Speaking up is so difficult… or is it?

“I’m not an extrovert.” These four words are the most frequently used reason to justify why many of us are not speaking up in meetings, especially when there are senior executives around. Many of us find it challenging to be seen (or heard in this case) during such moments. We secretly admire or are envious of those who can articulate their points of view in a succinct manner, even when the bosses are around.

While some of us may be fine with staying in the shadows, deep down we know that for our careers to flourish, we need more than just hard work, results, intelligence, or loyalty. Being recognised by those at the top is important.

How then can one turn off the incognito mode and move to being recognised at the workplace, and be rewarded appropriately? The answer is simple: small changes. As the cliché as the saying is, there’s a ton of truth behind it – small changes can make a big difference.

Mel Robbins, in one of her YouTube appearances, enlightened us by stating that, “Our minds are designed to stop us, at all costs from doing anything that might hurt us.” She highlighted when we had that great idea and want to share it at the meeting, we hesitated at that micro-moment and held back. At this instance, we allowed the brain to go into protection mode. It then tells us there is a risk and pulls us away from that thing which the brain perceives to be a problem or a threat. We lull ourselves into hesitation and silence.

The worst part is that many of us recognise this train of thought and are fully aware of the process that our brains go through. However, we give ourselves the excuse that we are introverted and we should stay true to our character.

Stephen Krempl in his book, The 5% Zone introduced the 95/5 concept. He advocates that we can be who we are 95% of the time. We only need to switch during those 5% situations which really matters. What are these 5% situations? They are 1 on 1 meetings with senior management, the conference calls, the team meetings, town halls, and company social functions. He said that these are the only situations your senior leaders either see or hear you. These are the critical situations when visibility will give you the recognition and rewards.

You can watch Stephen’s video on the 95/5 concept or read his book, “The 5% Zone: Visibility Strategies that Get you Recognized and Rewarded in Any Organization”.

A tiny shift in your mindset is all that’s required to launch your career to a totally new level. When you think about it, change is not that insurmountable as long as you adopt this concept. Just 5% of the time is definitely doable and you do not have to change your character.