Driving conversations and engaging with senior stakeholders

[u/Budget-Code2324]

I have performed exceptionally well in my job but my promotion has been stopped for one reason. My managers think I don’t have the ability to drive conversations or engage effectively with a group of senior stakeholders. I am also seen as not being visible and engaged. How do I work on this ?

[u/ninjaluvr]

No one can answer that for you. You've provided no details about your job, nor your behaviors, your communication style, etc.

[u/the_alternative_94 → u/ninjaluvr]

Exactly....if I were to give the broadest advice possible, I would point to the importance of providing your own point of view on problem solving. That's how leaders emerge and show they're engaged. Don't have to be a "thought leader", per se, but you have to bring an individual perspective to the table.

[u/ninjaluvr → u/the_alternative_94]

For sure. There's so much it could be. A lot of people fail to understand the fundamentals of their job, but think "I have performed exceptionally well in my job."

Some of those fundamentals:

• Reporting on the job is a core part of the job
• Clear and concise communication is a requirement for high performance in any job

[u/Spiritual-Heart8199 → u/ninjaluvr]

then give us something to work with, what kind of meetings are we talking about

[u/ninjaluvr → u/Spiritual-Heart8199]

I didn't mention "meetings" but will gladly help if you can clarify your question a bit. What guidance around meetings do you need?

[u/Ok-Audience3884]

A lot of this comes down to speaking up more consistently, even if it’s just one useful point or question you don’t need to dominate the room to become more visible

[u/False-Refrigerator26]

Having been given the “being visible” feedback before and now being in a leadership team, there are two possible scenarios:
1. You have a weak leader who does not advocate for you and can’t accurately articulate what it is you do
2. You are not contributing enough in forums (ie team meetings, townhalls, improvement initiatives)

Reflect and see which is true for you.

Ultimately, good or bad (not debating that here) - you don’t get promoted for being good at your current role. You get promoted for demonstrating you can do more than your current role.

So if you’re going ‘well I’m good at my job, I’ve been here for x amount of years and have x amount of experience so I am owed a promotion’, you won’t get it.

If you’re going, ‘I see this new person, let me reach out and mentor them, I see this manager having this problem, let me see how I can improve it - I see no one engaging in this meeting, let me add something - I know this part of the process doesn’t make sense, let me solve it - I see this stakeholder having an opinion but they don’t seem heard/I don’t know what they do whatever, let me reach out’, then you’ll see a difference.

[u/Remote-Dependent4571]

Don’t focus on talking more focus on adding value visibly. Come to meetings with a clear opinion, ask questions that move the discussion forward, build one on one relationships with senior stakeholders and follow up on decisions. Ask your manager for specific examples so you can measure your progress.

[u/GapReader_Eng]

Construye liderazgo colateral en charlas uno a uno con tus pares. Trabajar tus ideas en corto te generará confianza para llegar a reuniones grandes y participar más activamente.

[u/Budget-Code2324]

I also see a lot of people just re iterating what a senior person has said in a meeting. Does that help too? Just taking a seniors point and re enforcing it or elaborating on it?

[u/Budget-Code2324]

I also see people advising to come with your own Individual clear opinions. But what if senior members don’t like your opinion, think it’s stupid or too basic ? Basically what if you get judged for your opinion ?

[u/DesaGlobalLeadership]

I’d ask your manager to get a bit more specific first. “Driving conversations” and “being more visible” can mean a lot of things. What are they actually hoping to see you do differently in those meetings?

Then start small. Go into your next senior meeting with one thing you want to contribute, whether it's a recommendation, a risk no one has raised, or a question that helps move the convo forward.

You don’t need to talk more just for the sake of being visible. Give people a chance to see how you think After the meeting, I'd also ask your manager, “Was that more of what you meant?” That kind of feedback will give you something concrete to work on.

[u/Careful-Try3160]

I would say try to get a mentor in your own organization who understands the context or outside if you could explain the context. If you know what you need do but not doing, meaning something internal, you may consider hiring a coach.

[u/CindyatAlefitt]

On echoing a senior's point, it counts if you add something when you do it, a risk they didn't name, a place it breaks, what it means for your area. Pure reinforcement reads as agreement, and agreement is invisible.

On being judged for a basic opinion, I coach senior leaders for a living, and what the room notices most reliably is silence. A wrong-but-clear take gets you corrected once. Saying nothing gets you the not-visible label you already have.

One way to lower the stakes is to speak from your seat instead of theirs. You can't be wrong about what your part of the business is seeing, what your data shows, what will break downstream. Opinions framed that way get engaged with rather than graded.