Self Promoting, Not Bragging!

It's appraisal time - again! And if you're going to ask for money for the work you do, you need to make your case stronger than the opposition's (the company's management). That fiery hot conversation can be easily avoided; and all you need to do is keep your project manager in the loop about your accomplishments. 

Talking about yourself can be really difficult. Trust me, I have tried and all I came up with were a few points here and there despite having thought of about a twenty prior to the 'meeting'. But I am better at it now. The situation can get not only really heated up, but uncomfortable as well; especially for women. And whether we'd like to agree to this or not, it's a well known fact. 

Often we see media platforms, organizations popping up with events to make the working women a champion in their fields; encouraging them to not just value themselves but also be able to put across their value and ask for money that their work is 'really' worth. 

You may still be struggling to climb up the corporate ladder or already be running a business; but irrespective of your position and gender (though mostly, women) it is vital to convey your worth to the people you're working with. 

But before you get all charged up and start framing a self promotion strategy, here are a few things you need to keep in mind: 

1. Self promotion and bragging are not the same. 

Self promotion is all about letting people you work with know about your skills and the value you are worth of in their organization. On the other hand, bragging refers to claiming to have skills in a certain field to up your value when clearly there is no proof of it. 

2. Self promotion is not a choice. 

Unless you want to keep your compensation and promotional rate way below your peers, self promotion is a vital element when climbing the success ladder in the corporate world. In many cases, men are able to put across their achievements in a better way than women do. Women usually think on the lines of: "Let the company see my work and decide accordingly." What's going to happen if you think on those lines, is only and only going to benefit the company. 

3. Avoid the reputational backlash that comes with self promotion. 

Most women in the corporate sector aren't aggressively self promoting because they fear the reputational backlash which is of rare occurrence for the men. If you have been facing the same discomfort, try and work your strategy around it. A popular and the most successful way of self promotion being positioning of accomplishments as successes that have benefited the company over time.  

Here's a little secret to improve your strategy, get your client feedbacks involved. Nudge your clients to give a feedback for your work (don't over do it), because in the end the client (customer) is King. 

And the last thing you need to do before you actually get down to executing your strategy is..

4. Create a script and practice it!  

Yes, you read it right. Like every talk you gave at school assemblies in front of hundreds of students, you need to have your self promotion script ready and practiced before you actually enter the cabin and demand a pay hike! 

And if you still don't feel too sure of yourself, read The Big Book Of Self Promotion. It's one of my favorites! 

Have you self promoted lately? Feel free to share your experience!