self-advocacy Archives | The Glasshammer

“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.

“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

Tag Archive for: self-advocacy

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