Your African Work Ethic Can Actually Hurt Your Career in Corporate America

I spent three and a half years at my first job in America, and during that time, I was promoted only once.

And even that promotion was the “default” promotion that typically happens after you've completed your training period and spent about a year on the job.

For many Americans who joined after me, that same promotion happened within six to eight months.

They had similar or fewer qualifications than I did. And my work ethic certainly wasn't the problem. I was rated as exceeding expectations every single year, and I received my full employer performance bonus.

Yet, my career was barely moving.

Looking back, I can see exactly what went wrong.

I was working hard, but my hard work was invisible.

This is a common problem among high performers in Corporate America, but I believe it's particularly common among African immigrants because of the culture many of us were raised in.

Growing up in Africa, “bragging” was mostly frowned upon. You were expected to be humble about your achievements and attribute as much of your success to God as possible.

There's nothing wrong with humility. Unfortunately, when that humility prevents you from talking about your accomplishments, it can become a serious disadvantage in Corporate America.

Simply because career progression in America depends on much more than your ability to work hard.

To explain what I mean, I want to introduce three concepts that you're probably familiar with to some extent: Effort, Impact, and Visibility.

From a very young age, many of us were taught to always put our best foot forward.

Work hard. Stay diligent. Go above and beyond. And one day, somebody will notice your hard work and reward you appropriately.

This is the career philosophy many of us grew up believing.

The expectation is that your boss is paying attention to your willingness to go the extra mile. You don't need to constantly talk about how hard you're working because, eventually, your work will speak for itself.

On this side of the ocean, however, things don't always work that way.

When you rank the factors that influence career progression in Corporate America, effort alone is somewhere in the middle, at best.

Granted, you need to put in the work. But other factors can easily outweigh how much effort you're putting into your job.

And as Africans, effort is rarely where we struggle.

We can work our fingers to the bone in an attempt to earn the recognition we believe our hard work deserves.

Unfortunately, working harder isn't always the solution to a stalled career.

This is where effort starts to lose its grip on career progression.

Are you doing meaningful work? More importantly, is your effort creating meaningful impact?

You can work 60+ hours a week, but if the work you're doing doesn't make your boss's life easier, contribute meaningfully to your team's goals, or solve an important business problem, then you might be investing your effort in the wrong place.

This explains why some people can work on a single project and get promoted, while others will work on five different projects, receive applause during team meetings, and still struggle to move up.

The difference isn't necessarily how hard they worked.

It's the impact of the work they chose to do.

During my time at my first job, I was extremely reliable. I took on extra projects, volunteered whenever the team needed help, and supported routine activities across my group.

But I failed at something important.

I wasn't strategic about choosing impactful projects.

I was more concerned about being the person everyone could depend on than being the person working on projects that actually moved the needle.

And there's a difference.

Impactful projects are often the projects that get discussed beyond your immediate team. They're the projects that solve important problems, attract leadership's attention, and sometimes create opportunities for you to present your work to people above your boss.

This is where many people get it wrong.

Impact is where you begin to build a strong case for promotion.

Think about it this way: If you've channeled your effort toward projects that deliver meaningful results, it becomes much easier for your manager to advocate for your promotion.

Because there's something tangible to point to.

And more importantly, impactful work creates the foundation for the third concept.

This is perhaps the most important concept of the three.

Visibility is everything.

You can be hardworking and produce excellent results, but if the people making promotion decisions have no idea what you've contributed, you're leaving your career progression largely to chance.

Ideally, when you've worked on an impactful project, and you're fortunate enough to have a decent manager, that manager brings you into rooms where the work is being discussed.

They give you opportunities to present your findings, explain your contributions, and answer questions from stakeholders.

Or, at the very least, they publicly give you credit for the impactful work you've done.

This is how visibility starts to work in your favor.

When it's time for your annual performance review, and you highlight your key contributions, you're no longer introducing your accomplishments to people who have never heard of them.

You're reminding decision-makers of work they've already seen, projects they've heard you discuss, and results they've associated with your name.

Your manager also has a much stronger argument when advocating for your promotion because the people involved in making that decision are already familiar with your contributions.

But what happens when your manager doesn't create those opportunities for you?

You have to learn to create visibility for yourself.

And this is where things get uncomfortable for many African professionals.

There's a thin line between creating visibility for your work and “bragging.”

You don't want to be the person who takes credit for everything or constantly reminds colleagues of how brilliant you are.

But you also cannot afford to be the person doing all the work while everyone else receives the recognition.

Learning to walk that line comes with certain nuances that you'll eventually pick up through practice.

The first step, in my experience, is to stop shying away from opportunities to present or talk about your work.

If you've completed an important project, ask for the opportunity to present the results to stakeholders.

If your team is discussing a project you contributed significantly to, don't be afraid to speak up and explain your contributions.

I understand that this might feel uncomfortable at first.

But think about it.

You're probably the most knowledgeable person about that project because you did the actual work. So why shouldn't you be the person presenting it?

You don't have to exaggerate your contributions or take credit for work you didn't do.

Simply explain what you worked on, the problem you helped solve, and the impact it had on the team or organization.

That's not bragging.

That's making your work visible.

Here's the simplest way I can explain everything I've learned:

Hard work is good.

Working hard on impactful projects is better.

But working hard on impactful projects and creating visibility around those contributions is where you give yourself the best chance of career progression.

Many immigrants were raised to believe that if you work hard enough, someone will eventually notice.

Unfortunately, Corporate America doesn't always reward careers that way.

And I learned that lesson the hard way.

If you find yourself in a situation where your career is clearly stalling despite excellent work ethic, strong performance reviews, and consistent execution, perhaps it's time to examine the other two concepts.

Are you working on projects that genuinely move the needle?

And are you creating enough visibility around the impact of those projects?

Because sometimes, the difference between you and the person getting promoted isn't that they're working harder.

It's that they're working on the right things, and the right people know about it.

If this resonated with you, forward it to one hardworking immigrant professional who needs to hear it.’

- Tobi Adeleke.