It can be difficult to promote yourself and there is surely a little bit of an art to it. Try too hard and you show yourself as self-centered. Fail to try at all and you’ll be in the same spot you are 10 years from now. It’s possible to promote yourself and your leadership style if you take the right approach.
Be authentic
Someone that is inauthentic is either easy to spot, or their true behavior eventually comes to light. The ability to show that you care and that you actually mean it is a great way to promote yourself and your leadership style. Be genuine in your interactions with others. Be authentic in your communication. Show real interest in other people’s conversations.
Be prepared when being authentic. The people that are not true to themselves may try to call you out to others and accuse you of being fake. Know that this is either their own insecurity, an attempt to leverage a relationship based on poor emotional intelligence, or they are downright unethical in their personal leadership. Hold true to the fact that authenticity will win the day.
Put others needs above your own
It may seem a little backward to give up a sense of self in order to promote yourself, but it works. Put people’s wants and needs above your own to be successful. Instead of hoarding your talent and requiring credit for what you do, give it away freely to those that need help; especially those that can’t offer you large career gains in return.
This strategy adds credibility to others that you are authentic and gives you a chance for some good knowledge exchange with the other person. This has been a valuable resource for my personal leadership. A person I help may not be the exact one to help me take another step in my career, but they may teach me something that they do that helps me become a better leader.
Promote yourself through replication
It’s one thing to say that you added $1 million in revenue from your clients. It’s quite another to say that you developed 5 other people to do the same. Invest and develop others and then they will become part of your body of work. These people will also become great advocates for you in your career journey. This approach is another differentiator because less mature leaders are trying to build their own personal profiles and don’t understand the payoff of investing time in others.
When you replicate your success and standards, make sure that you are investing in the right way, and don’t have blinders to the person’s ability and capacity. They are a reflection of you after all, and you want them to represent you well.
Promote yourself the right way by building a network of people behind and beside you that are your advocates. Show your leaders you are authentic and that you add more value than the salary that you are currently earning. Your co-workers, organization, and bank account will be thankful that you did.
Make a better tomorrow.
-ZH
