Professional Self-Promotion is Among the Top Management Skills

Among the essential management skills you need for success, the ability to both professionally and successfully enhance your reputation are paramount. Using effective self-promotion is critical and under utilized.

Professional Self-promotion, the ability to present yourself in all the right circumstances in the best light, is an important skill for advancement and promotion. For any aspiring manager or executive, the key question is this "what is your plan to promote yourself within the organization and even the industry?" We are not talking about "buttering" people up or blatantly self-promoting your cause in an unprofessional manner. On the contrary, a quality and well defined Plan to enhance your advancement, via professional self-promotion, refers to the actions needed to manage your image, inside and outside the organization. Many aspiring leaders, particularly those with less experience, too often wait, assume and hope their manager or someone else will consistently promote their future. Nothing could be further from reality. No one else in the organization can be counted on consistently to make sure you you are visible to the people that affect your future. This is your responsibility. You must take full control of your plan to advance and make yourself clearly promotable.

Important people must recognize that you exist, so you must stand out to the right people. That you are working hard, and excelling at what you contribute is a given (or should be). You will fall short of being widely recognized" for your management skills if you think that your contribution speaks for itself.To develop your "Advancement Plan", identify all those people that can make a difference in your career success. You need people of influence to know who you are and what you are capable of contributing to the organization. Be skillful and professional, but seize every opportunity to project what you have achieved and accomplished that is a value-add to the business unit.

If you are not getting important opportunities to exhibit what you can accomplish, you need to pinpoint projects, committees and other activities where you can add value. Something you can have an impact on that will get people's attention. Offer to volunteer some of your time to a project. Find resources or information that might be of value to the project, or business unit, and share it with the leader or head of that project. Find a community project sponsored by the organization and get involved.Once you plan is in place, with influential people identified and opportunities noted, execute the plan at every opportunity. You must be ready and quick to select, or interject yourself in a positive way into any situation that can put you in the best light. Armed with your plan, you will be first to volunteer, because you were prepared ahead of time for those defined opportunities. Remember, you are competing for the position of "up & coming star" with others whether you know it or not. People above you will be watching. They are comparing your performance to that of others. They are putting together a short list of future leaders. You must be on that list.

The most important take-away here is the need for an "Advancement Plan." Most of you potential competitors will not have one. You need to have a very good one. Armed with a Plan, aspiring leaders are in the best position to seize every relevant opportunity in order to put themselves in the best light to the people who can influence their future. You will be able to move quickly, professionally and with conviction. You know what your strengths are, you know what your capabilities for of adding value to the business and you are putting yourself in the spotlight when the opportunity presents itself.

It comes down to committing to a well-conceived plan of action and lightning quick execution. Do you want advancement? Advance your promotability Plan. Successfully managing your career is both an art and a science. Many managers are so busy managing their day-to-day jobs that the opportunity for developing advance skills passes them up. An easy starting point is to know all Five Essentail Skills for Advancement. Self-promotion is one of these skills.