Do’s  and  Don’ts  of  Selling  Yourself  Internally  

 Key  Points  • Define  your  goal;  know  what  you  want  to  achieve  • Taking  big  steps  without  stepping  on  anybody  • How  to  know  when  you  have  gone  too  far    In  a  recent  article  (Building  your  Social  Credibility  in  the  Workplace),  we  spoke  about  the  importance  of  creating  personal  credibility  through  sociability  within  your  office  or  business  and  how  that  leads  to  your  success  or  the  success  of  the  team.  This  article  plans  to  expand  on  that  concept  but  focus  more  on  highlighting  the  do’s  and  don’ts  of  selling  yourself  internally.    To  many  in  the  workplace,  the  idea  of  selling  yourself  internally  may  seem  suitable  for  only  those  who  are  overly  ambitious,  promotion-­‐seeking,  kiss  asses  that  are  trying  to  get  ahead  without  putting  in  the  hard  work.  In  some  cases  that  may  be  true,  but  what  we  are  seeking  here  is  the  key  to  advancing  your  career  by  complementing  the  hard  work  that  you  put  in  every  single  day  with  a  little  self-­‐marketing.  Like  most  people  in  the  workplace  you  work  60+  hours  a  week  and  do  great  things  for  the  company  and  drive  revenue  quarter  after  quarter,  but  it  seems  like  you  never  get  the  opportunity  to  be  seen  or  have  visibility  with  key  leadership.  That  missing  piece  of  your  success  may  just  be  that  you  have  not  figured  out  how  to  sell  yourself  internally.  That  is  not  an  easy  thing  to  do.  There  are  definitely  ways  to  do  it  right  and  there  are  definitely  ways  to  ensure  that  you  never  get  another  promotion  again.  Ever.      

Art  of  the  Wingman  for  Business  is  dedicated  to  the  businesswomen  and  businessmen  who  seek  greatness  beyond  their  own  and  find  their  successes  through  helping  others  succeed.  The  Business  Wingman  follows  the  path  of  the  selfless  person.  

     1) Define  your  goal;  know  what  you  want  to  achieve  Before  we  get  too  far  along,  let’s  be  clear  about  what  it  means  to  define  your  goal  and  to  clearly  say  what  you  want  to  achieve.  You  need  to  be  realistic.  Saying  that  you  want  to  get  a  2-­‐level  promotion  and  a  20%  raise  is  not  likely  for  most  people…  it’s  just  not…  but  I’m  also  not  saying  you  shouldn’t  have  big  dreams.  The  key  is  to  define  a  goal  that  you  realistically  feel  that  you  can  accomplish.  The  last  thing  you  want  to  do  you  is  give  yourself  too  much  of  a  far-­‐reaching  goal  and  then  put  all  your  efforts  into  achieving  that  goal  only  to  find  out  that  you  will  never  ever  succeed.  You’re  better  off  giving  yourself  a  goal  standard  that  can  be  reached  through  realistic  milestones.  Don’t  set  yourself  up  to  fail  before  you’ve  even  started.  Don’t  get  discouraged  if  you  do  fail  along  the  way.  There’ll  be  many  times  that  you  will  fail.    And  for  every  time  that  you  fail,  you  will  become  stronger.    

The  best  way  to  start  is  to  first  state  your  realistic  goal.  Then,  give  yourself  a  set  of  steps/milestones  to  follow  where  achieving  each  of  these  milestones  gets  you  closer  and  closer  to  achieving  your  ultimate  goal.  Let’s  use  an  example.    My  Goal:  Get  promoted  from  a  Manager  to  a  Sr.  Manager  in  the  next  year    Step  1:  Identify  your  target  audience.  Who  within  the  company  needs  to  see  your  successes  in  order  to  make  this  promotion  happen?    Step  2:  Once  you’ve  identified  those  people,  gain  some  insight  into  who  they  are  and  what  they  value  as  a  success.  Also,  you  must  identify  how  many  people  you  think  is  appropriate  for  you  to  show  success,  and  these  will  be  your  milestones.    Step  3:  Prepare  yourself.  For  most  Business  Leadership,  if  you  are  trying  to  show  your  successes,  they  will  mostly  be  interested  in  how  you’ve  been  able  to  create  growth  or  change  for  the  company.    This  can  be  a  measurement  of  efficiency,  functionality,  revenue,  market  expansion,  customer  retention,  etc.  I’m  not  saying  prepare  a  full  PowerPoint  presentation,  but  be  ready  to  have  a  discussion  with  proof  and  if  you  need  to  bring  documentation,  be  prepared.    Step  4:    To  achieve  your  first  milestone,  run  a  test  against  one  of  these  key  people  by  engaging  with  them  on  a  professional  level  and  speaking  to  them  about  ambition  and  eagerness  to  grow  within  the  company  and  your  wanting  to  reach  the  next  level.  Talk  to  them  about  your  successes.  If  you  succeed….  Then  congratulations.  If  you  fail  in  this  attempt,  then  learn  from  your  lessons  and  be  prepared  to  do  better  the  next  time.  Repeat  step  3.    Step  5:  Once  you  feel  that  you  have  gained  a  favorable  status  from  each  of  your  target  people,  next  is  to  set  expectations  with  each  of  them.  Speak  to  each  of  them  about  what  exactly  it  will  take  for  you  to  get  to  the  next  level  along  with  realistic  expectations  on  when  they  might  be  willing  to  assess  those  achievements  again  and  help  to  get  you  your  deserved  promotion.        2) Taking  big  steps  without  stepping  on  anybody  One  key  thing  to  remember  is  that  the  successes  that  you  have  had  within  the  company  may  not  have  been  all  your  own  doing.  You  have  to  understand  that  business  is  a  team  effort.  That  means  that  there  have  been  people  along  the  way  (your  team)  that  have  helped  you  to  succeed  and  to  get  you  to  where  you  are  today.  And  without  their  support,  you  would  not  be  where  you  are  now.  Remember  even  when  speaking  to  those  key  people  that  you  think  might  help  you  get  promoted,  they  will  be  referencing  your  team  and  asking  your  team  about  your  performance  and  your  ability  to  be  that  leader.  So  don’t  forget  the  people  who  helped  you  along  the  way  and  be  sure  not  to  step  on  them  on  your  way  to  success.  

     3) How  to  know  when  you  have  gone  too  far  How  do  you  know  you’ve  gone  too  far  in  pushing  your  dreams?  Well  one  of  the  easiest  signs  is  that  now  you  have  somehow  alienated  yourself  from  key  management  and  you’re  now  on  a  PIP  (performance  improvement  plan)  and  possibly  on  your  way  out.  Yes,  that  may  be  drastic,  but  it  could  happen.    A  much  more  subtle  sign  is  to  realize  that  the  key  management  that  you  have  previously  reached  out  to  and  have  spoken  about  your  eagerness  to  move  forward  with  the  company,  has  now  decided  to  avoid  you  and  has  not  accepted  any  of  your  invitations  to  speak  or  meet.    Another  sign  is  that  you  have  socially  separated  yourself  from  the  rest  of  your  team,  and  your  coworkers  have  somehow  alienated  you  to  isolation.  This  is  definitely  not  good  and  if  this  does  happen,  your  best  bet  is  to  just  reboot  your  relationship  with  your  coworkers.        In  conclusion:  Selling  yourself  is  not  easy;  it’s  very  difficult  to  do.    There  are  definitely  people  whom  this  comes  more  natural  than  others,  but  for  most  of  us,  this  is  something  that  you  will  have  to  work  on.  Everyone  wants  to  advance  their  career  and  get  paid  more  money  but  remember  that  you  will  need  to  stay  ambitious  and  keep  your  eyes  open  for  those  opportunities.  You  have  to  fight  for  yourself  and  part  of  the  fighting  is  selling.  And  selling  yourself  within  the  company  is  one  of  the  quickest  ways  to  getting  a  promotion.    Good  luck  in  your  endeavors.      Visit  our  blog  at  http://www.artofthewingman.com.