The One Thing Your Manager Notices That You Probably Don't
Sharing a new update (!!) + why the things that are easy for you sets you apart and how to spot the skills you're not giving yourself credit for
Welcome to Reframed by Ashley Rudolph. One idea, every week, that changes how you see your career.
Last week, I shared 5 links that’ll make you feel smarter. If you didn’t read it, they’re still relevant. The most popular links were: how to channel your frustration into something productive and surprising lessons from the top 1% of earners. The fact that these were the most clicked is very Reframed coded.
This week, I’m resharing a newsletter from my archive; it’s evergreen advice. I actually saw “Maya” in person this weekend — she’s still flourishing at work, which is a testament to the power of leaning into your strengths. Enjoy this week’s edition of Reframed!
BIG UPDATE
I got a new headshot recently.
I’ve earned the right to be obsessed with it! My advice for a good shot is:
Wear something that makes you feel confident
Some people say it should be something you wear everyday - I disagree. Others say it has to be a suit, I also disagree with this (unless your industry requires it!). What it should be is something that fits incredibly well and matches your personality. That’s why I went with this suit.
Find headshots you like for direction
I used Pinterest and Cosmos to find inspo but I also used them to practice posing ahead of time. Practicing helped me figure out what angles looked good for my body & what facial expressions worked for me. When it was time to step in front of the camera, I already knew I preferred my left side and what kind of smiles looked best.
Get makeup done. Just do it.
If you want specific hot tips, reach out to me :)
CLIENT STORIES
Why Your “Easy” Work Is Your Biggest Career Asset
There’s a theme that’s been dominating my coaching calls recently. High achievers want to push themselves; they want more challenge and more fulfillment.
I love that energy, so I lean into it with them. The thing that shocks them is the realization that sometimes the quickest path to the next level isn’t developing new skills; it’s capitalizing on what already comes “easy” to them. I don’t mean this as an invitation to be mediocre or lazy, that’s not what we do here on Reframed! It’s about recognizing that your natural strengths are your highest-leverage assets. When you focus ruthlessly on what comes naturally to you, you aren’t taking the “easy way out”. You’re identifying the most efficient way to stand out and get ahead.
Take me, for example. Pattern matching comes incredibly easy to me. Specifically, the ability to do things like look at an org chart, assess talent, understand an organization’s goals, and see exactly who needs to be where to win. It’s why I was a great operator and it’s how I scaled teams so effectively. It’s my unfair advantage and leaning into it is what also makes me an excellent career strategist.
Recently, I coached a client through identifying her edge and using it as leverage. I want to share that with you all.
Two weeks into her new role at a growing tech company, Maya called me feeling uncertain.
“I think I might be overthinking this,” she said. “Everything they’re asking me to do feels...straightforward.”
Maya had just landed a strategic operations role after years of project management experience. When she arrived, she discovered teams were operating without basic coordination frameworks. There were smart people everywhere working in silos, missing deadlines, and generally unclear on who owned what. The kind of situation that is simultaneously an operators worst nightmare (if it persists) and their dream problem to solve (if they’re empowered to fix it).
So Maya did what felt natural: she created a simple project management template that teams could actually use.
“I literally made a basic framework,” she told me.
“When I showed it to the head of finance, he said ‘Where have you been all my life?’ But Ashley, this was just standard project management.”
I want to pause here for a second and address the obvious question: how do we know Maya wasn’t just doing something actually simple that anyone could have replicated (lol)?
Recent research from HBR offers some insight. When testing experts versus novices, researchers found that genuine expertise actually prevents people from “overclaiming.” True experts are more accurate about what they know and precisely because they know it so well, they often undervalue its complexity.
Maya’s ten years of project management experience allowed her to quickly assess what was missing, synthesize a solution, and implement it effectively. What felt "standard" to her was actually sophisticated pattern recognition. And that simple tool enabled teams to work in ways they weren’t able to previously.
Easy for you, game-changing for them.
I loved hearing this scenario from Maya. It was a signal to me that she’s somewhere where she can make an impact and her repeatedly doing what she’s good at is going to be consequential for her career, in all the right ways.
THE FRAMEWORK
Find Your Hidden Competitive Advantage With These 3 Simple Questions
So let’s dig into yours. If you haven’t done this type of reflection, you’re probably thinking “well, what am I good at?”. If you feel stuck, try starting here. Reflect on things like:
What have you done at work recently that feels “obvious” to you, yet consistently elicits a visceral “thank goodness you’re here” response from your peers or even your manager?
When you’re working on a project and things aren’t going as expected, where do you focus your time and energy first?
What types of problems do you look to solve time and time again at work? For example, do you instinctively focus on the people, the process, or the data?
Take a few minutes to jot down the answers to the above questions today. Save it on your phone, your computer, or keep it pinned to your desk. The next time you catch yourself saying, “I literally could have pulled this off the internet,” I want you to look back at that list and shift your energy.
The internet has the information, but it doesn’t have your judgment.
It doesn’t have years and years of pattern recognition that allowed you to know which information on the internet mattered to your unique situation.
It doesn’t know how to apply that information to a room full of complex teams all operating in your specific context.
But you do.
At a certain point in your career, you’re being paid for the years it took to know exactly which template to build. And that’s not cheating. It’s actually the highest form of mastery.
Good luck! See you next week.
Ashley
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