You work hard. You come in early, stay late. You are good friends with everyone. If asked, you jump.

But for some reason, you’re not moving up. You don’t get that promotion. You get paltry bonuses. And worst of all, people whom you’d never expect to move up, do.

What’s going on? You’re not playing the game by the same rules that THEY do.

High Exposure people focus on projects, activities, and areas that have a high potential for visibility and exposure to the people that matter.

Low Exposure people do their job (and they do it well) - but they do low-visibility, fundamental work that is important, but not sexy.

Low Ethics people are focused on one goal — themselves. Each decision, each move, every relationship is solely based on moving up, even at the expense of others. Now we all are a bit self-centered — we need that to stay alive in the corporate jungle. But true low ethics people will do anything to move up (and to sometimes make others look bad). In addition, low ethics people don’t care about the company or their work product.

High Ethics people are focused on the quality of work in your organization. Is this good for the company? Is this good for the team? How can we stay ahead of the competition? I almost named this section ’selfless’, but in reality, no one is selfless in a corporate atmosphere.

Now there are gradations of Low/High Exposure and Low/High Ethics people. And here is where the magic comes in. You do not need to be a High-Climber Holly to make it big. You probably know a few Hollys right now (and they're awful people).

These people are easily seen by highly perceptive leaders and kept in their place because they are ultimately anathema to the organization. High-Climber Holly cuts corners, hides mistakes, blames others, does legally hinky things that would scare a normal person. You can find many of these usual suspects in typical places (Wall Street, Government, and Prison).

What you need to keep your eye on and fight against is becoming a Low-Exposure who also has High Ethics. You get your work done, but no one notices. You complain about how rigged the system is and how no one will help you. And you take the same pay 2% pay increase and paltry bonus each year because it’s the ‘safe’ thing to do.

When I first meet with clients, I tell them about Life’s Three Choices:

Stay — keep doing what you’re doing.
Stay — change the dynamic to change your situation.
Leave — go elsewhere for a better opportunity.

No one chooses #1 but for some reason, many people live in this world right now. “I don’t take chances, I don’t upset the apple-cart, life is good and I do make $$$ (not great, but good).”

Many people are afraid of #3 — but once they become quite fed up with their situation, boss, pay — they decide it’s time to venture out into the unknown. And guess what? They do find that new job — for much more money — with a better boss — and different work! BTW — I can help you with this.

So it’s the New Year and I want you to pick #2 (or #3) — change the dynamic, change your situation.

ACTION STEPS:

Do your homework — look around your organization to better understand the high-potential opportunities (key projects, up-and-coming people, hot areas receiving funding/attention).
Go to your boss — say you’d like to work on more high-profile, interesting projects/work. See what they say. If they say: “Okay, here you go!” — You’re in! Grab it and do your best. If they say: “I have to think about it” — Ask them to reconvene this Friday. If they say: "I really don't know, you need to focus on your current duties." It’s time to look for greener pastures.