The Road Not Taken: Do Me a Favor -- Brag a Little

Self-promotion is something you have to get comfortable doing, as columnist Celeste Harrison Forst explains.

It's okay, go ahead -- take a bow.

It’s okay, go ahead — take a bow.

Ah, the power of self-promotion. It’s a heavyweight of career management: it is helpful in networking, individual and team branding, and building strong relationships with colleagues in other functions. But it is such a distasteful tool to so many people. After all, if we do good work, put our heads down, and stay out of trouble, shouldn’t that be enough to get noticed and rewarded? If we aren’t getting noticed, maybe it is our fault for not putting out a good enough work product.

Or, maybe those who need to know how hard we’ve worked and our significant contributions don’t notice because they have their own priorities outside of recognizing your career accomplishments. I’m not saying they don’t care about you, but if you can make it easier for someone to notice you and your good work, why wouldn’t you do that for them and for yourself? Whether it is getting recognized inside your organization, communicating your skills to potential clients, or letting others know about the accomplishments of your team, self-promotion is something you have to get comfortable doing.

Okay, you’re convinced you should do it. Knowing you should do something doesn’t make it any easier. Many of us are not taught how to speak up for our accomplishments. In fact, it can feel downright uncomfortable — almost like bragging. How does one overcome the psychological barrier of humility and the disappointment that one’s work isn’t enough to garner the rewards one thinks it deserves?

First, you must understand that most people don’t care about you enough to dig past a superficial level of investigation. This isn’t meant to be mean, it is true. Most professionals (including lawyers) are busy. They do not have the mental bandwidth to take the initiative to find out what you are doing. Their perspective is that if you are doing something worth noting, you’ll let them know. Re-frame your perspective on self-promotion; you aren’t bragging about yourself. Rather, you are doing your colleagues or potential clients a favor by removing the work necessary to find out how you have helped them and can help them in the future.

This concept of communicating what you do is huge. You do no one a favor by hiding your light under a bushel. More practically, you presumably do something of value. Do not force your colleagues to wonder what it is you bring to the table. By being open with what you are working on, what you have accomplished, and what your goals are, you not only share the fruits of your work with your colleagues, but you also prevent the inevitable gossip that will fill the vacuum if nobody knows what you do. Self-promotion blocks others from indulging in the temptation to wonder with each other, “What does he do all day?”

Think of yourself like a painter. You can create amazing pieces of art in your studio, but if you never display your works, nobody knows what you are doing. Eventually, people start to wonder if you are even painting at all. As a lawyer, you have to find a way to display your masterpieces. Next week, we’ll talk about how to curate yourself.

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Celeste Harrison Forst has practiced in small and mid-sized firms and is now in-house at a large manufacturing and technology company where she receives daily hugs from her colleagues. You can reach Celeste directly at C.harrisonforst@gmail.com.

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