-Beard and Dr. Laura Morgan Roberts, published September 2004 by the Center for Gender in Organizations.