You’re weird, selfish, shameless and nosy. Even manipulative. Oh, and bossy.
Good job.
In a workplace that’s increasingly remote, fast-paced, independent, and ever-changing, these aren’t insults—they’re survival skills necessary for visibility at work. According to Jenny Wood—a former Google executive and author of the new book Wild Courage—the traits we were once told to suppress are quickly becoming the exact capabilities we need to thrive. Being visible, taking initiative, influencing without authority, and owning your impact are no longer optional—they’re essential.
In our conversation on The Future Of Less Work podcast, Wood said:
“The biggest lie you’ve ever been told in your career is your work will speak for itself.”
Jenny is on a mission to dismantle many of the myths we hide behind—especially the ones that let us avoid doing things that feel uncomfortable. And those myths are particularly dangerous now, when more work is happening outside the office and we need to learn how to be seen even when we’re not physically visible.
Visibility Is No Longer Accidental
This is what researchers call the proximity bias—the subtle, often unconscious assumption that people we see more often are more productive or more valuable. It’s the workplace version of “out of sight, out of mind.” And just as we’re telling managers they need to shift from measuring hours and presence to evaluating outcomes, we as employees need to do the same: stop relying on activity and start showing impact.
Our tools have changed. Where we once voiced ideas casually after meetings or built rapport over lunch, many of us now work from home, across time zones, through digital tools, or in far more dispersed organizations. Visibility, trust, and influence no longer happen by accident. They have to be intentional.
The Traits You Were Told to Hide Are the Ones You Need
That’s where Wild Courage comes in. Wood’s book isn’t about being louder or pushier—it’s about learning to be visible and communicate our value in a world that no longer has built-in signals. She reclaims nine traits often labeled as negative—like being “nosy,” “bossy,” or “shameless”—and reframes them as strategic capabilities for today’s workplace.
On the podcast, Wood opened with a Wild Courage story I didn’t see coming: the time she chased down a man on a New York City subway platform—a bold move that eventually led to marriage. As unexpected as it was, the story sets the tone for her core argument: courage isn’t a personality trait—it’s a skill. And in a world where our work isn’t always seen, courage might be the most important one of all.
So ask yourself – are you speaking up about the value you bring? Go ahead and be shameless. Jenny introduces the “Shameless Monday Email”—a weekly update to your manager with two things you’re proud of and two things you’re working on. It can feel awkward at first, but in a work environment where we do not see each other all day every day visibility is limited and this habit helps ensure your impact doesn’t go unnoticed.
It’s also really important that you work on what matters, and not on what doesn’t. Jenny calls this NAP work—Not Actually Promotable tasks like organizing the team offsite or taking notes in every meeting. There are so many things you need to make time for—including your work, developing your skills, and learning to use new tools. That’s why we need to be more selective about how we spend our time. And though we often take on these tasks to be helpful, they can become traps that prevent us from doing the work that actually gets us promoted. Or as Jenny puts it:
“Say yes to the big and no to the small.”
Which also requires us to be brutal. That may sound harsh, but Jenny reframes it as: “Curb your people pleasing and say no.”
It’s about drawing boundaries that protect our time and energy and understand that being selective with our calendar is not rude—it’s responsible.
How to Get the Work That Actually Matters
But then, how do we know what are the big things that matter and how do we get assigned to them? Jenny encourages us to be Nosy, which isn’t about gossip—it’s about getting curious, asking questions, and leaning into connection. Ultimately, many of our best career moves come from relationships, not resumes. Then there’s reckless which doesn’t mean impulsive or careless. It means action-oriented. In a fast moving world waiting for permission can mean getting left behind. The bias toward action—experimentation, iteration, and bold asks—matters more than ever. Or as Jenny puts it:
“If you’re on the fence, go for it—even though it might ruffle feathers.”
Which means you also need to learn to be bossy, which Jenny embraces as a call to lead from wherever you are. You don’t need a title to guide a team, launch an idea, or support a peer. Work and leadership are now increasingly networked and distributed—and showing initiative is the new currency.
The world of work is changing. We’re constantly learning, unlearning, and relearning how to do our jobs, how to collaborate, how to be visible at work and how to show up in new spaces with new people. And so we must develop new skills to know what is going on, to let others know who we are, what we do, what we’re capable of. To impact.
Because no, your work won’t speak for itself.
But you can learn how to help it speak.
