September 26, 2025 • 10 mins
Have you ever found yourself thinking "my work speaks for itself" during a job search? As an executive recruiter who's interviewed thousands of candidates, I'm here to tell you why this mindset is holding you back from landing your dream role.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00 (00:00):
Hey, it's Laura and welcome to this week's Peak of
the Week, where we bridge thegap between external success and
internal fulfillment.
So this week, where we're going.
We're going to dispel the mythabout my work speaks for itself.
Three ways to start speaking foryour work.
(00:22):
So kind of getting it, you'regoing to get some insight from
my recruiting experience.
And then I'll tell you a littlebit more about a really fun new
product.
Well, something I've definitelydone pretty much my entire
career.
It's just being packaged in away that just makes sense for
what a lot of people I believereally need.
(00:45):
Okay, so let's get into it.
How many of you have foundyourself in a career transition
or desire to be in a careertransition in the last 12 to 18
months?
It's happening a lot.
And as an executive recruiter, Ihave some really strong opinions
(01:06):
on what it takes to land withconfidence.
And if this is you, likecontinue on.
Stay with me.
And if not, please forward to afriend, maybe someone who needs
to hear this today.
I actually think there's goingto be much more of a ripple
effect with this one.
Because a lot of us have havepeople in our circle who were
(01:30):
just like, what can we do tohelp?
What can we do to help?
And here's some ideas.
Okay, so my intention here is tohelp as many people as I can
make a career transition lesspainful, um, less fearful, less
daunting.
But sometimes the only way outis through.
(01:53):
And last week I had aconversation with an executive
who probably has been intransition for like four months
and was quite very open aboutum, I got nothing to show for
it.
Like I've got nothing to showfor it.
And when I asked how he waspromoting himself, he said
(02:17):
something I hear constantly.
And it's this my work shouldspeak for itself.
And like he is brilliant.
He is brilliant at what he does.
20 years, solid results,respected by his teams, known
for turning around strugglingdivisions.
(02:38):
However, he was making acritical mistake that I often
see.
He believed the myth (02:45):
if you're good at what you do, that's
enough.
The work speaks for itself.
Nope.
Sorry.
Your accomplishments speak forthemselves when you learn how to
properly articulate them andhave the confidence to really
(03:07):
sell.
And by selling, I mean sharingand helping someone understand
by having stories that showcaseyour uniqueness, that showcase
your uniqueness.
Because I have been on the otherside of the table where I'm
literally talking to thousandsand thousands and thousands of
(03:31):
job seekers, and you all soundthe same.
What makes you stand out is yourstories and your unique angles
and truly so much more than youraccomplishments.
It's who you are.
So being good at your job andbeing good at selling your value
(03:51):
are two completely differentskill sets.
Most professionals excel at thefirst and struggle with the
second.
And listen, I know it'suncomfortable to hear.
I know it is.
But every like almost everyonehas a struggle.
Sitting back and hoping thatthey read the resume and the
(04:13):
words jump off the page, it justdoesn't work like that.
And yeah, you could be, youknow, a whiz at navigating
complex organizational change.
But when asked, what makes youdifferent from other candidates,
I hear the same answer out ofmost most people.
(04:37):
So something like I build likereally incredible teams, I'm a
loyal employee who goes theextra mile.
I love to develop strategy.
And that's all great.
It's all great, but but here'swhat it's missing.
What makes you different fromeveryone else who does your job?
Pretend like there is a hundredother people, a hundred other
(05:01):
people in the in the history ofyour company that had the exact
same job.
What can you say that you'vedone that no one else can say?
Were you the first to launch acompany-wide training?
Were you hand-selected bymanagement to create a new
division?
Were you the first in companyhistory to dot dot, like
(05:25):
hopefully you kind of get whereI'm going with this?
But you're not bragging when youclearly articulate how you were
different than others, or howyou solved a problem that maybe
saved your company two milliondollars, or launched a division
that did something spectacular.
(05:49):
Those are stories.
So here are three ways to startspeaking for your work today.
Write your impact stories down.
Pick three achievements from thelast two years and write one
paragraph for each.
Challenge plus action result.
(06:11):
Challenge, action, result.
And if you have numbers andoutcomes, please include those.
And then practice this on what Icall context bridge.
When someone asks what you do,don't just give you your title.
Maybe say, I'm a leader whospecializes in X.
(06:31):
For example, my last role I didX, and then you share your
story.
Replace responsible forlanguage.
So every time you seeresponsible for or manage,
replace it with anaction-oriented language that
shows impact.
Impact, impact, impact.
(06:51):
Instead of responsible for teamof 15, try built and led a
15-person team that achieved dotdot dot.
So in summary, the professionalswho land jobs more quickly
aren't necessarily moretalented.
They've just learned totranslate their accomplishments
(07:12):
into compelling narratives thatdemonstrate impact.
What problems do you solve?
And how do you solve themdifferently than your peers?
This takes intentional time andpractice.
It really does.
I have so much compassion.
It takes practice.
(07:33):
The job market is shifting, it'sgoing to continue to shift.
Technology is making it soincredibly impersonal.
We've got to put the humanityback into it by telling stories
about real people that you'veimpacted with real work.
So if you're listening to thisand you're in transition or want
(07:56):
to accelerate a transition, acareer transition, maybe you're
looking to leave and startsomething new, or you know,
maybe you're looking at there'sso many different things.
You could be pivoting, you couldbe looking at consulting,
fractional.
Perhaps you do want to be anexecutive and and really need
(08:20):
desire to like how do I findthese these smaller companies,
you know, these good peopledoing good work.
It's all through people.
It's all through people.
And if you're professional intransition and you are
interested in my careeralignment accelerating, I want
you to click the link in theshow notes.
(08:42):
I work with just a few people ata time because it's pretty
intensive personalized work.
And if that resonates, I wouldlove to help because your
expertise, it deserves to beseen.
It sure does.
It deserves to be seen.
And I just believe we all havesuch very special gifts, and it
(09:05):
takes us being able to see thosegifts in another light.
And that is so, so, so what Ido.
I can see your gifts so clearlyand help you find a way to
articulate them in a way thatstands out above the noise,
standing out above the noise,and brings your deep humanity in
(09:26):
this world that is just so init's just so impersonal and so
like people are not getting backto you.
It's like it's there is adifferent way.
And one that can be so much moreenjoyable, so much more fun.
Thanks for sticking with metoday.
Again, if a friend who is in atransition, a career transition,
(09:47):
and any of this resonates,please send it to them and they
can come to Lauraeking.com tolearn more, um, or just click
the click the link in the in theshow notes.
So um, blessings to all,blessings to all, and just go
make the most out of thismagnificent day.
Hey, it's Laura and welcome to this week's Peak of
the Week, where we bridge thegap between external success and
internal fulfillment.
So this week, where we're going.
We're going to dispel the mythabout my work speaks for itself.
Three ways to start speaking foryour work.
(00:22):
So kind of getting it, you'regoing to get some insight from
my recruiting experience.
And then I'll tell you a littlebit more about a really fun new
product.
Well, something I've definitelydone pretty much my entire
career.
It's just being packaged in away that just makes sense for
what a lot of people I believereally need.
(00:45):
Okay, so let's get into it.
How many of you have foundyourself in a career transition
or desire to be in a careertransition in the last 12 to 18
months?
It's happening a lot.
And as an executive recruiter, Ihave some really strong opinions
(01:06):
on what it takes to land withconfidence.
And if this is you, likecontinue on.
Stay with me.
And if not, please forward to afriend, maybe someone who needs
to hear this today.
I actually think there's goingto be much more of a ripple
effect with this one.
Because a lot of us have havepeople in our circle who were
(01:30):
just like, what can we do tohelp?
What can we do to help?
And here's some ideas.
Okay, so my intention here is tohelp as many people as I can
make a career transition lesspainful, um, less fearful, less
daunting.
But sometimes the only way outis through.
(01:53):
And last week I had aconversation with an executive
who probably has been intransition for like four months
and was quite very open aboutum, I got nothing to show for
it.
Like I've got nothing to showfor it.
And when I asked how he waspromoting himself, he said
(02:17):
something I hear constantly.
And it's this my work shouldspeak for itself.
And like he is brilliant.
He is brilliant at what he does.
20 years, solid results,respected by his teams, known
for turning around strugglingdivisions.
(02:38):
However, he was making acritical mistake that I often
see.
He believed the myth (02:45):
if you're good at what you do, that's
enough.
The work speaks for itself.
Nope.
Sorry.
Your accomplishments speak forthemselves when you learn how to
properly articulate them andhave the confidence to really
(03:07):
sell.
And by selling, I mean sharingand helping someone understand
by having stories that showcaseyour uniqueness, that showcase
your uniqueness.
Because I have been on the otherside of the table where I'm
literally talking to thousandsand thousands and thousands of
(03:31):
job seekers, and you all soundthe same.
What makes you stand out is yourstories and your unique angles
and truly so much more than youraccomplishments.
It's who you are.
So being good at your job andbeing good at selling your value
(03:51):
are two completely differentskill sets.
Most professionals excel at thefirst and struggle with the
second.
And listen, I know it'suncomfortable to hear.
I know it is.
But every like almost everyonehas a struggle.
Sitting back and hoping thatthey read the resume and the
(04:13):
words jump off the page, it justdoesn't work like that.
And yeah, you could be, youknow, a whiz at navigating
complex organizational change.
But when asked, what makes youdifferent from other candidates,
I hear the same answer out ofmost most people.
(04:37):
So something like I build likereally incredible teams, I'm a
loyal employee who goes theextra mile.
I love to develop strategy.
And that's all great.
It's all great, but but here'swhat it's missing.
What makes you different fromeveryone else who does your job?
Pretend like there is a hundredother people, a hundred other
(05:01):
people in the in the history ofyour company that had the exact
same job.
What can you say that you'vedone that no one else can say?
Were you the first to launch acompany-wide training?
Were you hand-selected bymanagement to create a new
division?
Were you the first in companyhistory to dot dot, like
(05:25):
hopefully you kind of get whereI'm going with this?
But you're not bragging when youclearly articulate how you were
different than others, or howyou solved a problem that maybe
saved your company two milliondollars, or launched a division
that did something spectacular.
(05:49):
Those are stories.
So here are three ways to startspeaking for your work today.
Write your impact stories down.
Pick three achievements from thelast two years and write one
paragraph for each.
Challenge plus action result.
(06:11):
Challenge, action, result.
And if you have numbers andoutcomes, please include those.
And then practice this on what Icall context bridge.
When someone asks what you do,don't just give you your title.
Maybe say, I'm a leader whospecializes in X.
(06:31):
For example, my last role I didX, and then you share your
story.
Replace responsible forlanguage.
So every time you seeresponsible for or manage,
replace it with anaction-oriented language that
shows impact.
Impact, impact, impact.
(06:51):
Instead of responsible for teamof 15, try built and led a
15-person team that achieved dotdot dot.
So in summary, the professionalswho land jobs more quickly
aren't necessarily moretalented.
They've just learned totranslate their accomplishments
(07:12):
into compelling narratives thatdemonstrate impact.
What problems do you solve?
And how do you solve themdifferently than your peers?
This takes intentional time andpractice.
It really does.
I have so much compassion.
It takes practice.
(07:33):
The job market is shifting, it'sgoing to continue to shift.
Technology is making it soincredibly impersonal.
We've got to put the humanityback into it by telling stories
about real people that you'veimpacted with real work.
So if you're listening to thisand you're in transition or want
(07:56):
to accelerate a transition, acareer transition, maybe you're
looking to leave and startsomething new, or you know,
maybe you're looking at there'sso many different things.
You could be pivoting, you couldbe looking at consulting,
fractional.
Perhaps you do want to be anexecutive and and really need
(08:20):
desire to like how do I findthese these smaller companies,
you know, these good peopledoing good work.
It's all through people.
It's all through people.
And if you're professional intransition and you are
interested in my careeralignment accelerating, I want
you to click the link in theshow notes.
(08:42):
I work with just a few people ata time because it's pretty
intensive personalized work.
And if that resonates, I wouldlove to help because your
expertise, it deserves to beseen.
It sure does.
It deserves to be seen.
And I just believe we all havesuch very special gifts, and it
(09:05):
takes us being able to see thosegifts in another light.
And that is so, so, so what Ido.
I can see your gifts so clearlyand help you find a way to
articulate them in a way thatstands out above the noise,
standing out above the noise,and brings your deep humanity in
(09:26):
this world that is just so init's just so impersonal and so
like people are not getting backto you.
It's like it's there is adifferent way.
And one that can be so much moreenjoyable, so much more fun.
Thanks for sticking with metoday.
Again, if a friend who is in atransition, a career transition,
(09:47):
and any of this resonates,please send it to them and they
can come to Lauraeking.com tolearn more, um, or just click
the click the link in the in theshow notes.
So um, blessings to all,blessings to all, and just go
make the most out of thismagnificent day.
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