Have you ever felt overlooked? Were you passed up for somebody else when you felt you deserved that recognition or promotion?
Experiencing something like this can affect you deeply and can hinder your communications abilities.
Even if the decision-maker tells you not to take it personally, it’s hard not to. The dejected feeling that results from being unseen can cause you to put less energy into your work, because it’s not being appreciated. This feeling is actually very common in the communications world.
A Soulcast Media client recently expressed this sentiment. He was pushing hard for an opportunity to open up, but he kept getting ignored. We talked over whether or not he felt vocal enough to announce his accomplishments, as he had quite a handful. The discussion led to this question: how do you vocalize your work achievements when you’ve been taught to stay humble?
While shying away from the spotlight may not be wrong, it’s also not entirely right, either. You may do the best work on the team, but you cannot expect your co-workers and managers to always notice your contributions, or to shower you with praise and recognition.
The key is to vocalize your accomplishments by both noting your work and giving credit to where it’s due. It’s all about communicating and being confident. Speak up not only for yourself, but for the other team members that helped you on the project. When you bring attention to your achievements, take the time to thank others who contributed – your peers will very much appreciate that effort.
Here’s one way to approach the above framework: “I’m so glad to report that this issue is now fixed – I was able to accomplish this by doing [A], [B], and [C]. But it was really the team that helped with [X], [Y], and [Z].”
By using that formula, you’re doing two things: 1) you’re alerting others of the news, which gives them the impression that you’re able to do fantastic work, and 2) you’re not making it about yourself, but instead acknowledging others who helped. When you also give others their due credit, you build credibility for yourself.
So – what do you think? Do you struggle with self-promotion? Have you seen other people do it well?
__
Whenever you’re ready, there are 3 ways we can help you:
- Discover your communications style so you know where to start. Over 4,000 people have found theirs here.
- Attend our monthly communication workshop to build communications confidence (new topics: public speaking, advocating for yourself, building credibility, etc) here.
- Get your brand in front of 43k+ people by sponsoring our newsletter or Soulcast Media | LIVE LinkedIn events [contact: hello@soulcastmedia.com]
