Quick How to on Being Your Own Advocate

I’d like to share with you a quick strategy for talented professionals like yourself to advance your career. You’ve envisioned your career, you’re ready to get promoted and you’re ready to invest in yourself! But What Now? What do I need to do to get there? 

The cornerstone to advancing your career and building rock-solid confidence in yourself is learning how to successfully market yourself and be your own advocate inside your current organization and externally in your industry and community. 

How do you achieve this? Well here’s a quick ‘how to’ on being your own advocate. 

1. Know Your Talent

One of the barriers for challenges women face in the workplace was a self-limiting mindset. Working with hundreds of women, I’ve helped them transform this mindset into what I coined “Talent Mindset” – the absolute belief (deep in your bones) in yourself, your talents, the value you bring and the results you deliver. It all starts with YOU. 

Start by discovering your talent before you can be your own advocate – get out a journal or notebook and make a list of your work skills:

• Things You’re Good At
• Things Others Say You’re Good At 

For work skills examples, take a look here. You may have some duplicate skills listed as well, which is fine. Just means you’ve got proof that you’re good at the skill!  

2. Gather Proof and Examples

Now pick 1 skill set from above relevant to your current role and think of examples of how you were successful. Get a computer or journal out and type/write out the examples by starting with the situation, then your actions and then the result. You can even gather documents or photos or emails or awards  that showcase your accomplishments.

3. Communicate Your Talent Clearly & Passionately

Next, think about the results – why did you do it that way, why did you do differently and better than others and write or type that down your example. Now you’ve got something you’re good at and can tell people about it. Start telling your family and friends about it or your partner – this is the first step to communicating what you can do. Try it! Remember this is something you did – you’re the HERO of the story – be passionate and excited about it! 

Conclusion 

Once you know you can do the job and can authentically self-promote, you’ll be unstoppable and magical things happen. Read all about it in my clients’ success stories. You can even be authentic in your next big job interview or even at a family event or with your friends or at your next in-person networking event  – anywhere! 

If you’re feeling uncomfortable self-promoting or trying to figure out your talent, book a Complimentary Career Session  and we will dive deeper with more exercises and work together to focus in, determine your value proposition and get the outcome you desire. 

Stay tuned on our next blog about Building A Network to authentically self-promote yourself!!