From Perception to Position: Building Your Workplace Status

Status and power are major players in our work life and understanding how each works and how each can create more ease, meaning and joy in our work lives is a game changer.  

SHOW NOTES

Status is everywhere, whether we acknowledge it or not. It’s reflected in whether we are acknowledged in a meeting, how fast our emails get answered, or whether we are invited - really anywhere. Unlike power, which controls resources (think money, hiring decisions, or influence), status is all about perception—how others value us. And the kicker? We can’t just take status; it’s earned (and re-earned) through the judgments of those around us.  Power is something given to you (and probably because of our status), unless of course you stage a coup, which is tricky in the workplace. :-)

But here’s where it gets tricky: women face the likability bind—the frustrating double standard that says we can be warm or assertive, but not both. Allison Fragale discusses her book, Likable Badass on Work Life with Adam Grant.  She shares how women often self-sabotage by downplaying success, rejecting compliments, or apologizing unnecessarily. The key to breaking free? We build status by owning our story, being bold about our ambitions and letting others see what’s possible through our confidence.

So, how do we build status? Two drivers lead the way: competence and care. 

Competence is about doing good work, and also conducting ourselves in a way that inspires confidence in our competence.  We do this by showing up, adding value, and not being afraid to contribute our talents.  Have we made a commitment to be aware of where we can add value in the workplace?  Do our coworkers and bosses trust us to do what we say we will do and do it well?   

Care is about earning respect and influence through authenticity and generosity. We are women - of course we know what “care” is - well, mostly anyway (and kudos to those of us who live a little more free in this area).  Care is sharing credit, lifting others up, being generous, seeing other people, doing something extra (selectively), letting others know we know the importance of our work and our commitment to that work.  

As we show up and do our work with competence and care, we build status.  And status is what elevates us in the minds of others and leads to more opportunity and reward.  As we manage our status, we need to think of these two elements - competence and care and how we create that in the workplace.  

 

Managing our status is about presenting our authentic self at work - it is not about being something you are not.  Listen in on how to manage your status . . . 

 

Worklife with Adam Grant

Likable Badass: How Women Get the Success They Deserve by Allison Fagale