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DISCUSSION
GROUP
What's on your mind?
Packaging Horizons
The Most Difficult Sale: Selling Myself to My Company/B>
Oh, that project that I brought in under budget and ahead of schedule? I was just doing my job.
If you grew up hearing that you shouldn't brag about yourself, the idea of tooting your own horn
will probably fall on deaf ears. "Most of us have been told that it's not good manners," says
Wendy Weiss, a business coach, speaker, and author at Weiss Communications in New York, N.Y.
Having written a book titled Cold Calling For Women: Opening Doors and Closing Sales, she is
familiar with the discomfort that so often accompanies talking up one's own accomplishments.
People will think you're too pushy. They'll say you're too full of yourself. Who do you think you are anyway?
Even if you do realize the value of self-promotion, you probably put day-to-day business at the top of your To Do List.
Letting your supervisors know what you've accomplished gets buried beneath your workload. "Everyone is busy doing the work,
not talking about it," observes Weiss.
A well-deserved pat on the back benefits you AND your company. However, in today's competitive business environment,
it's time to turn off those voices from the past that told you to put your head down, keep working, and keep quiet about yourself.
Maybe that worked in first grade, but in the workplace promoting yourself isn't seen as conceit. Instead you're letting your
supervisors and managers know that you've exceeded their expectations and you're ready for more. "I'd like to do a reality
check on the notion that talking about one's accomplishments is unseemly. If you did a good job by doing what you were instructed
to do, that's not bragging, it's just the truth," says Weiss. She counsels that it's time to reframe the thinking process that keeps
people from celebrating their success because when they succeed, the company succeeds.
Strategic sourcing professional and procurement executive Nadine N. Brdecka, C.P.M., adds, "Women tend to not pronounce the things
that are their accomplishments. Growing up, I was taught that nice people don't take credit, but in business you can't do that.
" According to Doug Beabout, CPC, president of the Douglas Howard Group in Kent, Ohio, and author of The Complete Recruiting Arts and
Practices Manual 2001 as well as a number of other books and training CDs, "Every individual has a highly effective skill set to exploit
when challenged with the opportunity to 'sell' one's self to his or her company."
The effective way to brag:
But before you assume that celebrating your successes means inflating balloons as well as your ego, there are more compelling ways to make
managers aware that you're doing a great job. In fact, Beabout says that if you are effectively selling yourself, your focus should be on
the people who hold positions of authority or influence above you in the work environment. You need to know what is of importance to them
in order to "package yourself" effectively. What will they consider an accomplishment?
Brdecka recommends that you find out what trends are impacting your industry and how you can contribute to your company. "You have to
develop those extra skills you'll need for the future to keep abreast of industry trends," she advises. You can get that knowledge by
analyzing the industry and taking whatever training you need to keep up. The result is that you'll acquire the skills that will benefit
the company. You're not just piping away on your horn, you're blasting out the fact that you know what you're talking about and can bring
value to your position.
Suzanne Fenton, director of marketing at TricorBraun in St. Louis, Mo., exemplifies the kind of commitment to stay abreast of what her
company needs. She's worked for her present employer for 20 years, but her longevity wasn't a matter of inertia. She says that her value
to the company has been demonstrated over the years because she continually increased her knowledge of the package manufacturing industry
by getting additional training in various software programs and by taking advantage of manufacturer-sponsored training sessions. She has
always been ready to take on new responsibilities by making it clear to her supervisors that she had the knowledge to assume them.
"I began working for TricorBraun (Northwestern Bottle Company) as a young woman in a clerical capacity so it's been a challenge to
convince management that I was able to handle additional responsibilities," says Fenton. One of the most persuasive things she did
was to get her bachelor's degree while continuing to work. Shortly after she graduated, the position of director of marketing opened up.
Fenton had no qualms about letting her boss know that she could handle it. "I'm sure I was considered for the position because of the drive,
discipline, and desire to succeed that it took to graduate from college while in the work force."
In order to showcase what you've done, you've got to keep records of your successes. Working in strategic sourcing and procurement for a
former employer, Brdecka researched the numbers that resulted from one of her projects and totaled them up to a $2.5 million savings to her company.
Though that figure is impressive, Brdecka says she also achieved the goal of demonstrating how her efforts were giving back to the company.
Weiss concludes that perhaps the best reason for keeping your accomplishments visible within your company is that you are more likely to then
get interesting projects, a promotion, or bonus.
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