Why Hard Work Isn’t Enough: How to Make Your Work More Visible

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hard work not enough how to make work more visible“I used to have the mindset that if I kept my head down and worked hard, I’d be recognized for that and promoted in time.”

That is how Heather Garland, Vice President and Global Chief Marketing Officer at PGIM Investments, describes an assumption a lot of high performers carry, one she eventually learned is not enough. It wasn’t until she became more intentional and vocal about her career goals that those opportunities began to materialize.

Melanie Priddy, now Chief People Officer at Covington & Burling, reached a similar conclusion. “As women, often there’s a tendency to downplay your success, your role or leadership skills, whether with a boss or with a group,” she says. “But someone else can’t speak up for you on your behalf, if you don’t do it for yourself first.”

Their experiences aren’t outliers. Research helps explain why this assumption so often falls short.

The Confidence Myth

For years, the common explanation for why women under-promote their own work was framed as a confidence problem: just speak up more, ask for more, claim your wins more loudly. Looking at the research, however, a different story emerges.

Studies on what’s known as the backlash avoidance model found that when women self-promote, they’re generally seen as more competent, but they also risk being seen as less likable, a social penalty that men engaging in identical behavior don’t face to the same degree. The fear of that backlash doesn’t just make women choose to self-promote less, it can also interfere with their ability to do it well when they try. This is not a confidence gap, but rather a rational response to a real social cost, one that then makes self-promotion itself more difficult.

Another finding comes from economists studying self-promotion in blind settings, where women’s gender was never revealed to anyone judging their performance. Even then, women under-reported their own work relative to men. Again, this suggests the issue isn’t simply confidence in the moment, but a learned pattern that requires a more thoughtful solution than “just speak up.”

The Goal Isn’t to Brag More

If the standard advice to “be more confident” or “toot your own horn” has never felt like the right fit, that doesn’t mean you need to change your personality to advance your career. The goal isn’t to become someone who brags or is pushy. It’s to close the well-documented gap between doing great work and ensuring that work is seen and understood. Ultimately, it’s about strategic visibility and communication.

The Dual-Promotion Approach

One of the more useful findings in this space is an approach known as dual-promotion: pairing a statement about your own contribution with genuine credit to the people you worked with. Something like: “The team and I landed the renewal, and I led the negotiation strategy that got us there.”

Research suggests this approach reduces the likability penalty associated with self-promotion for both men and women. For women in particular, it can be especially effective because it communicates both competence and collaboration in the same sentence, rather than forcing a choice between the two.

What makes this approach work is that it doesn’t come across as performative or self-congratulatory. Instead, it’s clear, specific, and complete. It explains what was accomplished, who contributed, and what your particular role was. Rather than taking credit away from others, it helps ensure your own contribution is visible alongside theirs.

Four More Practical Ways to Make Your Work More Visible

 

1. Document impact as it happens, not months later.

Reconstructing your wins at review time means relying on memory, which can favor whoever was most recently visible, not whoever made the biggest impact. Keeping a running record of key achievements, updated as projects wrap up, makes it much easier to communicate your contributions throughout the year instead of scrambling during performance review season.

2. Let your work be visible at many levels.

When talking about making her work visible, Charlotte Weir, Head of Corporate Coverage, EMEA at Wells Fargo, described intentionally building relationships with senior leaders one or two levels above her direct manager so they understood the work she was driving. The takeaway isn’t to bypass your manager; it’s to look for natural opportunities to share your work with a broader group of stakeholders, whether that’s through project updates, cross-functional meetings, leadership presentations, or informal conversations.

3. Use outcomes language.

Describe your impact in terms of what happened and what changed as a result: “this increased sales by 30%,” or “this strengthened a client relationship that had been at risk.” Framing your contributions around measurable outcomes reads as straightforward reporting rather than self-congratulation, even though it accomplishes the same goal of making your impact visible.

4. Be clear about your career goals.

Strong performance alone doesn’t tell your manager or senior leaders what you want next. If you’re interested in leading people, taking on larger projects, or moving into a different area of the business, say so. Anar Patel, Director, Portfolio Construction at PGIM Investments, credits much of her career progression to pairing strong performance with clear communication about her aspirations. “In every role, I continued to stay focused, do great work, think about what my next move was and communicate the career trajectory that I wanted. You have to advocate for yourself.” As Patel puts it, “You’re the marketing team behind your own personal brand, and sometimes, that means creating opportunities for yourself that didn’t exist before.”

Make Your Work Visible in Way that is Authentic to You

This visibility gap exists because of a real, well-researched social dynamic, not because you are not good at talking about yourself or simply need to try harder. Understanding that distinction matters because it changes where you put your energy: not into becoming louder, but into becoming more intentional, more consistent, and more strategic about ensuring your work is recognized by the people who need to see it.

That also doesn’t mean talking about yourself constantly, claiming credit that isn’t yours, or acting in a way that feels in inauthentic. It’s about making sure the value you’re already creating is visible, understood, and accurately recognized.

Finding your own approach to visibility, one that highlights your impact without requiring you to become someone you’re not, is exactly the kind of work coaching is designed to support. Evolved People Coaching, the executive coaching arm of theglasshammer.com helps leaders build the confidence, communication skills, and strategies to make their contributions visible in an authentic way. Book an exploratory coaching conversation HERE.

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Charlotte Weir: Head of Corporate Banking, EMEA at Wells Fargo

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Charlotte Weir“Leadership isn’t about directing from the sidelines,” says Charlotte Weir. “It’s about standing shoulder to shoulder with your team, celebrating success together and, when things don’t go to plan, being the first to own it.”

In a career spanning nearly three decades, Weir has operated by a consistent set of principles: be genuine, be present, and invest in people for the long term. It’s a philosophy that has defined her career, whether she is building client relationships lasting over 25 years, mentoring junior colleagues, or being candid with her team about the demands of balancing life and work.

Do What You Enjoy

“My philosophy is to do things you enjoy,” says Weir in explaining how she made her way to a career in finance. At first that meant a chemistry degree, pursued simply because she loved the subject. But once she graduated, she realized that she needed to find something that matched her energy.

“I’ve always been a high-intensity, competitive person,” she explains. “I wanted to be in an environment that was buzzy, fast-paced, and pushed me.” A recruitment firm landed her on a trading floor at Bear Stearns in London, where “the speed, the pace, being on the trading floor, it really excited me.”

What drew Weir specifically into debt capital markets wasn’t the products, but the relationships. “It’s about building relationships with clients while being very strong in your subject matter,” she notes, “building that trust so clients come back to you time and time again.”

After Bear Stearns, nearly two decades at Barclays followed, building seniority across UK, Northern European, and EMEA corporate teams. But the pandemic prompted a change of course.

“I had this moment where I thought, am I really doing what I want to be doing?” Weir recalls. “I was looking for a challenge. I was looking for the next opportunity to stretch myself.”

The challenge of building Wells Fargo’s corporate banking franchise in EMEA was the catalyst for Weir to make the move and step into a leadership role at Wells Fargo, with a team of about 50 people across London, Dublin and Frankfurt and a mandate to grow the business.

“My DCM background is still part of my DNA, but this role has challenged me to broaden my expertise, think more strategically, and help shape a team capable of taking the franchise to its next phase of growth across EMEA.”

Integrity and Showing Up

A defining feature of Weir’s leadership is integrity: doing what you committed to and not asking of others what you wouldn’t ask of yourself. That principle becomes most visible when things don’t go to plan. When a deal goes in the wrong direction, she doesn’t wait for someone else to manage the fallout.

“I am first on the phone to the client. I’m as much a part of the success as when things don’t go right.”

Rather than viewing those moments as setbacks, Weir sees them as some of the most powerful opportunities for growth.

“You learn so much more when things go wrong. It feels terrible in the moment, but you come out with lessons learned and much stronger.”

That same commitment to honesty and accountability carries through to how she shows up with her team internally. As the mother of 18-year-old triplets, Weir believes in being transparent about the realities of balancing work and family.

“I expect the team to work hard but it’s better if people know that home needs to come first sometimes,” she says. “Modeling that behavior helps other people realize it’s okay too. And that can change how they feel about work, because they know that there is flexibility there.”

Relationships and the Long Game

A defining thread in Weir’s career is her commitment to investing in relationships, especially when it comes to her clients.

“Some of my clients I’ve covered for 25 years. That creates an incredibly strong bond.”

That bond, she says, is what allows her to have conversations that go beyond the transactional and it means clients keep coming back, whether through market cycles or personnel changes.

Weir’s emphasis on relationships also shapes how she has approached mentorship and sponsorship. Rather than waiting to be noticed, she has consistently sought out senior leaders whose values resonated with her own, and asked directly for their guidance. At the same time, she is clear that while mentors and sponsors can open doors, it is equally important to learn how to advocate for yourself.

“While others may advocate for you, you also need to learn how to advocate for yourself, and it has to be done in a natural way, that feels like you.” For Weir, that meant connecting with senior leaders, often one or two levels above her direct manager, so that her contributions were visible beyond her immediate team.

“It’s about finding opportunities to help people recognize and realize what you’ve been involved in, what you’re doing, and how you’re driving the business forward. And doing it in a way that feels authentic to you.”

The mistake Weir made early on was assuming strong work would speak for itself. “There’s a mentality of put your head down, do your job really well, and you’ll get promoted. That’s not always the case.” Relationships, she learned, are not only how you serve clients, but also how you build and sustain a career.

Planting Seeds

Having entered the industry when she was, in her own words, “one of very few women,” Weir now channels that same long-term thinking into ensuring the next generation has an easier path. She is consistently involved in Wells Fargo’s campus recruiting and helped launch Treasurers and Bankers of Tomorrow, a Wells Fargo forum connecting junior bankers with junior finance professionals on the client side. The goal is simple: build authentic relationships long before anyone is in a position to do a deal.

“So much of my career comes back to relationships. If we can help our teams foster those connections early on, they’ll carry them throughout their careers.”

Switching Off

Outside the office, Weir stays active year-round through running, skiing, and paddleboarding. Running often becomes thinking time, while skiing offers something entirely different.

“It’s one of the only times when I can truly switch my brain off and enjoy being active in beautiful scenery.”

It’s fitting for a leader who believes in showing up fully: for her clients, her team, and herself. Knowing when to step back and recharge is what allows Weir to step forward when it matters most.

By Jessica Robaire

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Stop Letting Your Career Happen to You

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Stop Letting Your Career Happen to YouBy Jessica Darmoni

“Make sure to manage your career,” says Patricia Lunkes. “And that your career is not managing you.”

After more than four decades in human resources and as founder of Parkway Consulting Group, Lunkes has spent her career watching people at pivotal moments, whether being hired, promoted or laid off. From that vantage point she notices patterns, the biggest one being that people wait too long to take control.

“It’s very easy to have a career manage you,” she says. “You have to be conscious that it’s going in the right direction.”

While that sounds obvious, it isn’t. In reality, careers drift, promotions come with tradeoffs no one fully evaluates and roles evolve faster than people adapt. Dissatisfaction builds gradually, then suddenly feels overwhelming. By the time many professionals stop to ask whether they’re in the right place, they’re already far from it.

Watching for the Warning Signs

Lunkes offers a simple but powerful framework which she calls “the 80/20 rule” of job satisfaction. If roughly 80% of your work aligns with what you enjoy and do well, you’re in a sustainable place.

“If that ratio slips toward 60/40, it’s not just a bad week, it’s a warning sign,” she says. “And most people ignore the warning sign by rationalizing.”

It is common for employees to look toward that next project, the next boss, or the next year as a solution. Sometimes it gets better, but often it doesn’t, and the cost of waiting compounds not just professionally, but psychologically.

Lunkes knows this firsthand. Twice in her career, she stepped into roles that looked right on paper but were not good cultural fits. In both cases, she says she believed she could change the environment.

“The common denominator was me,” she admits. “That realization is uncomfortable but necessary. We tend to blame circumstances, leadership, or culture. Those factors matter but they don’t replace self-awareness. If you don’t understand what actually fits you, you will keep choosing environments that don’t.”

Reflection Creates Better Decisions

What Lunkes did next is what separates intentional careers from accidental ones: she paused. She stepped back, reassessed, and rebuilt her work around what she genuinely enjoyed, which was meeting people, solving problems, and helping others move forward. Instead of forcing herself into a predefined role, she designed one. That decision became Parkway Consulting Group.

Her path underscores a broader shift that many professionals still resist: careers are no longer linear.

“The most resilient professionals aren’t the ones who follow a plan perfectly,” she notes. “They’re the ones who adjust quickly when the plan stops making sense.”

That requires two things people often undervalue: reflection and honesty.

Lunkes encourages something simple, a “career buddy.” Someone who can listen, challenge your assumptions, and help you distinguish between temporary frustration and a deeper mismatch. In fast-moving industries especially, where roles evolve constantly, that outside perspective can be the difference between a smart pivot and a costly mistake.

The Skills that Matter Most

While reflection is important, it must be coupled with thoughtful execution. Here, Lunkes is blunt about the skills that actually move careers forward today.

Communication sits at the top of the list, meaning not just speaking, but listening, reading a room, and knowing when to stop talking. In hybrid and remote environments, where nuance is easily lost, this skill has become a differentiator.

Adaptability is also important. The professionals who thrive aren’t necessarily the most experienced; they’re the ones most willing to evolve.

Finally, there’s the piece many still struggle with which is boundaries.

Learning to say no sounds simple but it requires confidence, clarity, and practice. For many, especially women, Lunkes notes, it’s a skill developed late, if at all. She emphasizes that without it, careers become shaped by external demands rather than internal priorities.

The same applies to negotiation. Too many professionals treat it as optional or adversarial but, if done well, it signals that you understand value, including your own.

Your Career is Something You Build

Underlying all of this is a mindset shift: your career is not something you endure or inherit. It’s something you actively construct. That doesn’t mean every move will be perfect. Lunkes’ career certainly wasn’t. However, it does mean paying attention regularly, honestly, and without waiting for a crisis to force “the 80/20 rule” question.

The reality is that the market will keep changing. Industries will speed up. Roles will blur. Stability, as previous generations understood it, is not coming back. What remains constant is the need for self-awareness. The professionals who succeed in this environment won’t be the ones with the most predictable paths. They’ll be the ones willing to ask, again and again: Is this still right for me?

And if the answer is no, they’ll do something about it.

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Melinda Schramm: Founder and Chairman of The National Introducing Brokers Association (NIBA)

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Melinda SchrammBy Jessica Darmoni

“What an incredible purpose the derivatives markets play… price discovery and risk management together represent a massive economic purpose for being,” says Melinda Schramm. “Beyond traditional and agricultural markets, they are essential in emerging markets, shaping how we manage risk and our future. I am proud to be part of something that is essential to the American value of life.”

After more than four decades in the derivatives industry, Melinda Schramm still approaches the markets with the same clarity of purpose that first drew her in, because this work matters to her. The Glass Hammer first met Schramm in 2009 as Founder and Chairman of the National Introducing Brokers Association (NIBA). Since then, Schramm has spent her career not only navigating the complexities of futures and options products, but also helping others understand their essential role in the global economy. Today, NIBA is focused on educating their members and advocating for the Introducing Broker (IB), Commodity Trading Advisors, accountants, lawyers and market participants that have joined the NIBA network. Schramm’s work also continues in a new and evolving context that includes emerging products like prediction markets and crypto assets, and an ongoing dialogue with regulators.

A Voice in a Changing Regulatory Landscape

While speaking with The Glass Hammer, Schramm is preparing a comment letter to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission on behalf of Introducing Broker (IB) members of NIBA. The topic is prediction markets, which is an area drawing increased attention as regulators seek input on how these platforms should function within the broader derivatives ecosystem.

For Schramm, the issue comes back to first principles. Do these markets serve a legitimate economic purpose?

“Price discovery is critical,” she emphasizes. “But we also need to understand how that price is formed and disseminated in prediction markets, and whether it contributes meaningfully to the system.”

The response from the IB community so far has been measured. Many are taking a “wait and see” approach, not out of resistance, but out of a need for deeper understanding. Prediction markets represent a shift—one that requires education before adoption.

“There’s interest,” Schramm notes, “but also a recognition that we need to understand how to approach it responsibly.”

Her comment letter reflects that balance: openness to innovation, paired with a clear focus on purpose, transparency, and market integrity.

Understanding the Purpose of Derivatives

That focus on purpose has been a constant throughout Schramm’s career. While derivatives markets are often viewed as complex or opaque, she sees them as fundamentally practical.

From agricultural hedging to managing financial risk, these markets allow participants to navigate uncertainty. They enable businesses to make decisions with greater confidence and stability.

“Once you really understand the futures and options business,” she says, “you see how essential it is, not just to specific industries but to the broader economy.”

That perspective has shaped her leadership and her long-standing commitment to education. Early in her career, she recognized that many people, even those in finance, lacked a clear understanding of how derivatives function.

Building Knowledge in a Fast-Paced, Ever-Evolving Industry

When Schramm first entered the industry, trading floors served as informal classrooms. They were places where newcomers could observe, ask questions, and learn by immersion. Today, those entry points no longer exist.

In response, she has helped build more structured pathways into the industry through education and outreach. Working through NIBA, she collaborates with institutions like DePaul University and the Illinois Institute of Technology Stuart School of Business to introduce students to the realities of derivatives markets.

“These efforts go beyond trading,” she says. “There are a wide range of roles that support the industry, including legal, compliance, operations, and technology. Many students have never heard of key functions like Futures Commission Merchants (FCMs) or Introducing Brokers.”

But once they do, something shifts.

“They start to see how the whole system fits together,” she explains. “And then they begin to see where they might fit within it.”

Lifetime Lessons from the Markets

Schramm’s longevity in the industry has required constant adaptation. Markets evolve daily, shaped by new data, global events, and regulatory developments. The ability to adjust quickly is not optional but essential.

“I tend to overthink decisions,” she admits. “But this business doesn’t allow for that. You have to be able to change your focus on a dime.”

Equally important is the ability to listen. Whether working with clients or engaging in regulatory discussions, understanding what is truly being asked—and what is actually needed—requires careful attention.

Resilience is another defining trait. Mistakes happen, especially in a fast-moving environment. Schramm’s approach is straightforward: address the issue, fix it, and move forward.

“You can’t take everything personally,” she says. “It’s about learning and continuing.”

Navigating Change and Challenging Assumptions

Over the course of her 50 year career, Schramm has also witnessed shifts in workplace dynamics. When she first started, women were rare in the field and often met with mixed reactions—either dismissed or treated with a kind of over-cautiousness that limited their effectiveness.

While progress has been made, challenges remain. Even today, she occasionally finds herself in rooms where she feels underestimated, whether due to gender or age.

“There are moments where I feel like I have to raise my hand to be heard,” she reflects. “There aren’t many women at this stage of life sitting at those tables.”

Yet her continued presence, and influence, speaks for itself. With decades of experience, she remains deeply engaged with modern markets, from traditional commodities to emerging digital assets.

Looking Forward

As Schramm helps lead preparations for NIBA’s 35th anniversary gathering this July at DePaul University, her focus is both forward-looking and grounded in experience. The event will address emerging topics like prediction markets while also recognizing the individuals who have shaped the industry with the introduction of a NIBA Hall of Fame, sponsored by the CME Group.

However, for Schramm, the work is ongoing. Whether through education, advocacy, or direct engagement with regulators, her goal remains consistent: to ensure that derivatives markets continue to serve a meaningful purpose.

That purpose, rooted in price discovery, risk management, and economic stability is what has sustained her career.

And as new markets emerge and new questions arise, it is also what continues to guide her voice.

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