Most executives come to me and say, “Sarah, I’ve worked really hard in my career and I am ready to take that next step but I’m struggling with how to position myself and get noticed by the right people.”

And I totally get it…

When I decided not to return to my role at a major Australian Bank after maternity leave, I struggled with the same thing.

Honestly, I was frustrated at the time.

Here I was with all of this experience and knowledge but I felt invisible. And to make matters worse, I kept seeing people with less experience than I had, getting loads of great opportunities.

It was at that point I became acutely aware that, while I had worked very hard in my corporate roles, I had not invested in my personal brand and public profile.

If I wanted to reach my next career goal I had to promote myself first.

Ironically. this was something I’d spent the past 15 years of my corporate life helping CEOs, Directors, and businesses to manage.

You know what they say about the painter and his house!

I knew that building my profile to differentiate myself from others was key to staying relevant and in demand and increasing my professional value long-term.

However, unlike my GEN Y colleagues (I am Gen X), the thought of putting myself out there online felt uncomfortable.

Do you feel that?

If you do, you’ve probably got one of these things going on:

1. You have resistance around building your profile (often fear of being judged which is very common with high achievers).
2. You haven’t identified the foundations of your brand and nailed your positioning.

Unless you overcome these two issues I mentioned above, you’re always going to struggle with:

a) getting noticed by the right people.

b) reaching your potential.

“Coming out of your comfort zone is tough in the beginning, chaotic in the middle, and awesome in the end…because in the end, it shows you a whole new world.” -Manoj Arora