Today’s Question: “My manager told me that I need to be more visible in our organization. I don’t like to brag about myself, so how do I change that perception?”
In your mind, you are doing your job every day and your manager knows what you are doing, so why do you need more visibility? Unfortunately, you may be doing great things, but not everyone else in the organization knows about them. Being visible means that your leadership is consistently being seen throughout the organization. When someone mentions your name, they immediately talk about your leadership and the contributions that you are making. This is where self-promotion comes in to the picture.
Your senior management needs to know what you are doing and what you want. They make decisions about your career, your performance ratings and whether or not you will get a promotion. Don’t assume that your manager is sharing what you have done. Your manager may not be good at self-promotion either. Don’t leave it to anyone else to share what you or your team has done. YOU need to share it with them.
Does your management know how you are contributing to the organization? Are you leading things that they don’t know about? Are you doing things that improve the organization as a whole, not just your own group? Are you driving changes that show your influencing and leadership skills? Does your senior management know what you want to do in your career? What if an opportunity that you would be perfect for became available, but they didn’t consider you because you never told anyone? There is nothing wrong with sharing what you are doing and where you want to go with your career. This demonstrates your initiative and confidence in who you are and what you want.
As your awareness about self-promotion grows, you will begin seeing others promoting themselves in meetings and just in normal conversation. Watch them and observe if there is anything that you can learn from them. There are ways to get your self-promotion messages across that may seem more natural for you and don’t feel like you are bragging. I have created a free resource if you are looking for ideas on how to self-promote and get more visibility. You can download it for free from this link: http://susanmbarber.com/visibility-for-leaders/
If you would like to work on improving your self-confidence and creating visibility for yourself, set up time with me and we can discuss how coaching can help you. http://susanmbarber.com/schedule-an-appointment/