Why the reliable office workhorse rarely gets ahead

livemint.com:

You work so hard. Why aren’t you getting ahead? “Literally, what more can I do?" Alison Fragale, a professor who studies power, says the office workhorses among us think. We’re the ones picking up the slack when teammates fall short, the ones the boss calls when she needs something done fast, or last minute, or after hours.

And still we aren’t the stars. Maybe we missed the memo on what it takes to win at work. Putting in effort is a given if you want that raise or promotion.

But anyone can grind it out, researchers told me—that’s just a matter of sacrificing your life. To get that next job or big, high-profile project, you have to be known for more than long hours. You have to change how your colleagues and bosses see you.

“We are given opportunities all the time to tell our story that we throw away," says Fragale, a professor of organizational behavior at the University of North Carolina and author of a forthcoming book on the science of status. The next time a colleague stops to chitchat in the hallway or asks how you are, don’t say “fine" or “busy," she says. Share your most recent win and its impact—this project is going to save us $3 million a year, or that client just reupped their contract because they were blown away by our proposal.

If you’re worried about sounding like a braggart, consider that office show ponies are doing this all the time, Fragale says. Imagine how effective you could be if you paired your hard work with a dose of self-promotion. Ask yourself: What positive parts of your work are invisible to others? Share that, not complaints about how you worked yet another weekend, or how the office coffee is getting weaker.

We want people to like us. We want to help out. When we say yes, the boss praises