Building Your Brand And Effective Self-Promotion

5 tips to follow

These days it is essential to create your own brand so that you can effectively self-promote consistent with that brand. Your brand is what you want people to say about you when you are not in the room. It should guide how you talk about yourself to others and everything you do. 
 

Simply put, self-promotion is about owning your story (“your brand”) and telling it in a positive manner that feels authentic to you. That being said, most people are turned off by obvious self-promotion.  Additionally, self-promotion can become harder in an environment that highly values teamwork. So how can you build your brand as you self-promote and appear to be a team player?

Here are 5 tips to self-promote while still being considered a team player:

In the busy world we live in with social media, the Internet and other ways to gather information, we can be bombarded with information. Many of us work in work cultures that operate on a 24-hour basis. In this world, people don’t have time to figure out what is special about you. You have to tell them. That is what the 2- minute elevator speech does. It gives you a quick way to tell someone what you do so that they are interested enough to follow up. So, figure out what is special about you and make that part of your brand. 

In most organizations, there are one or two formal performance reviews each year. This means that the spotlight is intentionally focused on you once or twice each year. Come prepared to your review. During the review, ask your manager about the team’s goals and the organization’s goals for the next year. In the period between reviews, keep notes of all your actions and accomplishments in a folder (electronic or hard copy). Take time to connect the dots for your manager. Explicitly lay out how your efforts have benefitted the team and organization. By understanding how your work fits into the larger picture, you will be able to focus your energy on high-impact areas of various projects and then more effectively talk about your value-add to the team. Make sure your highlights are consistent with the brand you are building. Don’t feel the need to confess your weaknesses!

If you feel uncomfortable talking about your accomplishments, welcome to the club. Due to cultural norms, underlying insecurities, or other reasons, many people have difficulty articulating positive statements about themselves. Interestingly, they often don’t have the same reservations complimenting their friends. These professionals often benefit from forming promotion partnerships with their office friends. In a promotion partnership, you promote your friend, while your friend promotes you in the office chatter. Often times it is easier to talk about our friend’s accomplishments than our own. By praising a colleague’s work, you strengthen your position as a team player by giving credit where it is due. At the same time, when a colleague shares stories of your successes, your peers and managers will think more highly of you. For promotion partnerships to be successful, there are two keys: 1) have an explicit conversation with your office friend to make sure he/she is on board to become your promotion partner and 2) meet with your promotion partner periodically to update them on specific promotion tidbits that you would like circulated through the office. Make sure your promotion partner is aware of the brand you are building and is providing information consistent with that brand.

One clear way to demonstrate that you are a team player is to participate in company events. Whether it is a summer picnic or a holiday party, there are all types of events to increase employee engagement and morale. Instead of viewing the company event as a dreaded after-hours meeting, try to think of the event as an opportunity to catch up with old office friends, make new ones and promote your brand.  Before going to the company event, think of two positive experiences you have had recently, one professional and one personal. In the inevitable small talk that happens at these events, people will always ask some variation of “How’s work?” and “How’s life?” Instead of responding with the usual monosyllabic answers (“good” or “fine”), share one of your positive experiences. Small talk adds up over time to form either positive, negative, or neutral impressions. With a little forethought before attending company events, you will begin to build a positive impression in the minds of your colleagues. Be sure to also ask about how others are doing. If they share good news, congratulate them. If they share bad news, console them. Demonstrating empathy is another strong sign of a team player.

These are just three self-promotion strategies. There are many more ways to self-promote. Incorporate the strategies that feel most authentic to you and are most appropriate for your workplace culture. Although there are underlying commonalities in many workplace cultures, each environment has subtle nuances. You will need to assess your environment to determine what channels and information would be most effective when trying to self-promote. One great option is to consult your mentors regarding what is appropriate in your workplace culture. A colleague who has been at the organization for years can identify traits that are highly-valued, translate coded language in performance reviews, and advise you on the self-promotion tactics that would be most effective given the company culture. He or she can also provide objective feedback on how you are viewed in your environment.  That way you can see if your version of your brand is consistent with how you are viewed. 
Although there is no “I” in “TEAM”, a team player can and must self-promote!

A graduate of Harvard Law School and Harvard College, Sharon E. Jones is the founder and CEO of Jones Diversity, Inc., which offers services to organizations looking to improve their workplace culture and create more diverse and inclusive teams. Her firm’s broad range of consulting services have enhanced the competitive edge of law firms, corporations, and not-for-profits by enabling each organization to fully utilize, retain, and promote diverse individuals into leadership roles. Jones has practiced law and been a community leader over a twenty-five-year career, including positions as an Assistant U.S. Attorney, as Senior Counsel for Fortune 500 Corporations, and with major law firms. Additionally, she has served as a board member for the Institute for Inclusion in the Legal Profession and president of the Black Women Lawyers Association of Chicago, which she co-founded. Visit www.jonesdiversity.com Connect Sharon E.Jones Follow @Sharon_E_Jones Book: Mastering the Game: Strategies for Career Success

Sudheer R. Poluru is a Senior Associate at Jones Diversity, Inc. He is passionate about the recruitment, retention, and advancement of diverse individuals in the workplace. Sudheer is the co-author of Mastering the Game: Strategies for Career Success (published in May 2018), which provides over 100 strategies to help women, racial and ethnic minorities, and other diverse professionals successfully navigate the unwritten rules in many workplace cultures. Connect SudheerR.Poluru