I didn’t come from money. Neither of my parents had corporate jobs. So when it came to figuring out how to be taken seriously at work, I had no instruction manual.
I may have missed out on debriefing unwritten workplace rules over family dinners, but I had something else going for me: a relentless curiosity about how influence actually works. That led me to become a licensed therapist, to research human behavior, and to write my books, Managing Up: How to Get What You Need From the People in Charge and Trust Yourself: Stop Overthinking and Channel Your Emotions for Success at Work.
What I’ve learned from coaching thousands of top performers around the world is that you can be 10, 15, even 20 years into your career and still feel like you’re missing the handbook on how to be seen as credible.
If you want to be seen as someone who operates at the next level – even before you have the title – here are the six habits 99% of people miss.
1. Don’t just present your ideas, package them
You can have the best insights, but if you don’t frame them in terms decision-makers care about, your message falls flat and goes nowhere.
One quick switch: stop talking about the tasks you’ve finished and start talking about the outcomes you delivered.
For example, “We analyzed the data and updated the slides” becomes, “The numbers show that if we go with Option B, we’ll see a 15% return on investment.”
2. Say less to sound smarter
When you over-explain, you think you’re being thorough. To everyone else, it sounds like rambling. More information doesn’t equal more value.
Being concise shows command of the topic. If you can’t boil a subject down to its essence, you don’t understand it well enough. Saying “we have three key areas to cover: customer engagement, product positioning, and go-to-market strategy” in a few crisp sentences sounds more credible than a 15-minute explanation that buries your point.
3. Build consensus before the meeting starts
The time to get buy-in is in the days leading up to an important conversation, not during it. Savvy professionals preview their ideas one-on-one beforehand. They reach out privately and say, “I’m thinking about proposing X during Friday’s check-in. What concerns do you have?” or “Before I bring this to the group, I want to answer your questions first.”
By the time the formal meeting happens, you’ve cleared objections, built trust, and turned potential adversaries into advocates.
4. Focus on being decisive, not being “right”
Waffling kills credibility faster than being wrong. An executive told me recently that he’d let go of three very smart, capable people. Why? “Because every time I asked for their input, I got ‘it depends’ or ‘there are many factors,'” he said. “I needed them to tell me what they thought we should do, not hand decisions back to me.”
Leaders would rather get a clear recommendation they can debate than hear you hedge. Give them something to react to, even if it isn’t “right.”
5. Avoid making yourself indispensable
When you’re the only person who can execute certain responsibilities, your manager panics at the thought of you leaving or moving up. You’ve accidentally locked yourself in your current role by being too good at it.
Make yourself promotable by making yourself replaceable. Document your processes. Train a second-in-command. Show you can build systems so the team can keep running without you.
6. Don’t say “no” too much
You’re absolutely entitled to set boundaries and protect your time. But if all your colleagues hear is “no, that isn’t possible,” you’ll quickly get labeled as “difficult” or “not a team player.”
Focus on what you can do instead. Try this:
- Swap “I’m not able to meet at that time” For “I’m available at 2pm or 4pm. What works for you?”
- Swap “I can’t stay late to finish this” For “I can give this another hour today and pick back up in the morning.”
Remember, you teach people how to treat you in the workplace. Start communicating like someone who deserves to be taken seriously, and others will follow your lead.
