Barb recently applied and interviewed for a promotion within her current organization. Having always been at the top of the pack when it comes to her every day work, Barb is certain that the job is hers. She’s on cloud 9! Except when the announcement comes out she wasn’t the one selected. When she sees who was selected she’s upset because she feels like she’s consistently outperformed that person.
At this moment it’s critical for Barb to not react and to compartmentalize what is going on. How she reacts to this situation could impact the rest of her career at her company. Will she criticize, condemn and complain about the unfairness of the situation or will she look herself in the mirror to reflect, ask for feedback and try to better herself for the next time?
There are times when things will happen in your career that are unfair. It can be really hard to recover from but even in situations when it was unfair, how you react to it will say a lot about you and your future career.
I was recently introduced to a concept called P.I.E., Performance, Image and Exposure. This concept revolves around a lot of the things I’ve talked about in my writings but it wraps everything up in a nice little bow that is really easy to understand. Let’s take a look as some the things Barb can do to reflect on the situation instead of react.
P: Performance
Barb focused solely on performance because she thought this was the most important thing to achieve success. While she is right that this is important, it’s only 10% of what is needed to succeed. Let me explain… when you don’t exceed your everyday job expectations it won’t matter how great your image is or how much exposure you get. So yes, this is really important. That being said, when you think of 10 – 30 people applying for one position the majority of those people are also meeting their everyday expectations. So what is separating you at this point? Meeting your expectations is your entry ticket into making image and exposure play an important role in how successful you are.
I: Image
Image is how others perceive you. I say perceive because even though Barb is getting done what she needs to get done every day and she might think that is enough, others may perceive her as unapproachable if she’s only focused on her everyday work. With image being 30% of what you need to succeed it’s important that Barb now asks herself some serious questions. “Do I dress and carry myself professionally? Do exude a positive attitude? Am I adaptable when change happens around me? Am I being outwardly negative about things around me? Do I focus on others around me or focus on the only thing I can control… ME.” These are all things that effect your image and things Barb must self reflect on.
E: Exposure
Exposure is networking. Barb may have been so focused on her everyday job that she became that person that comes in, does a good job and goes home. This is a critical error for Barb as exposure is the most important part of P.I.E. at 60% of what it takes to succeed. In a previous article I wrote, Networking ~ How to get started, I wrote about some key ways to network and get your good work exposed to other people in your organization. For exposure Barb should be asking herself, “Have I been friendly to those around me? Have I taken the time to get to know my peers and boss? Have I asked for advice from my boss or my bosses peers? Have I ask for someone to mentor me?” Exposure is so important not because of “it’s all about who you know”, but it’s 6 times more important than performance because the more we connect with others the more we learn from them. Also, we can’t expect to get promoted if no one knows all of the positive contributions we’ve made for the organization.
In conclusion…
This concept was very eye opening to me. I always knew that these three things were important but I didn’t know how important each one was. While every concept has some flaws, if you make an honest effort to improve your image and exposure in addition to maintaining good every day work, you will see a vast improvement in your opportunities, motivation and overall happiness at work.
Dale
A Workplace Playbook 
So true, you can be upset with yourself for not succeeding but you should never dwell on it. I remember a time I failed for a promotion, I could have complained and made a scene saying that person did not deserve the job over me but that would not accomplish anything positive. I stayed professional, picked myself up and applied for the job I truly wanted the day I got the rejection and ended up getting the position I wanted the entire time. That taught me a valuable life lesson that I share with my team still. Ill now add this piece of the PIE to that teaching.
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This really hits home for me. I use to be the one that would show up to work, do my best and just go home. This use to frustrate me. I couldn’t understand why I my performance didn’t get that promotion for me. I thought I was a model employee. Exposure was something I didn’t put value in. This P.I.E. model put this into perspective. Great leadership tool.
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This is a great guideline to follow when “up” is where you want to go! I try to evenly balance P.I.E, and reading this article gives me more of a table/metric to go off of, for I now see that the balance of each trait are not equally divided. To effectively master these I feel it is important to know one self in order to seek self improvement. This read was a great takeaway in knowledge and understanding that we can’t just pride ourselves on just being great at our job. We have to also look the part, act the part, and also be able to boost morale and not get caught up on setbacks! I will take these keys to strengthen my path to success!
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