Visible Me… Visible You; How to Overcome Fear and Find an Opportunity

We are all working on something which means, overcoming the fear of failure and embracing visibility

Being invisible, or less visible, can mean that we are holding back parts of ourselves from other people, and that can be isolating and also keep us from having the impact we are meant to have. I grappled with the dual facts that there is power in visibility and power in invisibility.  Once I acknowledged and confronted what my fears were, I was able to reframe the idea of visibility as something exciting and less scary. Moving past the fear of rejection allows us to put ourselves out there and create new connections. As women in leadership roles and particularly for black women, being visible may feel daunting but breaking through those fears are necessary to get to the next level.

One of my personal goals has been to increase my comfort with social media. In order to do that, I had to first figure out how to actually use social media and then, what I wanted to use it for… but the biggest challenge was becoming visible ON social media and overcoming my own fear. 

There was no point in trying to avoid it, I needed to create a virtual presence as part of marketing. What I was not anticipating is that this scary new world, which I had mostly steered clear of in the past, can be kind of fun and has created new opportunities for me to grow.  Learning to overcome the fear of failure can lead to great opportunities in life and our careers and be one important key to success. 

WHAT IS GETTING IN THE WAY?

I won’t go into all the technical aspects that I had to power my way through just to create my various social media accounts but once I got over the anxiety of that, I found myself exploring Pinterest, Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn through new eyes.  I looked at the way that each of these platforms is designed to tell different parts of a story, which audiences they were intended to reach, and the language that was unique to each platform.  I had to admit that it was not really THAT difficult to navigate them, I just needed to be okay with tripping along until I figured out how to walk. And each time I got something right, I did a little happy dance- clap thing… but those didn’t get posted.  When you’re a leader you may find yourself faced with unexpected new experiences like making the peer-to-leader transition.

WHY DOES VISIBILITY MATTER IN LIFE AND LEADERSHIP?

I was aware that people would need to know about me, in order to want to engage with me. The same is true when it comes to being a leader.  People want to know who you are and why they should follow you.  Having a title does not get people to buy-in.  It’s the equivalent of the promotional tours that actors go on before the release of their new movie. Suddenly they’re on every late-night television host’s couch. Or, there’s a new love interest or scandal because bad publicity is still publicity. The difference is, they have whole PR machines behind them and when you’re running a small business or you’re the Vice President of your company there is no budget for a personal marketing team.  Learning how to brand yourself is an important part of executive leadership coaching that I coach leaders on. We focus on how they can clarify their leadership style helping them to find ways to effectively communicate who they are, what their values are, and how they lead.

HOW CAN OVERCOMING FEAR CREATE A NEW OPPORTUNITY?

I won’t say that I have reached my goal yet with social media, but it is getting easier and I do understand most of the basics, like how to post stories to Instagram.  Visibility in leadership is not just about what you put out, but about being intentional and ensuring that you match your words with your actions. There are also unexpected gains like building valuable connections and finding resources that you may not have known about. Visibility is an opportunity to connect with other people. It may mean that we make mistakes too but we can always work to learn and grow from them. Is the fear of visibility or failure getting in the way of you being an impactful and confident leader? If so let’s connect, schedule a fit call today so we can discuss how executive leadership coaching could benefit you in advancing your career and help you to break free to achieve your goals. 

Achieve the Best You!