Welcome back to Relationships At Work – A leadership podcast helping you build workplace connection, improve culture, and avoid blind spots. I’m your host Russel Lolacher

I’m a communications and leadership nerd with a couple of decades of experience and a heap of curiosity on how we can make the workplace better.

This mini-episode is a quick and valuable bit of information to help your mindset for the week ahead.

Inspired by our R@W Note Newsletter, I’m passing on to you…

Speak To Your Results, Because Few Others Will

We’ve all been told at some point: ‘Let your results speak for themselves.’ But do they really? Or is that just wishful thinking?”

In theory, this sounds great, but in my experience, it rarely works. It assumes that people are listening. And not just anyone, but the right people—the ones who understand and value your work.

Some argue that if we have to “continuously communicate and promote our great results, we should question whether we’re on the right team or in the right company.” I agree with that—to a point.

But I don’t find it realistic. The reality is, results don’t speak—they need a voice. Ours. If we don’t frame our work in a way that leadership understands, we risk being overlooked. Especially in a organization where communication needs to be tailored, and stories need to be framed in ways that resonate to diverse leadership.

Yes, we’re paid for outcomes, but more often than not, we also have to be our own advocates—particularly with those who may not fully grasp the value of what we do. Many decision-makers are too far removed from the day-to-day impact of our work. Controlling what we can means telling our own story.

I’ve known people doing innovative, forward-thinking work—work that was outside the scope of their executives’ experience. Because leadership had a narrow understanding of its impact, they often took it for granted. I get that senior leaders are focused on high-level strategy, but when they don’t see the value of those working for them, it can be frustrating.

The Question: So if results alone won’t do the talking, how do we communicate our impact in a way that gets leadership’s attention?

The Action(s):

• Align with Leadership Priorities – First, if you want to be noticed, understand it’s not about you. Focus on results that directly impact business goals, key metrics, or organizational priorities. And use the language of leadership—frame your results in terms of efficiency, revenue, cost savings, employee engagement, customer satisfaction, or risk reduction.
• Use Data, But Tell a Story – Metrics matter. Present hard numbers, but don’t just dump data—connect it to a narrative. Like, “by doing this, we helped that, which led to benefiting the organization in this way.” And make sure you answer “why should leadership care?”
• Be Concise and Clear – Get to the point quickly. Those you’re trying to get the attention of are probably working on multiple things at once. “Don’t bury the lead” – make sure your communication starts with the bottom line to get their attention.
• Use the Right Mediums – What is the right medium to tell your story – one on one meetings? email summaries? reports? team meetings? It’s not a one size fits all.
• Improve your Presence – Want people to pay attention? Be in their eyeline. That meanspresenting in leadership meetings when possible or sharing wins in company newsletters, Slack, or internal blogs. And make sure you’re giving credit to others. It reinforces team success.
• Then What – make sure you it’s not a one-and-done success story. Link your results to what you’re doing next. We did this, so to further that success we’re doing that OR we recommend we take steps in doing this.

Hard work doesn’t guarantee recognition or support. Smart communication can certainly get us there. We have to give our good work a voice. If we don’t tell our own story, who will?