My recent webinar on political savvy at the Wirl Summit reminded me of the many excuses we make: not talking about what we do; not connecting with our network; or not thinking about our next career move.
We all need to stand out.
Not in a big way.
Not shouting from the podium, “Hey, look at me and all the great things I’ve done.”
When I attended an industry conference last month, the first 3 speakers did just that. They started from a platform of–’I did this’, ‘I’ve achieved this’, ‘Look how great I am’. No wonder self-promotion makes many cringe.
When I glanced around the conference hall, I saw eyes glazing over, a few smirks and a lot of smart-phone attention.
We need to find a replacement for self promotion.
The Centre for Creative Leadership reframed it as strategic visibility. The word ‘strategy’ gives self promotion a refreshingly, glamorous makeover. But, does this word really resonate? Probably not.
Strategy, similar to ‘Build your network’ is overused.
Stand out or stand up for something. Share what you know, creates opportunities for your idea and your career.
It’s not about, “Oh, I’m just doing my job.” If you think what you do is not important or everyone already knows. Think again. Organisations are too large, too dispersed and everyone’s too busy to know what anyone else is doing.
Promotion is a marketing term. Think like a marketer. Raise awareness about what you do, create a following and build a community. Does that start to sound like leadership?
There are many ways to promote. Start a Lunch and Learn series to share insights on your department, team, product or function. Create a podcast on how to improve a certain expertise and promote it through social media, internal blogs, wikis, Twitter, email, and so on. What do you do that others need to know about? What makes you unique?
Whether you work for a multinational or are in your own business, you must talk about what you do – daily. Start to build a following today while thinking of ways to serve your personal and professional communities.
