Our daughter once said, “If you’ve done it, it is not bragging.” That's very true when advocating for yourself at work. But self-advocacy is not natural for most people. Tooting your own horn is uncomfortable for most people because we have been taught to play nice in the sandbox. But when you are looking at career advancement, these qualities can play against you. According to NetWerkMovement, “Self-advocacy is about showing up for yourself.”
So what is self-advocacy? It is standing up for yourself, promoting your ideas and demanding your worth. It means speaking up and promoting your best interests. It’s about being your best ally.
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How do you go about advocating for yourself, especially if you are a woman in the workplace? Globally women only hold 31% of senior management positions globally, according to NetWerk Movement.
Know your strengths. Do a self-assessment analysis. What are your personal strengths and weaknesses? Know what they are, play to your strengths, promote them and take actions to shore up the weaknesses.
Know the value you bring to your organization. Along with a skills assessment look at what you personally contribute to your organization that others do not. It might be leadership. It might be a solutions-based approach to interpersonal relations. It might be a unique understanding of your customer base and how to convert believers into fanatics.
Be visible. Sometimes doing the right thing at the right time is not enough. You have to have an influencer see it, notice it or be aware of the action. Take on highly visible projects, share your knowledge with other team members or report on the results of a project so you are noticed as the core driver of the results.
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Find a champion. Identify and cultivate an influencer in your organization who will advocate for your great work when you aren’t in the room so that others see your value to the organization through someone other than you.
Positivity. Believe that you deserve to be noticed and advanced for your ability to move the organization forward. It all begins with a mindset of positivity. If you are convinced you are worthy of recognition then others will believe it too.
Ask for what you want. In sales, it is often said if you don’t ask for the order, you don’t get it. If you don’t ask for what you believe you deserve you won’t get that either and you need to be shameless about it. And, it might take more than one request to capture the decision-maker’s attention. Be strategic about when you ask and what you ask for. Don’t give up.