Get Promoted Faster: Expand Your Brand

- If you don't speak up for yourself, who will? (upbeat music) Jobs come and go. Job security is no longer even a thing. Only you can look out for, number one, we know that many professionals think self-promotion is a dirty word. Funny though, it's the successful professionals, the ones always up for promotion, who know that remaining quiet about achievements means they'll end up underappreciated and overlooked. They know that to be remembered and recognized they must also toot their own horns. - Now, before you tell us all about so-and-so at work, who all he does is talk about himself, how you hate it, and how you certainly don't want to be like him, we want you to know that we're going to share with you ways that you can self-promote comfortably, authentically and even - [Both] humbly. - First, mindset reset. You have to reframe self-promotion as sharing and serving. When people know about the many ways you can contribute value, they'll want to get to know you more and they'll want more access to what you have to offer. - Your word for today is (explosion) - [Both] Recognized. - In this blast, you're going to learn when to promote yourself. You'll also learn how to do it authentically and comfortably in a way that communicates natural confidence and capability. If you haven't already completed the launch pad assessment pause the blast now to do it. Okay. Let's - [Both] blast off. (drum bangs) - First, before we jump into how to self promote humbly, let's talk about when you engage in selling yourself. The answer is well, always. Interviews and performance reviews are the obvious opportunities to share your achievements and sell yourself. But you should adopt a habit of talking about yourself, your best self, without pretense or without exaggeration on the plane, in the train, in the house, with a mouse, in a box, with a fox. Whether you're making a first impression or sitting at some recurring meeting, you have the opportunity to share your work with pride. Whether you're meeting someone at a formal event or just bumping into someone in the elevator, it is the moment to authentically convey your interests, ideas and accomplishments. Remember because you have so much value to share, you want people to remember you, come back to you and choose you. Let's move to how you do this without sounding obnoxious. There are three ways to promote yourself humbly. Number one, toot your own orchestra. Number two, focus on the facts. And number three, piggyback and praise. Let's start with toot your own orchestra. Self-promotion is critical to your professional ascent. But if this notion is challenging to you, start not by tooting your own horn but by tooting your own orchestra. Your orchestra that's all the people you work with on projects. Tooting your own orchestra means directing the spotlight on their accomplishments. The catch is you must include yourself as one of the players in the orchestra. So the word "I" must show up somewhere in your toot. It might sound something like this. Let's say you're working with a colleague at work on a project. You might shine the light on her this way, "Madison was the perfect partner on this project. Her warmth and attention to every person on the client team definitely sold the project. I was thrilled with her success, but I'm also gratified that I spent time drafting the strategy with her." There's an added bonus to tooting your own orchestra. When you point out a colleague's success, your collaborative ability and positivity also shine through. Let's move to the second tactic to promote yourself humbly. We call it focus on facts. If you focus on the inarguable, undisputable facts of your achievements, you will never sound obnoxious. It's not bragging if it's factual and delivers value to your audience. When talking about yourself, avoid describing yourself with self-aggrandizing adjectives. You'll definitely turn people off if you go around telling people how smart you are and that you consistently exceed expectations at work. Instead, focus on the facts. What projects excite you? What activities are you engaged in? What is the result or the expected impact of your hard work? - Let's talk about piggyback and praise. To be successful and promotable you must be credible and trustworthy. Now, many of you already have the experience and expertise and the title to naturally promote yourself with credibility and authority. But what if you don't? What if you're at the bottom or the middle of the totem pole? The answer is piggybacking. When you piggyback, you associate yourself with someone who is authoritative, credible and successful. And then you get to promote that, humbly of course. Here's how you do it. Step one is to find a back to piggy on. So how do you do this? Find a mentor or simply someone who's more senior and respected than you. Then demonstrate curiosity and a love of learning and offer to help and be helpful. So now you found a partner, we're going to call her Chloe. Step two is to mention, quote and praise Chloe. In other words, step two is to communicate your association with her. So how do you do this? Mention your association publicly. "I was working with Chloe on the new spreadsheet and..." Quote your respected piggyback partner. "You know as Chloe always says, 'Put your clients first and you'll build a book of business.'" Or share credit for your learning and achievements with your impressive piggyback partner. "I can't take credit for this move, I learned it from Chloe. She's the most brilliant relationship builder I've ever met." And finally, praise your well-known piggyback partner. "Thank goodness for Chloe, without her guidance and thoughtful support we never would have been able to complete this project ahead of schedule and under budget." It's (drum bangs) Turbocharger Tip time. Ask, who needs to know? Keep your target market up to date on all things you. How you're growing professionally, the special projects you've taken on and your significant contributions. Be passionate. If you talk enthusiastically and with passion about what you do, people will naturally believe in you and want to invest in you. And be generous. If you promote others, they'll promote you. Praise them privately, publicly, and even online. - Now you've got it. To be promoted, you must first promote yourself. To promote yourself, promote others, be passionate but factual, piggyback off the success of others. And you will be recognized. - It's time for the challenge of the day. On your blast sheet, choose one person in your orchestra to toot. Choose one recent achievement and use the CAR formula to communicate about it. Identify someone in your network who'd offer a great piggyback ride. (upbeat music)