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Patricia A. Crew
Master Career Counselor MA, LCPC, NBCC
Patricia has almost 30 years of experience helping individuals pursue, change, manage and advance their careers. As well as a Masters degree in counseling from Catholic University, Patricia has completed numerous post-graduate classes in counseling and career development at Johns Hopkins University.
Patricia previously worked as the Career Development Manager for the Montgomery County Government and as a career counselor for the Montgomery County Commission for Women.
She continues to be a featured speaker with recent presentations topics that include: Secrets to Predicting Career Success That Only You Know, Get Out of Your Own Way To Get What You Want in Your Career and Winning Strategies to Enhance Your Worth at Work.
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COMPREHENSIVE CAREER COUNSELING CAN HELP YOU TO: |
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~ Gain a clear understanding of your core strengths. ~ Do a thorough career exploration. ~ Manage a career change. ~ Improve your work performance. ~ Remove artificial, organizational barriers to success. ~ Navigate thorny management issues. ~ Prevent derailment by building strategic alliances.
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Volume 11: Spring 2010 Greetings!
Welcome
to the eleventh edition of the Comprehensive Counseling Newsletter. I
recently conducted a very productive workshop on this month's topic - the fine
art of promoting yourself, and why self-promotion is, and is not,
"bragging." For starters, self-promotion begins with
developing self-confidence. When someone behaves with self-confidence,
they leave a powerful impression. You actually want to hear what they
have to say, especially about themselves.
I'll be
giving workshops on this topic again in the future -- stayed tuned! In
the meantime I've included a few very useful tips below, as well as a short
case study. Let me know if you need some help after developing your own
strategies.
If you have a specific, pressing question that
you'd like me to address in an upcoming newsletter, please send an
e-mail to: trishacrew@aol.com. I'm very interested in knowing what's on your mind.
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Bragging Skills 101:
Promoting Yourself
Still waiting for that promotion? Feeling left out after a
merger? Think that your colleague, instead of you, is getting all the plum
assignments? It may be time to learn some simple rules for how to promote
yourself, rather than waiting passively for someone else to promote you.
Take,
for example, the case of Marianna*, a Sales Account Manager in an up
and coming IT organization. Marianna had been
exceeding her quota for several months, and her past performance was
commendable as well. In addition, she had recently finished her Executive MBA. However,
Marianna is generally quiet about her achievements, fearing that "making a big
deal" about them might cause backlash with co-workers. She is also reluctant to
talk to her boss about her achievements because she feels she might be
perceived as "kissing up" to the boss.
Recently, she got on the elevator with the CEO, who said
good morning to her. Marianna reported that she
didn't say anything because she felt "embarrassed." She later said that
she felt she had her "big chance" and blew it.
Marianna's situation brings to
mind a problem that we all too commonly face, "How do we improve our capacity
for getting notice and promote our career?" Consider how Marianna might
utilize some of the following tips to enhance her image:
Self-Promotion is Not
Just "Bragging"
The key barrier to career advancement,
according to many studies, is discomfort with the idea of doing self-promotion.
Many people think their accomplishments should be self-evident, and that openly
pushing for advancement is a mark of unseemly, "shameless" bragging.
Central to this discomfort is
the mistaken notion that self-promotion is mainly a verbal process. Instead,
self-promotion is a constellation of
activities, attitudes and techniques that work together to assist advancement
aspirations. A key component of this
constellation is good communication skills. Here are a few basic tips:
1. Be prepared. First and foremost, you
need to be prepared to speak up at all times -- lunch, hallway, water cooler,
elevator, impromptu gatherings, award time, and especially meetings! Use a
script if necessary and practice it, working from facts, not emotion. In
citing your achievements, you have to quantify and qualify and most
importantly, be brief! Use stories,
anecdotes, and humor to get your point across. And be enthusiastic - show pride
in your work.
2. Observe how others communicate. In order to become more comfortable
with the idea of "tooting your own horn," spend time observing how others do it
- how they speak up at meetings, and how their words reflect positively on
themselves.
Pay close attention to
written and verbal interactions, (e-mail,
team meetings, manager's meetings, presentations, phone messages, and conversations).
Remember that all organizations have different communication cultures. If
you're in doubt, for instance, about the appropriate tone (formal/informal),
solicit feedback from trusted mentors, advisers, and present and past
supervisors. You're not just learning what to say, you're really learning about
the cultural underpinnings of the organization.
3. Know your audience. Everyone
needs to communicate with their boss on a regular basis. Think in terms of
brief updates. In these updates, you need to demonstrate that you know your
supervisor's goals and expectations, and show how you've met them. This isn't
"bragging" - this is communicating. It's
an opportunity to ask questions, as well as inform. Your boss may have some
additional input about meeting his or her goals - and yours, as well.
In addition, you need to determine
who else you want to influence within your organization - but keep in mind that
not everyone thinks or communicates like your boss. You need to get to know
your various workplace audiences to determine how each prefers to receive
information, whether in person, through e-mail or a phone conversation, or in a
more formal report or scheduled meeting.
So, going back to Marianna's situation, how could she have
used these communication tips to take advantage of her chance encounter with
the CEO in the elevator? What could she
have said - briefly - in return to
his "good morning" that would have made the CEO see her in a positive light?
If you're unsure about how Marianna could solve her problems
with self-promotion - and unsure about how to promote yourself and your career
- please do get in touch so that we can talk about it - trishacrew@aol.com.
*Mariana's case is presented in Brag! The Art of Tooting
Your Own Horn Without Blowing It, Peggy Klaus, Warner Business Books, 2003 (http://www.amazon.com/Brag-Tooting-Your-without-Blowing/dp/0446692786).
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RECOMMENDATIONS
Career Cup - Programming jobs now have very difficult "what if"
type of questions as part of the interview process. Written "exams,"
given out in advance of the interview, have also become common for those
seeking tech-related jobs. If you are seeking a job or getting ready for an
interview for a job like this, I've found a really great web site to help
prepare you for the interview: www.careercup.com. You'll find not only
examples of typical questions you might be asked, but also videos of good and
bad interviews, resume-writing tips, and other resources. Check it out.
Jean Stafford, executive coach of Executive Coaching for Women Inc., specializes in the unique demands made on executive women. If you're in need of help in overcoming traditional barriers, identifying new business opportunities, and achieving new levels of both personal and professional satisfaction, I highly recommend that you contact Jean at 703-759-4862 or go to www.jeanstafford.com. - Ready to Work
First Tuesday of the month, 6:00 pm
- Transition Roundtable - TelecomHUB
Second Tuesday of
the month, 4:00 pm - CFO Support Group Second Thursday of the month, 4:00 pm For more information, contact ardell.fleeson@cbre.com. |
PARTNERS CORNER
Marva Goldsmith
Most people
have a vision of what they want to achieve but don't understand that their
words, actions and image may be holding them back. Marva Goldsmith, a Certified
Image Professional, delivers image and branding services through workshops,
workbooks, consulting and branded collateral development that helps her clients
market their best self. Preview her new website at urbanbuzzblog.com. |
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Missed one of my
newsletters? Click here to go to the archives.
As always, I look forward to your feedback.
Sincerely,
Patricia Crew
Comprehensive Career Counseling
trishacrew@aol.com
301-838-9456
www.crewcounseling.com
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