David Zweig, author of Invisibles: The Power of Anonymous Work in an Age of Relentless Self-Promotion, is asked to define Invisibles in a recent interview. He responds saying, “Invisibles are people who feel ambivalent about gaining widespread recognition for the work they do-and sometimes they’re flat-out averse to it. It’s not that they don’t appreciate praise. They’re quite happy to be recognized for their work by their peers, for instance. But that’s not what drives them.

“What motivates Invisibles is the work itself. They take great pride in their work and how they do it. Every Invisible I spoke to is highly meticulous about the work they do, whether it’s tuning pianos or building the tallest skyscrapers in the world. And they all willingly take on-the word I use is savor-the responsibility that invariably comes with their jobs.

“They enjoy the process of being immersed in their work, a sense of ‘flow,’ and the feeling of psychological well-being that comes with accomplishing a task really well, or accepting new challenges in their work. That’s the real reward for these people, not grabbing attention for themselves. Psychologists refer to this as being inspired by intrinsic motivators, as opposed to extrinsic motivators like money or attention.”

If Self-Promotion is what is deemed relentless and necessary today, as the title suggests, Invisibles could be those individuals who get feedback during their performance reviews that they need to be more visible, more self-promoting and more vocal. I talked with an employee who got that feedback from his management team this week and he seemed miffed as to why he would do such a thing. While he knew that to succeed in his role in leadership with the company he had to be a leader to his people, he believed that his passion and love for his work and his ability to listen to his people and guide them to find the answers themselves was exactly what leadership was all about.

So what was the feedback really trying to address?  Perhaps too much invisibility is as undesirable as too much self-promotion.  We’ve all experienced self-promoters who seek every opportunity they can get to let you know what they have done but we’ve also experienced Invisibles who don’t speak up or let you know they are on task and making things happen.  What I’ve found in working with Invisibles  is that when they do speak up and are a little more visible, the value they add to a team or a business is huge.  Perhaps the real message in the feedback to this individuals was “we value your contribution to the team and we want to hear it more often.”

Let your Invisibles know how much you value them this week, and if you are an Invisible who loves to stay under the radar, step forward this week and let your voice be heard!