Advocating For Yourself At Work
Advocating for yourself is one of the most important skills you can do to accelerate your career growth. However, for many of us, it’s not easy putting ourselves out there.
In this week’s newsletter, global communication expert, Jessica Chen, chats with Women’s Leadership Speaker, Journalist and Author, Selena Rezvani.
Below is a small snippet of their entire conversation held on our Soulcast Media | LIVE show on LinkedIn to celebrate the launch of Jessica’s new book, “Smart, Not Loud: How to Get Noticed at Work for All the Right Reasons.” If you’d like to watch or listen to the entire interview, click below. The transcript has been slightly edited for reading ease.
📺 Watch the full live event here
🎙️ Listen to the Podcast episode here
🔗 Order the book, “Smart, Not Loud”
On Having a Confident Mindset
Selena – It is a bold act of advocacy to ask for what you want and it’s so important to do. I think one of the first things is adopt the mindset you’re either going to win or you’re going to learn.
Minimize failure for a minute as this giant, awful monster, and instead, tell yourself that I’m either going to win or I’m going to learn by making this request that I’m going to make.
I think changing your mindset about the outcome can be very beneficial. As you prepare to make an important request, use this framework called GPS; it stands for goals, passions, and struggles.
The idea is to stand in your counterpart’s shoes, the person you will negotiate and advocate with. See if you can hook whatever you’re requesting to one of those areas.
Jessica – I love this because it’s similar to the framework I share in “Smart, Not Loud.” Sometimes when someone is told, “you have to advocate for yourself more,” it’s like: “what does that even mean?” I called it ACCT. You’ve got to ACCT at work to advocate for yourself:
- A – Ask for what you want because you can’t assume people will know.
- C – Circle back because it often takes multiple attempts to get an answer. It also shows you’re persistent.
- C – Celebrate your wins because you have to be your own best cheerleader.
- T – Turn down requests with tact because time is limited and you need to focus on work that can accelerate your career and career brand.
On Circling Back at Work
Selena – When you’re circling back or trying to launch a do-over, lean towards having a bias to action. Don’t inhabit the initial rejection. Don’t live inside that.
You can feel the sting of that rejection, but make it a point to give yourself a time limit. I’m going to feel down about this and crappy, but tomorrow, I’m going to make a point to turn the page and come out of that.
The other thing is to raise your hand a second time. Ask again. I understand how cringeworthy it can feel. You might tell yourself a narrative of, “They think I’m a loser, or they don’t like me, and they’ve already made that clear to me. Who am I to go back?”
We all have some version of that in our heads. But in that moment, this opportunity meant so much. And I think that can eclipse your cringeworthy, icky feelings.
Jessica – Yes! In fact, I always say to make it feel less awkward, don’t just follow up by saying ,”Hi, circling back here!” which can often feel pushy. Instead, share a new piece of information to make the follow up feel timely. This can also drive the conversation forward. So consider adding any of these things to your conversation:
- What’s a new piece of information?
- New piece of insight or research?
- Or, share a recent conversation you had with someone that was related to your request.
If you can present a new piece of information, circling back won’t feel as awkward because you are offering continuous value.
📺 Watch the full live event here
🎙️ Listen to the Podcast episode here
🔗 Order the book, “Smart, Not Loud”
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