Tips for Self-Advocacy in the Workplace

Have you ever struggled with promoting yourself and your career without feeling like you're coming off as too self-promotional? You're not alone. As a mentor and coach, I get this question all the time, and it's a tricky balance. The good news is, self-promotion done right can open doors and propel your career forward. Here's my take on it: 1️⃣ Identify Your Unique Skills: What are your superpowers? Your strengths? Highlight these and build relationships with those who will value them the most. 2️⃣ Show Tangible Value: It’s not just about saying you’re good at something—demonstrate it! Use a career walking deck to showcase your experiences, results, and key wins. 📊 3️⃣ Build Relationships: Leverage your network, find mentors, and engage with sponsors. Your goal is to become the obvious choice for your next role by demonstrating relevant experiences and abilities. 4️⃣ Be Humble and Realistic: Acknowledge the challenges you might face in a new role. Show that you’re ready to tackle them with the right support and training. 🚀 5️⃣ Tell Stories: Instead of bragging, share stories about your successes, challenges, and lessons learned. Authenticity and clarity in communication are key. 🗣️ 6️⃣ Seek Feedback: Actively solicit feedback from those who will give you honest, constructive criticism. This helps you grow and improve continuously. 🔄 Remember: Self-promotion done right is about clarity and communication. It’s about showing your value in a humble and authentic way. Would love to hear your thoughts on effective self-promotion strategies! 💡 #CareerGrowth #SelfPromotion #ProfessionalDevelopment #Networking #Mentorship #Leadership #PersonalBrand #SuccessTips #LinkedInCommunity

A recent conversation with a mentee trying to navigate the next steps in their career reminded me of an essential rule I always emphasize: You own your career, therefore you have to be in the driver's seat. They recently received some feedback from their manager that was confusing as it didn’t align with previous feedback. The conversation on next steps was very vague. Reality check: waiting for clear guidance or validation from others can leave you stuck in neutral. Instead, you must proactively manage your own career path. Here are a few things I suggested: 1. Do a Self-Assessment You need to understand your strengths, weaknesses, passions, and career aspirations. Identify what excites you and where you see yourself in the future. Remember they can all change due to new experiences and gaining new skillsets. 2. Seek Constructive Feedback While feedback from leadership is valuable, it’s important to triangulate. Reach out to mentors, peers, and others in your function that you admire for their insights. Feedback is just one piece of the puzzle. Use it as a tool for improvement, not as a definitive roadmap. You never know when you might run into an unconscious bias. 3. Continuous Learning and Development I’m ever curious and always looking for learning opportunities. Look for opportunities to learn from other functions. The business world is continusly changing, and staying on top of the game, requires investing time to learn. Stay informed about your current industry trends but also look for best practices in others. 4. Advocate for Yourself People can’t read your mind, so they don’t know what your career goals and aspirations are. Don’t be afraid to articulate them to your leadership. Express your interest in new projects, responsibilities, or roles that align with your goals. 5. Adaptability and Resilience Career paths are rarely linear. My own has been a lattice. Be adaptable. Embrace challenges and view setbacks as learning experiences. Being in the driver's seat of your career means taking an intentional role in your professional development. While others can give you guidance, the ultimate responsibility for your career lies with you. What else would you tell him?

Are you someone who struggles to shout about what you've achieved? Have you ever been interviewed and been called out for using "we" instead of "I" in your examples, leaving the interviewer unsure of the role you actually played? I’ve been following Stefanie Sword-Williams FRSA (she/her) on her social channels for some time, have attended her engaging Zoom workshops, and am a big fan of her book, F*ck Being Humble. Stef and I recently chatted about the importance of getting comfortable with talking confidently about our achievements if we want to progress our careers in a fast-paced, ever-changing backdrop. Last week I had the pleasure of hosting a breakfast with Stef in NYC for a small group of fabulous professional women that I’ve met since moving to the city. Now I just want to clarify that I 100% understand the importance of humility in business success. There’s a big difference between someone congratulating you on an excellent piece of work and you responding with “I know, I’m f-ing amazing” vs saying “Thank you so much for acknowledging the work. I’m extremely passionate about the topic and put a lot of time and thought into it, and so I’m really pleased you noticed it too.” The latter example allows you to advocate for yourself without brushing off the compliment, yet offers a dose of humility without downplaying your achievements. Finding ways to unapologetically share our achievements is particularly relevant to women, who naturally find it harder to self-advocate, often for fear of sounding arrogant. My key takeaways from our time with Stef were: 👎 It’s time to ditch being generic. If your LinkedIn profile or the personal statement on your Resume say that you are strategic, hard-working, passionate, enthusiastic, or motivated… you can join the generic club. How do the people you work with really describe you? How does the way you show up help the company you work for? What unique benefits do you bring to a company? 📣 Your work won’t always speak for itself. Back yourself by getting comfortable with sharing work you’re proud of on your social channels, offering to speak on panels, and presenting at events. Showcasing your work, knowledge, and the value it brings, will in turn offer to others an insight into who you are as a leader.   ❤️ Give>Give>Give>Self-Promote. Remembering back to the piece about balancing self-advocacy with humility, intentionally build and nurture your relationships on the basis of what you can give rather than what you want to get. Give people your time, knowledge, and network. Once you’re known for being a giver, it’s so much easier to self-advocate, as the foundation of your relationships is based on what you give. Humble has a place. Just don't let it hold you back. 👇 I'd love to hear any thoughts or tips you may have in the comments below. And be sure to give Stefanie Sword-Williams FRSA (she/her) a follow!

I’ve advised over 200 high achievers in the last 3 years. From F500 companies to billion dollar startups. 5 challenges that kept them stuck + how to overcome: (1) Demonstrating impact It's a harsh truth, but no amount of work will get you promoted. To level up you need to show impact on the bottom line. Recommendation: Focus on outcomes vs. outputs, and track your success. (2) Owning your time If someone else owns your calendar you can't be effective or make a big impact. But most people just accept what ever is put on their calendar. Recommendation: Be proactive, not reactive. Create you ideal schedule (I call it CEO schedule) and own your time. (3) Leveraging advocacy Your career will grow faster if you have key stakeholders ready to speak on your behalf. But most people don't have a strategic plan to build and nurture advocacy. When the time comes they need to beg for support. Recommendation: Identify your advocates and manage the relationship long term, to get undeniable recognition. (4) Having hard conversations The things you want most are on the other side of a hard conversation. Asking for a raise, getting a unique opportunity, sharing feedback, letting an employee go. Avoiding these conversations keeps you stuck. Recommendation: Don't avoid hard conversations. Plan and practice for them to reduce the anxiety and fear. (5) No vision or strategy You assume working hard enough for long enough will get you ahead. That's usually not the answer. Doing more of the same won't get you far in the corporate world. Recommendation: Gain clarity about your vision and what it would take to get there, so you can be intentional about how you spend your time at work. Ignore these challenges and you'll stay stuck for years. Master them and you'll join the 1%. *** Enjoyed this post? ♻️ Share to help someone get unstuck and grow their career

Early Lessons That Make a Difference Occasionally, I have the privilege of speaking with new graduates or employees who have just started their first job. The question they most often ask me is, "If you could go back and give your younger self advice, what would it be?" I never have enough time to answer this question fully, and I always leave thinking of things I forgot to mention. With that in mind, I wrote down a few pieces of advice that would have made a difference in my career. - Speak up! Don't let being new stop you. The fact that you are new gives you a unique and valuable perspective. Even if something seems obvious, don't hesitate to call it out and voice your opinion. Having a voice at work will strengthen your influence and get you noticed. - Don't prioritize work over your health. You might feel pressured to skip exercise and sleep to complete more work. This is a lousy tradeoff that will ultimately negatively impact your productivity, work quality, and well-being. Well-rested, healthy people perform better. - If you find yourself stuck, step away and return to it later. Taking a break can help refresh your perspective and give your brain a chance to work on the issue subconsciously. It may seem counterintuitive, but doing something else might be the quickest way to solve your problem. - Talk to everyone you can. Now is the time to invest in building your network. The people at the desks next to you are tomorrow's CEOs and industry leaders. It's easy to do. Most people like it when you are curious about their work and are more than happy to converse. - Your teammates are invaluable resources. Get to know the folks around you. Wisdom abounds, so learn from them. Understanding what has worked and not worked for others can be a big career shortcut. - Start making decisions, and try not to introduce new ones. Only ask if you know you have to. "Can I do x?" introduces a new decision, and you risk getting blocked. Instead, do it. Take ownership. It's better to ask for forgiveness than permission, but always weigh the risks. - The best way to learn (from someone) is to offer help. Find someone you want to learn from and be useful to them. People are more inclined to invest in you if you offer them something in return. - Talk to the executives. As a junior engineer, I felt nervous speaking to senior leaders. As a senior, I notice people are nervous to engage with me. Those who do stand out, and we often have the best conversations where we both learn new things. So, be bold and make high-level connections. - Set clear goals. Having a waypoint on which to focus your career will help clarify what you need to do. The more specific your goals are, the better your chances of achieving them. - Success is a team sport. It's hard to be successful without the support of others. That means it's essential for you to be a good teammate. Listen to what others say, try to make others successful, and most importantly–don't be a jerk.