Good work stays invisible when you only report tasks, because your effort doesn’t travel and opportunities feel random. In this article, Jef Menguin shows how to relabel your work as outcomes leadership can use—so your value becomes obvious. Practice the “This supports _ by _” shift and share it with your team so updates drive action, not just noise.
Miko was the kind of teammate you want when things get messy.
He fixed broken handoffs. He cleaned spreadsheets no one wanted to touch. He caught small errors before they became big escalations.
But during his check-in, his manager said something that felt unfair.
“You’re reliable. You work hard. But I don’t see strategic impact yet.”
Miko didn’t argue. He just went quiet.
Because what do you say when your effort is real… but the credit doesn’t land?
The problem wasn’t his work. It was the label.
After that meeting, he did what many good professionals do.
He worked harder. He polished more. He stayed later.
And the weird part is this: it still didn’t feel like it counted.
Not because he wasn’t improving. Because his manager still couldn’t use his work as proof in bigger conversations.
Great work can stay invisible unless you build proof that travels.
The advice that changed everything
A week later, Miko talked to a senior colleague over coffee.
Not a formal mentor session. Just one honest question: “What am I missing?”
The colleague didn’t say, “Do more.”
He said, “Stop describing your work like tasks. Start describing it like outcomes.”
Then he added a line Miko couldn’t forget:
“Good work doesn’t count automatically. It counts when leadership can connect it to a priority.”
That’s when Miko realized the uncomfortable truth.
His work was good.
But it didn’t have a name that leadership recognizes.
Relabel your work so it connects to what matters
Relabeling sounds like marketing.
It’s not.
It’s translation. You’re not changing the work. You’re changing the frame so the value becomes obvious.
Miko started using one sentence structure in updates and conversations:
“This supports ___ by ___.”
Supports what?
A boss priority. A team goal. A deadline. A customer promise.
By how?
A result. A risk avoided. Hours saved. Rework reduced. Complaints prevented.
Same work.
Now it could travel.
What changed when his work became “countable”
Two weeks later, his manager stopped asking vague status questions.
The updates were clear enough to act on.
And in one meeting, Miko heard his manager repeat his own words to leadership—almost verbatim.
Not because Miko became louder. Miko became easier to represent.
That’s the real win.
Your boss doesn’t just need your output. Your boss needs language that makes your output defensible.
You might be in the same place
Maybe you’re not named Miko.
But you know the feeling.
You do work that keeps the team running, yet you struggle to point to impact in a way that lands. You don’t want to be performative. You don’t want to be “salesy.”
You just want your work to count—in trust, in opportunities, in growth.
So try the same move to make your value usable.
Try this: The Relabel Draft
Pick one piece of work you’re doing this week.
Write it the way you normally describe it.
Then rewrite it using this structure:
“This supports ___ by ___.”
If the blanks feel hard, don’t force it.
That’s feedback.
Either the outcome isn’t clear yet… or the work isn’t tied to priorities yet.
Both are worth seeing early.
A small habit that makes it stick
At the end of each day this week, write one line:
“Today, I helped ___ by ___.”
That’s not a brag log.
That’s a proof log.
Over time, it becomes your Visible Impact record—the thing that makes opportunities feel less random.
Read this next
If you want the cleanest way to make this feel natural (and not awkward), read: Ask for Advice.
Because sometimes the fastest way to make good work count… is to ask one person the right question, then apply one small shift the same day.
If your team is stuck in meetings, misalignment, or slow decisions…
Let’s design one shift they can use immediately.
→ Shift Experiences
