The Power of Promoting Yourself

The ability to promote yourself is an essential skill for anyone – regardless of your role within the organization. Unfortunately, it is a skill that is not always done well. We all know of individuals who promote themselves at the expense of others or to manage up the ladder to position themselves for that next promotion or a raise. They don’t necessarily do well in performance but can certainly spin up a story of how well they do! Then there are those who do this skill well. They perform well and let their results (along with a bit of promotion from them) do the primary marketing. They don’t simply talk about how well they are doing, but also promote those around them who have contributed to their success.

Self-marketing must be done well and with political care. You don’t want to overdo it but you certainly don’t want to underdo it. Moderate self-promotion is key to career success.

In Dan Schawbel’s recently released book, Promote Yourself: The New Rules for Career Success, he shares best practices for building your own personal brand…or…effectively promoting yourself! In the introduction he tells you his own story which is exceptionally inspiring regardless of your age and shows you the value in promoting yourself. You can’t rely on others – only you can get you where you want to go.

I was pleased to see a discussion around critical, or soft, skills in Dan’s book. Too often a focus is on technical skills to do a job; but, as Dan noted – without essential soft skills – you are simply not moving ahead in the organization. And for those that want to become entrepreneurs – soft skills will enable you to build those relationships required to get clients and stay in business!
Often those entering the workforce don’t consider how activities outside of work impact advancing your career. In Part IV of his book Dan shares how to tie in what excites and drives you outside of work to drive promotions and taking on more responsibility with work.

While Dan’s book provides a variety of tips and best practices to promote yourself in an increasingly competitive marketplace; it also provides you a roadmap for your career.

Dan Schawbel’s book, Promote Yourself: The New Rules of Career Success, is an easy, but comprehensive, and fun read that will leave the younger generation engaged and passionate about what they can, and will, accomplish in their careers. Don’t hesitate and order your book today! I, for one, will be purchasing a second copy of Dan’s book for my stepdaughter who I believe will find much value in it as she continues on her path to career success – regardless of what she chooses to do.