How Do Quiet Professionals Overcome Workplace Bias and Advance Their Careers?

How Can Introverts Get Noticed at Work and Build a Strong Career Brand?

Learn how quiet professionals can overcome workplace bias, gain visibility, and build a highly effective career brand without pretending to be an extrovert.

Read the full article to learn specific communication strategies that will help you authentically advocate for yourself, share your expertise, and advance your career on your own terms.

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Curious how to gain recognition at work without shouting over others? In this episode of the Book Passage Conversations with Authors video series, Emmy-winning journalist Jessica Chen offers practical strategies to those who feel overlooked at work. Learn how quieter professionals can advocate for themselves, increase their visibility, build their career brand, and thrive — without compromising authenticity. Managers and leaders will learn how to foster inclusivity and tap the skills and insights of people whose perspectives might otherwise get lost in the noise of an extroverted workplace.

Take-Aways

• “Quiet culture bias” can inhibit the professional growth of more quiet or reserved workers.
• Proactive communication and career branding will help you gain visibility and succeed in the workplace.
• You don’t need to pretend to be an extrovert to achieve your professional goals.

Summary

“Quiet culture bias” can inhibit the professional growth of more quiet or reserved workers.

The culture of many workplaces favors louder and more assertive personalities. However unintentional, this “quiet culture bias” can create barriers for those who are naturally soft-spoken or come from cultural backgrounds that value humility and reserve. Higher-ups sometimes see these quieter individuals as disengaged or lacking ambition, hindering professional growth for those who prefer to communicate differently.

“It’s oftentimes not our fault for being overlooked…but it can be our responsibility to do some work to change that.” (Brooks Scott)

One way a professional with a quiet demeanor can counteract the quiet culture bias is to maintain a “yay folder”: a record of achievements and positive feedback that serves as evidence of that person’s contributions during performance reviews or advocacy moments. Leaders, meanwhile, should grow their awareness of quiet culture bias. This awareness can keep those in charge from making incorrect assumptions about a quieter person’s desire to contribute or level of engagement. Leaders should facilitate opportunities for quieter employees to share their thoughts in group settings by, say, setting time limits for how long people can speak during a meeting — otherwise, extroverts may dominate the discussion.

Proactive communication and career branding will help you gain visibility and succeed in the workplace.

There’s a “working you,” who possesses skills and the ability to execute, and the “communicating you,” who makes those skills and abilities visible. Many people have the working part down, but they aren’t good at advocating for themselves, making presentations, asking for something, or saying no. But both “yous” are essential in the workplace.

Staying visible in the workplace is essential for career growth and success. TV news journalist Jessica Chen recalls how her quieter communication style caused her to miss out on an exciting project early in her journalism career. Though she was the first among her colleagues to express interest in flying with the US Thunderbirds for a story, her manager chose a colleague who had been much more vocal about wanting to handle the job throughout the week. Chen learned that day the importance of remaining “top of mind” for career opportunities through consistent engagement with gatekeepers for those roles.

“We actually have a lot [of] power and influence in controlling how people perceive us.” (Jessica Chen)

You can also invite more opportunities by building your career brand — how others in your workplace perceive you. Start by identifying your innate interests and strengths. Then, look for opportunities to prove and expand your skills in those areas, such as by volunteering for tasks or suggesting things you could do.

You don’t need to pretend to be an extrovert to achieve your professional goals.

By adopting proactive strategies, you can advance your career while staying true to your authentic self. Speaking up doesn’t mean being loud; it’s about strategically contributing to discussions and ensuring others are aware of your interests and abilities.

“Just [because you are] speaking, it doesn’t mean people will necessarily listen.” (Jessica Chen)

Before you go into a meeting, set an intention to say at least one or two things. If you find it challenging to know the right time to chime in during a discussion, use the following four steps:

1. Actively listen — Listen for optimal opportunities to contribute to the conversation. When someone mentions a topic related to your expertise, recognize this as your chance to engage.
2. Acknowledge — Acknowledge those who spoke before you by saying you appreciate their points of view. This can help these people feel heard and go a long way toward defusing any potential defensiveness if you disagree with anything.
3. Anchor — Anchor your comments by repeating a key word or phrase from others’ remarks that you’d like to focus on — for example, “Brooks, you mentioned the word data, and it reminded me of….”
4. Answer — Finally, share your thoughts on the topic or issue.

You can use the same technique in personal conversations. The acknowledging step can be particularly helpful.

About the Speakers

Brooks E. Scott is an executive coach, interpersonal communications expert, and diversity and inclusion strategic advisor at Merging Path Coaching. He’s host of The Merging Path Podcast. Jessica Chen is an Emmy award-winning TV journalist, CEO of Soulcast Media, and the author of Smart, Not Loud: How to Get Noticed at Work for All the Right Reasons.