We have all encountered in our lives someone who toils behind the scenes to get stuff done for very little recognition. I always chuckle to myself because at formal events the most senior person is usually tasked with reading a short thank you speech to recognise these people. It usually goes along the lines of “Thank you to Person X because without them this event would not be possible”. Using the pseudonym of “Person X” is perfect because it could be anyone of us. What causes me to chuckle is that the typical thank you gift for Person X at these events is a bouquet of flowers. This is most ridiculous as it assumes so many things. Person X must like flowers (especially if they are female) and they really are prepared to transport these flowers home so they arrive in a useful condition. Always fun when the event involves a flight or a long drive home. OK, enough about flowers…
I have in my career worked with many amazing people who are excellent at what they do, and without them, most organisations would struggle. They are the loyal people behind the scenes with impeccable work ethic and attention to detail. Examples include the person giving the sales director the sales update hourly before the end of the quarter. Or the HR administrator who knows 78 employee numbers by heart and which button to press on Oracle to make sure Person Y gets paid on time. One of my colleagues remarked that in many cases professionals today are paid bonuses based on the the foundation set by people many years before. Why is it then that these people remain unsung heroes and typically dont end up running the organisations they contribute so much to?
My initial hypothesis assumed that Person X lacked the requisite education, skills and experience to progress through the organisation. Sadly, in my experience this has been proven time and time again to not be the case. In one organisation I worked, we had a person performing admin tasks who had graduated as the top student in her class…nationally for her postgraduate qualification. Her academic achievement was above 90%. Although a very low bar, she was certainly more intelligent than I am. Why on earth had she remained a low level administrator for over 10 years? In teams I managed there was always a similar trend of clear differentiation between behind the scenes workers, and those anointed for progression through the organisation. Certainly, experience, skills or delivery were never areas in which Person X fell short. They were just never celebrated, just never profiled and just never given opportunities.
I then thought to myself that maybe these individuals just lacked drive, ambition and had a low perception of their own self worth. It is very easy to blame someone who is in a tough situation for being in that situation. They must be the problem…right?! Unfortunately, again not my experience at all in that when prompted or probed these individuals almost universally displayed a desire for growth, development and progression. They just had no idea of how to do it, or that it was even possible. So, in a perverse cycle they continue building excellence in their current tasks in the hope that someone will notice. Of course this doesn’t happen and Person X dies or retires one day being known as the most loyal, efficient and effective employee. Nobody has visibility of the other 70% portion of talent that lay dormant for so many years.
So where does this leave us? In my opinion we cannot eliminate the element of choice that each individual has for their lives and careers. If you find yourself in a position where you are the much liked, agreeable, behind the scenes workhorse and unhappy with this (many people are fine with this)..,then it is time to make some changes. Dont accept that the value the organisation places on your skills and experience is the summit of the value you can add to the world. Look for ways to overtly challenge the entrenched paradigm that leaves you outside of the consideration set. By overt, I mean asking your boss and potentially his/her boss what is required for you to progress beyond your role. I mean networking internally and getting a mentor. Hanging out with the people who need to notice your achievement. Putting in the hours to drive your career.
It obviously helps if you have real examples where you can show enthusiasm for your new career path and can demonstrate real value delivered for the organisation. It also has to be done in a respectful manner. Jobs are not easy to come by and the risks of talking yourself out of a job are high. But it is worth people knowing that you are unwilling to accept a life spent only using a small portion of your potential. The risk of remaining the behind the scenes Person X is also high.
For employers and line managers my message is a simple one. We need to dedicate enough time and energy to recognising the potential each individual has to do better or to do more. I propose two simple tests to try and work through this. Firstly, ask yourself, if all major engagements in your team or department are reliant on your presence or direct input. If this is the case then you probably have many unsung heroes working very hard behind the scenes trying to make you look like a hero. If your team is growing and empowered and recognition is widespread you should be able to step back from an engagement and have a long list of people who could represent you fully. The second one is that if you have a team member who has been doing the same task excellently for a long time, do you understand why this is the case? This should, hopefully, at least prompt you to ask the question whether you are a the Bat signal being beamed into the sky while other people battle the bad guys, or if you are the hero that everyone thinks you are.
300 paychecks between 35 and 60. You will be my hero if you really make them count and change something today.
300Paychecks 
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