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Dan went through an elite management training program and then jumped ship. Big companies were not for him. He's an entrepreneur at heart in need of a small, vibrant environment. He has a younger sister to whom he's always passed career advice. So he decided to write down that advice. Ever since, people have been reading his posts and giving positive feedback. Until that stops, he's decided to keep at it. Read more from Dan at his blog, 
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I cannot understate the importance of self promotion. This is not bragging. This is not arrogance. This is responsible career management. Performance is job number one. Self promotion should be your second priority. Everything else is a distant third. Here are five things you can do to become a master of self promotion.
1. Start thinking in terms of achievements
Your boss has no idea what you are up to. It is your job to communicate your achievements to your boss. Here’s what I do:
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- Start a notepad doc called “internal resume 2007″
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- Every time you accomplish something (actually finish a task), write an entry. Start the entry with the date. Say what you did, then summarize why it was important. You’ll get extra points if you show that you understand the business impact of your achievements.
- At some interval, summarize this document and send it to the two managers above you (your boss and that person’s boss). I recommend doing this quarterly. But do it at least once per year.
2. Use LinkedIn
There are three benefits here:
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- People who already use LinkedIn will see that you too are hip to this trend and they will surely join your network.
- Your resume will always be up-to-date. This will allow you to market yourself internally and to headhunters.
- You will impress those who are not yet using LinkedIn with your amazing career savvy. To them, you seem to be one step ahead. This is a good position to be in.
3. Volunteer
The best possible volunteer job is planning the holiday party. You can’t lose. Everyone loves a party. Just make sure that you are in charge. No one ever promotes the party planner’s assistant.
4. Be explicit
Tell your direct manager and your Human Resources representative that you are interested in moving into a role with expanded responsibilities. Tell them you are willing to attend training or lead a new initiative. In fact, you should propose training.
Find the key trend in your industry and learn as much as you can about it. If there is any kind of certification, ask them to pay for your training and the test.
5. Find a niche
Your goal should be to become THE go to person for something. It works best if this something is work-related, but it doesn’t have to be.
If you love cell phones and are always recommending this phone or that service plan to your co-workers, the boss may come to you when it is time to decide which carrier to go with for the new corporate cell phone plan. That, my friend, is opportunity knocking. Answer the door.
Dan writes regularly at Newly Corporate. Read more from him here.
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Leave your thoughts here. (10 responses)
- 1 Pingback on Dec 17th, 2007 at 7:16 am
- 2 Pingback on Jan 4th, 2008 at 8:08 am
Thanks Dan. I agree with most of these but I would also add to #1 that you should include any kudos that you have received as evidence to backup your achievements. It can mean the difference between an average bonus and a great bonus.
That’s a great point! I agree. I also have a “kudos” folder in Outlook. Every time I get some praise, I copy the email in there and then use it at bonus time!
I’ve gotta disagree with #1. I can’t imagine any situation where sending this kind of unsolicited self-promotion would be considered normal. At best, it’s weird. At worst, it’s arrogant. Instead I would find a place to insert your accomplishments into any established process, like your performance review, team meetings, project meetings, etc. (By the way, if your boss has no idea what you are up to, he’s a lousy boss. This probably can’t be changed, but you bosses out there, listen up!)
As for #2, well I have a LinkedIn account, but I admit I’ve never used it for anything. I just haven’t figured out what to use it for.
#3 - great idea. It’s all about getting face-time with other people in the company. But be sure to volunteer within your limits. Don’t plan the office party unless you’ve done that sort of thing before. Volunteer for things you care about and can actually DO.
#4 - Right on! You’ll never get what you want unless you ask.
#5 - Good Idea also. But don’t forget to plan an exit strategy. It’s possbile to be come TOO much of an expert, to the detriment of your advancement and other opportunites. Be sure to document everything you know, so you can teach it to someone else when you are ready to move on.
By the way, if your boss has no idea what you are up to, he’s a lousy boss. This probably can’t be changed, but you bosses out there, listen up!
Yes and no. Managers should obviously have a grasp on what’s on your plate, but they don’t necessarily know the solutions you’ve come up with for problems, the extra lengths you went for clients, etc. Obviously hard to generalize about all industries/roles, but it would be impossible for a perfect manager to know exactly what lengths I’ve gone for clients in my role.
But they also recommend that we record these and they ask us to send them “brag sheet” to them before our quarterly reviews. This, I think, is the best way to handle the situation. Keep a record of those things you’ve done above and beyond, emails from clients, etc, and then bring then give them in a professional way to your boss to see prior to your review. I do agree the unsolicited “look at me!” emails that far up the chain would be fairly weird.
Thanks for leading with the idea that performance comes first. So much focus gets put on branding and self-promotion, I think that how well you do your job falls to the wayside in these conversations sometimes. Bravo for recognizing that branding is a higher level task, one that should follow doing great work. I think this is a message this generation needs to hear badly.
For point one, I would also add to include a measurable component such as “exceeded deadline by a week” or “surpassed goal by 10%,” etc. Employers want to see that on resumes, so it’s best to keep track of the measurables along the way. Plus, you’re much more likely to remeber tasks and projects down the road but forget these details.
Great suggestions! Keeping track of your accomplishments as they happen can pay huge dividends throughout your career. Doing so not only makes preparing for quarterly and/or annual reviews a lot easier but it also is a great way to keep track of improvements and initiatives when you’re working in a leadership role and you’re reporting to your boss, customers, or other key stakeholders.
A great way to approach the possibility of taking on additional responsibilities is to identify an opportunity that will benefit the team, department, or company and then to outline the benefits and challenges of redefining your role. Schedule a time to discuss the initial proposal with your boss. I’ve found this approach to work very well.
Nathan,
I guess it’s different in other industries. I work in I.T. and everything I do goes through my manager first. I work a combination of support calls and software development projects. All support calls are logged, so my manager always knows how many calls I’ve received, how long its taken me to resolve them, how many I have left, and the general category of the problem. My manager is always involved in the projects, since it’s his job to deal with the big picture (business rules, political issues, etc) which helps me do my coding work without interference.
I’ve always worked in this kind of environment, so I’ve hard for me to conceive of a manager who wouldn’t know what I’m up to. But I guess other industries or positions are different.
I have looked and read this post as if I were the boss.
If a staff member 2 levels below me wrote to me to say how ‘wonderful’ they were and what they did and summarize why the achievement was important, I would find that strange. If I was actually interested in the success of a particular piece of work and they wrote to me saying it’s ‘live’, ‘complete’, ‘resolved’ then that’s fine. I would be grateful and know that they were involved. Self promotion is about being ’seen’ and you can be seen without shouting about all your achievements. Get involved in those high profile pieces of work and you will not have to write to anyone.
Liknedin - never used it, do not know anyone who has. I assume this is all about networking and relationships. Build relationships inside and outside the company. Do not think ‘what is in this for me’. Think ‘how can I help others’ and that will get you noticed.
Volunteering. Totally agree. I love my teams / staff to volunteer for things - over and above their day job and not necessarily instead of. Also, ensure you volunteer for things which are high profile or use your strengths or allow you to expand your knowledge or relationships.
Be explicit. Again, agree. Bit like volunteering. I love staff members with passion to take on new things. Those who mention this stick in my mind and when something comes up - bingo, I go and grab them to do it.
Niche. Make sure the niche you choose has a wide market and is in demand.
Andrew