Not Promoting Your Accomplishments

You struggle to talk about yourself. It is not uncommon to feel uncomfortable promoting yourself. Research shows that women in particular struggle with the process of self-promotion. We tend to not want to draw attention to ourselves or to appear too showy.

When you don’t promote yourself, there are a lot of incremental missed opportunities that end up adding up to a great big missed opportunity.

You deserve credit for the work that you do. Get out of your comfort zone and take credit. Use your voice and talk about your accomplishments and achievements in meaningful ways. Allow yourself to gain the attention of key decision-makers gain the credibility and respect of key stakeholders. This is how you self-promote. And when we fail to do that it works against us in our promotional journey.

Not Tracking Your Accomplishments

Failing to keep track of your accomplishments is a key killer to your promotional opportunities. We assume that others notice all of our hard work. Sometimes they do, but not always. We assume our accomplishments are noticed by key decision-makers so we forget to keep track of ourselves.

You can not promote your accomplishments if you are not clear on all of the things you have accomplished and the impact they have had on the organization.

Assuming Your Work is Enough on its Own

Sometimes what can happen among women leaders, as well as women leaders of color, is that the technical aspects of the job take priority over the parts that are primarily relational.

Many women think that just because they do the job well it will be enough for key decision-makers to see you as the next logical person for a position or promotion. It is not enough to be good at the job.

You also need to cultivate the relationships that will help you leverage and navigate through the politics of promotion. Your work alone will not speak for itself. Unfortunately, it’s not enough to come out the gate batting at 150%. There is another piece that we are often not taught. No one tells you because it is one of those unwritten rules. You have to know how to navigate relationships, build community, and leverage those relationships effectively.

Stop Sabotaging Your Chances of Promotion

Speak to the work that you have done, promote yourself effectively, and cultivate important relationships.

It is About Confidence

What I’ve seen in my many years in working with women leaders, is that one of the main reasons we stumble upon these promotion killers is due to issues with confidence. I have found this to be true of myself and many high-potential women I work with. I’m not promoting just self-confidence, but general confidence about your talents, skills, and abilities. Have confidence in your ability to do the job, know that you’re good enough, believe in your ability to deliver. Lack of confidence is why many women leaders are stumbling into situations where they are failing to advance.

If you can get your confidence under control, then you will be able to deal with these other issues as well. Sometimes we think the opportunities are just not there, but they are there, we are just not confident enough to take the risk.

If you can master your confidence you will find that you are hitting that ceiling less. You will have more opportunities to advance. You will also be able to speak clearly and articulately about the value that you bring and, how you serve. Ultimately, your confidence and clarity about your unique value proposition will show how you are the solution to that problem that the organization or industry is trying to solve.