I Stopped Waiting for Recognition and Started Creating It
- May 6
- 2 min read
By Sarah Smith
I pivoted into technology early in my career. I achieved two promotions, several pay raises, and gained the title of Vice President in a mid-size SaaS company by the age of 35. I'm currently the Founder and Chief Innovation Officer of my own company, serving founders, startups, and SMBs to create value from their backend systems so they can gain more revenue that would have previously slipped through the cracks.
I achieved these milestones by focusing on 3 main areas: creating value, cultivating my network, and making my work visible.
I focus on identifying the biggest issues where value gets stalled and create solutions to free it, no matter what role I'm in. Often, I do not ask for permission; I experiment and bring my results to a trusted sponsor in the organization who advocates for me. How do you determine value? Value can be found in documenting difficult or long processes, learning and teaching yourself new skills, teaching and mentoring others, creating feedback loops, finding potential revenue sources, and tying the value you've created back to the company's vision, mission, and goals.
As I create value, I seek to understand cross-departmental issues and break down silos and span my influence by building genuine, meaningful relationships within my area and outside my area, regardless of title or task. As I learned more about how other areas and departments work, I'm able to build connections and bridges, taking a systems-based approach to shaping value. As I'm building my network, I'm also able to share and advocate my work so that I am creating people who bring up my name (positively) in rooms I'm not in.
When I work with others, I routinely make the work I've done visible. I share in the wins of my team, but I also show my own work. I love to bring others along with me, but I must make sure I don't downplay my own accomplishments in the process. As I create that visibility, I focus on advocating for myself. It's a continuous practice. I can do that with trusted partners, sponsors, and leaders. I created a "brag document" so I can remember what I've accomplished. I keep it updated, and I use it for goal check-ins, promotion and pay raise discussions, and interviewing for new roles. Make your work visible because your contributions matter.
These three areas have helped me the most as I navigate leadership roles and as an entrepreneur.
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