Whatever your career, whatever your goals, the three Vs can help you succeed. Find out how to use visibility, value, and voice today.
Most people assume career success is about hard work, credentials, and luck. But in my experience, the real cornerstones of career success are far more practical. I call them the three Vs: visibility, value, and voice.
I’m not a genius. I’ve never even checked a job board. As Woody Allen famously said, “Eighty percent of success is showing up.” He’s right. But showing up in the right way makes all the difference.
Visibility
Being visible in one form or another has gotten me jobs. Not because I was chasing attention, but because people saw me.
Early in my career, I volunteered for AWHONN’s continuing education approval committee — back in the early 1980s when they still approved their own CE courses. That small act of visibility led to an invitation to another committee. Then to a review board. And in 1997, to something I never imagined: becoming the founding editor of AWHONN’s new publication, Nursing for Women’s Health.
I had never aspired to be an editor, much less a founding editor. I didn’t even know they were planning a new publication. Yet that first step — volunteering for a small, behind-the-scenes committee — set in motion decades of opportunity. Since then, I’ve been invited to write an editorial every ten years, and most recently, to appear on the AWHONN podcast. That first act of visibility had legs I never could have predicted.
Visibility doesn’t need to be flashy. It just means showing up at meetings, in conversations, in unexpected places like the YMCA, a church rummage sale, or even in a pointed letter. Once, I wrote a complaint letter to a video production company that put out mediocre-quality patient education materials. That wasn’t about making noise; it was about holding up a standard. And before I knew it, they offered me a consulting job. I never asked for it.
That’s why visibility is one of the real cornerstones of career success: the opportunities can’t come knocking if no one knows where to find you.
Value
I was stunned once to hear a colleague call me a “thought leader.” I didn’t feel like one. I wasn’t delivering pronouncements from a stage. I was simply trying to add value to a conundrum my colleagues were wrestling with so we could move forward.
That’s been a pattern. At a university medical center, I noticed perinatal issues were scattered across disciplines — nursing, perinatal medicine, dietetics, social work, and more. Instead of complaining, I volunteered to start an interdisciplinary committee so those voices could come together for effective problem-solving.
Even now, as a consultant, I’m careful not to overstep, but I still try to add value by asking the questions others may avoid. I’ll say things like, “Have we established OKRs for this project?” Not because I have all the answers (I don’t), but because value comes from clarifying the problem so the team can move forward.
On LinkedIn, my filter is simple: if I can’t add value, I shut up. I don’t post just to chase engagement. Value means people walk away with something useful, even if it’s small.
When it comes down to it, people who add value build successful careers, and people who don’t get forgotten. That’s why adding value is one of the real cornerstones of career success.
Voice
My voice is distinct. I write the way I speak.
Once, I submitted a sample chapter to Mosby for a hoped-for contract. They sent it out for blind review to two or three reviewers. Other than my husband and the acquisitions editor, no one knew about my submission. Then one Saturday morning, I got a call from a beloved friend and colleague. She said, “Mosby just sent me a chapter to review on cleft lip and palate, and I know you wrote it.”
Stunned, I asked how she could possibly know. She simply said, “Because it sounded just like you.”
That moment stays with me because it showed how unmistakable a strong voice can be, even without a name attached.
Students have said the same in another way: they could “hear my voice” when they sat for career-critical exams. Sometimes they meant literally — they’d heard my recorded voice in videos or audios. But more often, they meant my way of explaining things stayed with them. My voice gave them clarity and confidence when they needed it most.
That’s the power of voice as one of the real cornerstones of career success. It makes your presence clear, even when you’re not in the room.
The real cornerstones of career success aren’t found on job boards
Most of my career opportunities came not from resumes, recruiters, or job postings, but from inserting myself into the situation. Respectfully. Helpfully. Consistently.
If you want opportunities, don’t wait for them to find you. Use the three Vs: Be visible. Add value. Use your voice.
These aren’t abstract ideas. They are the real cornerstones of career success. And they’re already within your reach. The only question is: where will you show up next?
Which of these three resonates most with your career story: visibility, value, or voice? I’d love to hear your experience in the comments.