PIE Theory: The importance of exposure

Unfortunately, I’m not talking about the tasty kind of PIE, but the kind of PIE that is really important to keep in mind when thinking about professional success.

In 1996, Harvey Coleman explored the impact of PIE on career success.

His focus was internally which has a benefit for business development in terms of cross-selling (which indirectly impacts career success). However, I think this theory could equally be applied externally in terms of generating additional business opportunities.

Simply put, his work looks at 3 key elements that contribute to people’s progress in their careers. He explains these three elements as:

1. Performance – how good you are at your job and how good the results of what you do are.
2. Image – is about you and how you are perceived. In the 1990s, the term ‘personal brand’ was even more used than it is today.
3. Exposure – is all about how well people know about what you do, i.e. not just your line manager but the level(s) above him/her too, as well as the leaders and partners of other departments.

As you will have heard me say before, there is so much focus on technical skills and knowledge as we progress through education and, indeed, as we enter our first roles. However, as we move through our careers, those skills are expected, and it is about what else we can offer. This is particularly the case as there are fewer senior-level jobs. Coleman asserts that, actually, just 10% of career progression is down to performance.

Yes, you read that right, just 10%. Clients, as well as colleagues care what you do for them but they also care about the how.

This might sound very low but imagine the situation where there are three firms in the running for some work. As well as considering fees and expertise, a client will also consider who seems easiest to work with.

In this model, a gigantic 60% of career progression is based upon the exposure element. Prospective clients can’t consider you if they don’t know you.

Assuming they have had some exposure to you then this links into the final 30%, which is the image – what has been their perception when they interacted with you? Do they perceive you can deliver for them? What is their experience of  interacting with you?

What do you need to consider?

Every model can and should be subject to scrutiny, but even if you modify this data a bit, the message is still the same. Performance is often a box ticker for career success and winning new client work; exposure and image are the ones that make the real difference.

Some questions to think about:

• How well-known are you at the firm you work for and in the market? After all, you need to be known about before others can know more about the work you do.

• What would be the benefits of having a plan to improve your exposure and visibility?

• Can you think of the actions you might start to take?

• Thinking about your image – what are others’ perceptions of you? If they’re negative or neutral, this is adversely going to affect your success.

• What benefits could knowing what to work on have for you?

Download this free resource from my book Getting On: Making Work Work to help you build a strategic relationships plan.

Learn more:

Personal brand – is it an outdated idea?

References:

www.mondofrank.com/pie