You may be working hard in your company but feel invisible or that people don’t know the full extend of your abilities. You may be willing to go up the corporate ladder. At times you just wonder how to prove yourself at work. So how do you talk up your worth in a way that is effective and comfortable for you?
Women especially can be shying away from blowing their own trumpet at work. We got told from a young age to stay small and safe, so we would hate to appear arrogant. Some men are pretty good at it, even when at times the facts are not there. This has a lot to do with personal confidence. It is the foundation that will allow you to showcase your abilities, like a necessary platform. If this isn’t a strong point for you, I have created a free resource to help you boost your confidence at work (click here).
The first opportunity for you to show your worth is at the recruitment phase. Your CV needs to detail not only your skills, but the quantified results you have achieved. Be very explicit in listing for each job how you have impacted your department or organisation. It could be an increase in results, cost savings, creating new tools, developing team members that got promoted, managing a highly complex project worth $xxx… you get it. See this as your PR story. And make sure you get hired in a role that matches your worth. It is much harder to show your worth if you start below your level.
Once you start a new role, you will show your worth by making strong first impressions. These count enormously. First start with having an accurate, comprehensive picture of your worth coming through your on-line profiles, especially LinkedIn. Get the right endorsements, ask for recommendations and highlight the types of organisations/brands you have worked for. Your new team members will check out your profile once your appointment is communicated, so start building your reputation there.
When you are new to a company, or if you have remained quite ‘hidden’ for some time, the first few statements or actions you take will highly impact the perception of your worth. Think of it like advertising: you get a few minutes to make an impact. Whoever your audience is. So choose carefully and go for it. Pick from your area of expertise or key strengths. Make sure you get noticed for your knowledge and experience.
This leads me to my next point: if you are unsure if you have relevant experience or knowledge, start with listing all your skills, areas of expertise and achievements to date. We ALL have them, whatever level we are at. We all know a specific industry, or a software, or a people-related skill from our background. Even if it does not appear directly related to our work. Any experience you have, combined with the uniqueness of your abilities, equals a gross amount of worth.
Now what if you have been in your company for a while? This is where you get skilful at blowing your own trumpet in multiple ways. Start with communicating your results: present to your team, share via email, publish your work onto the Intranet. If your company features one employee each month, send your submission. Then develop a habit of being a contributor to demonstrate what you know: speak in meetings in a way that adds value to someone else’s point; ask smart questions to advance a debate; jump into relevant conversations when you may not have been considered. Use these little pointers to put yourself forward in a way also benefiting the business. You are not being arrogant, you are adding your own value where there is an opportunity.
Once you have practiced the ‘implicit’ way of showcasing your worth, you can take it to the next level with actions. Take some visible initiatives to showcase one of your skills – again make sure it benefits the business. If you see a gap or have an idea, put your hand up and create something. Start a club or a feed about a topic you know and care about. Promote a new tool you are familiar with that would make business easier. Suggest a speaker or training that would improve the team’s performance. Put together a plan to reduce costs or complexity. Take on a project you know you can master.
Finally the last step is to get feedback. It may sound like you are forcing it, but trust me it is an important element. People are so absorbed in their own work, that at times you need them to comment on your work for your worth to be recognised. You are not looking for pats on the back, but for a concrete materialisation of your worth in words. Once a manager articulates it, you can be sure that it is get actioned upon at the next opportunity. And feedback is always helpful, whatever the motivation, so you have nothing to lose.
By now I hope I have convinced you that showing your worth means putting yourself forward, in a way that aligns with your strengths. Nobody else will do it for you. You will not get asked. It has to come from you.
As long as you stay within your area of expertise, you cannot go wrong. So be clear about what it is, then start broadcasting in implicit and explicit ways what you can do for the business’ benefits. This is called building your personal brand at work. You may even find some original contributions (based on skills unrelated to the organisation) make an even stronger impact in how your worth is perceived. So what do you want to be known for? What do you know? It’s up to you to start spreading the message.
