‘Does she even work here?’

I passed a colleague in the office today who, without any other prior salutation, called out ‘I was in a meeting the other day with someone who asked “Does Claire Cowles even work here any more?”’

My reaction was a large shrug, followed by another, as I continued on my way to lunch with an eye roll that'd make a cyclops jealous. But it got me thinking:?

Do I need to be known? I've concluded that the answer is both yes and no.

Let’s start with the ‘no’ (because that’s the humble-brag option, isn’t it?). I wasn’t upset in the slightest that someone clearly finds my impact at work 100% imperceptible. Why?

1. Because I know my value doesn’t rise and fall on the opinion of anyone else – not something that comes easily to everyone, I appreciate, but definitely a position to pursue in life.
2. Because I know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that they are impacted by my work. As the person heading up our brand, there’s no way anyone in the organisation can completely escape the work I’m doing. They just might not join up the dots from their experiences to my work. Sneaky.

And what about the ‘yes’? It's not about being recognised to boost my own ego (although I’m a massive evangelist for publicly and correctly crediting and celebrating any individual’s work). Instead, it's about answering the question, what do I need to do to be the most effective I can be in doing my job? How can I further the areas I’m accountable for if some people think I’ve left the building permanently?

So, I’ll conclude here, not wounded but challenged to think a bit about my cross-org visibility, and hoping that the kind colleague who called out with their tale of my invisibility doesn’t do anything daft, like walk barefoot across LEGO, or rub chillies in their eyes.

Peace out.