Struggling with Career Derailers? - Part 2
How Biz Savvy helps with confidence, speaking up, leadership presence and so much more.
Find Part 1 here
I Blew It!: How to NOT and How TO Self-Promote with Grace, Authenticity and Ease
I’m a little embarrassed by what I’m going to tell you here in Part 2 of the series, but it will be a good example related to Self-Promotion.
Let me set the stage.
I was just beginning my journey toward greater business, financial and strategic acumen when I was asked to join a project team to open a new emergency department at Rhode Island Hospital.
The project team was headed by the CFO and all other members were executives. I was the only individual contributor (I was a learning & development consultant).
Because I was tasked with developing a training plan for opening, I had to involve EVERY department from physicians to housekeepers in the plan. Which I successfully did.
We had our first meeting - team building of course and began collaboratively working on our task.
When it came time to report on progress (in other words, to Self-Promote) to the CFO and other executives, here’s what I reported.
From my perspective it was a perfectly reasonable report.
BUT I totally blew it in the eyes of the CFO. He more or less rolled his eyes.
So I asked myself, what would the CFO care about? Here’s the list I came up with:
That the training plan would:
Make sure that revenue came in as planned
There were no unanticipated expenses, including fines
Ongoing operations wouldn’t be disrupted
Hospital reputation would be enhanced - revenue from more patients
Self Promote with Grace, Authenticity and Ease
You can imagine (I hope) that my next update was very different. I reported that we were designing a training delivery process that:
Was budget neutral - no overtime required to get everyone trained.
Would meet all external regulatory requirements - e.g. fire dept - so no fines would be incurred
Would meet all external regulatory requirements - no delays in opening
Would be completed on time so revenue begins as scheduled
Included up-skilling to meet ambitious patient satisfaction and safety goals
He took notice of that!
I hope that you take notice of the fact that that moment of Self-Promotion was focused entirely on moving the business forward.
This is a key to Self-Promoting with grace.
That I took ownership of having aligned the team to these goals. No false modesty.
This is a key to Self-Promoting with authenticity.
And because I had figured out what mattered, it came easily!
This was only possible because I used my developing Business Savvy to distinguish between what mattered to me and what mattered to the CFO.
Until I see you in Part 3, I encourage you to create an opportunity to Self-Promote with grace, authenticity and ease. Here’s how:
TAKE ACTION
1. Think of an upcoming formal (e.g. performance review) or informal (chat with your manager) opportunity to self-promote.
2. Think of a related outcome you’ve moved forward or a proactive action you’ve taken to move an outcome. For example, outcome moved forward
“I want to let you know that I landed a new $500K contract with XYZ client.”
“Here’s the latest update on my team’s metrics. We’ve exceeded this month’s goals by X%.”
“We’re on target to achieve the expected xx% reduction in costs because the project continues to be on time and on budget.”
For example, proactive action that’s outcomes-related.
“At the industry meeting last week, I connected with 3 buyers from the client we’ve been chasing. They’ve asked me to follow up.”
“I’ve filled the key position of xxxxx so now we’ll be able to get back on track on the project.”
“In the meeting with the xyz department last week, I secured a commitment that they would <insert action> by <insert date>. We’ve been waiting for this commitment for 3 weeks.”
Practice what you are going to say.
Say it!!
Good luck. And I’ll see you for Part 3 next week.
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I’m Susan Colantuono, best known for my TED Talk, “The Career Advice You Probably Didn’t Get.”
I’ve devoted most of my working life to supporting the career advancement of women.
Now my work is exclusively focused on offering women tools for developing and demonstrating Business Savvy - the business, financial and strategic acumen we need to succeed and to close The Missing 33% of the career success equation for women.
Now, I’m making my groundbreaking course available in a self-paced version with coaching support right here at Be Business Savvy. Check it out!
You will find other useful and actionable content in my books and other online resources:
No Ceiling, No Walls ebook
No Ceiling, No Walls soft cover
Make the Most of Mentoring soft cover
Coaching Executive Women (occasional) newsletter
Lead ON!
Susan