Are the best people the most visible people?

Are the best people the most visible people? And are the most visible people the best? I've been exploring this question with my clients for a number of years and when we dig down and look at what that really means the answer is not surprising.

I know when I first started my business, I wanted to get more into the speaking arena and speak up on stage. So I joined this group of professional speakers. I attended a few events and I'd watch these people on stage and think

Oh my God, they're brilliant. I could never do that.

And I kind of stopped myself from doing anything because I just thought they're brilliant, they're out there, they're being highly visible, they're being really successful, because they were telling me they were being really successful, and I had no reason to doubt that at all. And so I kind of went,

I'm not sure I could step on the same stage as them, I'm not sure I could go and present at conferences like they do because they're so much better than I am

And I had that little judging voice inside my head saying asking me "am I good enough?"

Then about eight years ago, I had a bit of a crisis in confidence and I was talking to my business coach and we were exploring the whole idea about, in essence, this same statement

Are the people who are out there, who are very visible, are they the best at what they do?

And actually it came down to No, they're not, but because they're out there. People see them a lot, assume that they're the best, and then hire them, employ them, give them new roles, but they're not necessarily the best, just the most visible.

My business coach, she shared this with me the following observations

'I know some trainers who run a lot of workshops for a high street retailer and having seen some of the work you do, you’re street's ahead of them. However, they're very visible, they're very good at going out there and marketing themselves, telling people about what they do, and they're good at what they do, but actually you could jump over the head, but you're too quiet, you're too... invisible or you're not visible enough‘.

And it kind of it stuck with me for quite a while that phrase and I just kind of thought about it for a while and thinking okay it's so frustrating I know I've got some really good stuff here people have told me clients have had some amazing results and yet I'm still too timid, too quiet to go out there and promote myself.

And I thought,

you know, I need to do some work on me here to work out what's happening inside my head. What's happening with my mindset stopping me from standing up, being the best I can be, and then being comfortable with.

So worked with my business coach and created a strategy to increase my visibility both mentally and physically. This work was fundamental in helping me get to where I am now. It helped me get out there more, to become more comfortable being visible and believe fully in what I do, the value I add and the difference I make.

Most importantly it helped me to turn off that judgment voice of

'Am I good enough? They're better than me.'

So, I guess my question to you is, if you are really good at what you do and you believe you're good at what you do, but you're not visible, then what can you start doing to become more visible again?

It may be turning down that judgment dial.

It may be just going, 'Do you know what? I'm going to go out there. I know I'm good at what I do. I know I add value. I contribute to my team. I can make a difference. I just need more people to be aware of it‘.

Ask yourself this question everyday for the next week