Workplace Multiplier by Tola Akinsulire

May 1, 2025

Welcome to the Workplace Multiplier newsletter. Published Monday to Friday, equipping you to achieve your professional goals faster and without burnout or overwhelm by leveraging The Triple Win Method.

Your brilliance might be going unnoticed,

Howdy ,

Yesterday, we talked about setting clear, measurable targets. Today, let's explore step two: aligning with your organization's direction.

I call this your "secret weapon" because while everyone else is focused on their little corner of the workplace, you'll connect your work to the bigger picture.

The Silo Trap

Many professionals make this critical mistake: they excel at their specific job functions but remain invisible to decision-makers outside their immediate team.

Do you know what your company actually cares about?

I don't mean the mission statement on the wall. I'm talking about what keeps your leadership team up at night.

Because here's what I've learned working with professionals across three continents: your visibility and value at work are directly tied to how well you solve the problems your company actually cares about.

This isn't about brown-nosing. It's about strategic alignment with what I call "the right results."

Let me tell you about James (not his real name). He was brilliant at optimizing his department's processes and consistently hit his targets. But after years without promotion, he became frustrated.

The problem? No one outside his department “knew” about his contributions. Worse yet, some of his "optimizations" were not seen as valuable as he thought they were!

How to Become a Strategic Contributor

Here's how to align your work with organizational priorities:

1. Study the company's strategic plan. Most organizations have annual or quarterly objectives. If they're not publicly shared, ask your boss about them. Listen carefully to executive communications for clues about priorities.

2. Listen for signals. In executive communications, town halls, and quarterly updates, what themes keep emerging? Are they focused on growing revenue, reducing costs, avoiding risks, or improving the workplace?

3. Map your targets to strategic goals. For each target we created yesterday, explicitly connect it to a broader organizational objective. For example: "My target to improve customer resolution time directly supports our company-wide initiative to increase customer retention by 20%."

4. Learn the language of leadership. Pay attention to the terms and metrics executives use to discuss success and incorporate this language when discussing your contributions.

5. Follow the money. Understand which initiatives are receiving the most funding or resources. These are your clues about what truly matters to decision-makers.

Remember that other department head I mentioned who advocated for my friend's promotion? That happened because my friend deliberately sought to understand that department's challenges and found ways his work could solve their problems.

Your Action Step Today

Identify the top three strategic priorities for your organization right now. Then, revise your SMART+ targets from yesterday to explicitly support at least one of these priorities. If you're not sure what these priorities are, whom could you ask today to find out?

Tomorrow, I'll show you how to report your progress in a way that keeps you visible without being self-promotional.

Keep winning at work and in life,

Tola Akinsulire

Your Strategic Workplace Mentor

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Want to get in on some of the lessons I have picked up in my career? Get my eBook "21 Lessons I Learned in My Career - A Primer to Help You Become Better at Work". Get it here

Do you work in a new country, or does your work involve working with people outside your country? Get my acclaimed book "Winning Beyond Borders: Achieving Success at Work in a New Country". Get it here

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