This is the fourth in the series of articles to help you to be in the best position for pursuing your next leadership promotion. The previous three articles in the series can be found at:
- If You Want that Promotion, Be Intentional
- If You Want that Promotion, Mindset Matters
- If You Want that Promotion, Exude Presence
This week it is all about aligning yourself for what it is that you want to achieve:
Research shows that extroverted employees receive more opportunities at work because their performance is more visible. Many introverted women don’t want to be in the spotlight, but a lot of what is required for your performance to be more visible, requires this.
Networking and self-promotion don’t come naturally to some introverted people. Activities for these can be overly stimulating. Not ones for enjoying the small talk involved in networking, and feeling like you have to always be lit up and in the limelight when self-promoting, can feel draining.
You may recall me mentioning in part one of this series that I got my second to last promotion after strategically positioning myself for it. By aligning myself to what it was that I wanted to achieve, I put myself in the best position to achieve it, something I coach my clients to do.
If this is how it is for you, by creating a plan and working towards it, you can strategically align yourself for your next promotion.
Position yourself
A great way to position yourself is through a sponsor. If you are unsure what this entails, a sponsor is a very senior, influential person who becomes an advocate for someone who is looking to progress in their career. They champion them and use their influence with decision makers to recommend people who are aspiring and high potential. They open doors of opportunity for them. Many organisations these days have introduced sponsorship programmes, and if yours has seize the opportunity.
Map out the journey to your promotion and identify what more you can do to raise your visibility and profile. Ask yourself questions that open your mind and facilitate you thinking creatively about what you can do to position yourself for that move. What can you do and who can help you?
Self-promote
Self-promotion is not a word many introverted women like. It’s not a word that many extroverted women like. The thought of it can feel very self-centred and like you are bragging and boasting. And, if done in the wrong way, it can come across as bragging and boasting. It’s about recognising what is self-promotion, and what is bragging, and being clear about the difference between the two.
If self-promotion feels uncomfortable to you, reframe what you think about it, and find ways to do it which feel authentic. Rather than viewing it as promoting yourself, you might find it more helpful to look at it as letting those who need to know about your successes and achievements, and the difference you have made.
Reframing it in this way takes the spotlight off yourself and puts the emphasis on the results you achieved and the impact you made.
I have had many clients come to me for coaching because they have been unsuccessful at getting promoted, who have not sold themselves enough at interview. They have focused too much on the ‘we’ (as in what the team has achieved) that they have failed to demonstrate the part that they played.
Whilst it is good to acknowledge the team effort, remember what I mentioned about extroverted employees getting more opportunities because their performance is more visible. So don’t let your performance and what you personally have done go unseen.
Develop your network
As corny as it sounds, there is a lot of truth in the old saying ‘your network is your net worth’. It is rumoured that 70-80% of senior executive roles are never advertised and they are filled through the hidden job market. Imperial University reports that an estimated 75% of jobs are filled this way.
There are many ways to develop your network. It doesn’t just mean going to an event where there are lots of people making small talk, that you find drains your energy. It is about connecting with people and developing relationships, and there are many ways in which you can do this. Michaela Liavaag, founder of Cybility a cyber security consulting company, and the host of the Cybility Savvy podcast and YouTube channel put it nicely when she commented on one of my posts this week. She said ‘…before I came across your work I hated ‘networking’ in the traditional sense. You helped me recognise that being introverted and managing my energy didn’t have to mean being anti-social; it simply meant making connections in a way that is meaningful to me.’
If you do go to traditional networking events, don’t think that you have to work the room making small talk. It is ok to speak to fewer people and have more meaningful conversations if you prefer.
Take action
Focused, consistent action (along with a plan of action), is what will get you results. There are many things that can steal your attention, causing you to lose focus and not be consistent with your actions. Knock backs, imposter syndrome, self-doubt, and other self-limiting beliefs, 'shiny objects', uncertainty, overwhelm, perfectionism, fear, to name a few, can get in the way and distract you from what you need to do to align yourself for your promotion.
Minimise the distractions, address any fears and self-limiting beliefs, get the right balance of work, rest, and play. And get support if you need it. When you find yourself wandering off track, ask yourself, how is what you are doing helping you to achieve your goals and get you that promotion.
If you want that promotion, you need to be focused and consistent with doing the activities that are needed to get you the results you want. If you're not getting the results you want, can you honestly say that you have been focused and consistent with what you need to do? If your answer is no, what are you going to do about it?
First published on LinkedIn.
If you are an introverted woman and a senior leader and want to increase your confidence, influence and impact, take my free assessment and get a report identifying areas to develop. You can take the assessment here.