Promote yourself at work

Who doesn’t like to be popular? Who doesn’t like others to endorse his or her actions? If one seeks to be well-liked and admired, he or she cannot escape from doing self-promotion. It is an inescapable requirement to move ahead in one’s career because career advancement depends largely on the impact you create on your seniors, colleagues and juniors alike.

It is essential that you are clear in your mind about the image you want to portray about yourself before you actually initiate any self-promotion action. Do you want people to regard you as a person with foresight or a person with immense leadership potential? Do you want people to talk about you as a person with high principles and values; or a ingenious intellectual? Whatever impression you want to generate has to be in sync with your career objectives and hence you will have to do some planning in this context.

Planning as part of any self-promotion exercise entails an all-round participation in all activities of your organization. You need to be specifically focused on the following issues:

·  Take on important roles: When the mantle is on your shoulders, you will be looked up to. If you intend to display your leadership qualities, you have to display your creative skills. You cannot afford to remain in the background of events; on the contrary, you should be leading from the front. You should always keep in mind that leadership is put into practice not so much in words as in outlook, approach and deed.

·  Don’t keep your knowledge to yourself: The best way to use your knowledge is to share it with others. Keeping your knowledge and experience close to your chest will serve no purpose. You need to pass them on to others so that they too can benefit from it. If you keep your wits about and be on the look-out for platforms for sharing your knowledge, you will automatically come to be regarded as well-informed; people will look up to you. You could contribute articles in professional journals, participate in seminars; in this way your name will be on the lips of people. You will thus come into limelight

·  Be your organization’s brand ambassador:  This can be achieved by shouldering inter-department responsibilities or representing your company in external forums. You will get to interact with a wide cross-section of professionals and in the bargain will be able to expand your network. Additionally, you will also get to recognized for your capabilities, professionalism, and people skills.     

·  You must have a guru to exhort you: The need for a mentor to motivate you needs no emphasis. You cannot climb up the success ladder unless you have someone to properly guide you and also project you and your potential. You thus will have a better chance to be on a firm footing vis-à-vis your capacity and competence.  The mentor can also highlight your strengths in different forums and as a result of which, things will turn out in your favour. However, the selection of a mentor has to be undertaken with due diligence because he would be engaged in projecting your abilities in a positive manner.

·  Record all your accomplishments:  When you go for your performance appraisal, it is best to carry a list of your attainments with you. You need not blow your own trumpet loudly but a smart and calm way in promoting your capabilities is definitely beneficial. You know exactly what you have done and what you have achieved; and hence sharing the information at an appropriate moment will showcase your capabilities. 

·  Remain devoted & work with sincerity: All companies have a system of rewards for their employees. Remember that you get the best exposure and publicity if you have outstanding performance to your credit. If you excel at work and surpass your targets, you could be recommended for such awards; needless to say such recommendations by themselves bring you into limelight. And since performance awards are approved by the top management, you are automatically offered an opportunity to place your identification in the eyes of people who matter. You, thus, without any other intervention give a boost to your image.

To be able to boost your PR, you have to be different and make a difference too. It is always advisable to not disregard small contributions that you can make to your organization; such contributions have a cumulative effect. Remember that you can build your image alright, but maintaining it is a rather difficult proposition. It can come crashing down too. It is you and you alone who has to see to your own fame. In other words, you need to think highly of yourself, display a self-assured outlook and be in the forefront of activities.