Women must learn to toot own horn

A ago I WHILE was asked to say something at an event. It was nothing planned so there had been no prior sending of a biography or anything like that.

Iplanned to just introduce myself by name, designation and where I worked. From there I would get right into my talk as per the quick brief I had been given by the convenors.

But a fellow female leader, an advocate for women, interjected and asked the convenors if, before I came up to speak, she could “advertise” me a bit.

Her request was granted and I silently, rather curiously waited to hear what it was she had to say.

To my amazement and pleasant surprise, this woman, whom I thought knew hardly enough about me to fill a postage stamp, gave a run down of my achievements, my work history complete with accolades and some break-the-ceiling milestones.

Very accurate and glowing it was. Listening to her felt as if she was talking about someone else, but it was me.

To think I had been ready to not get into all of that, tucking it out of sight and away from this moment and occasion by promptly getting into the business of delivering my impromptu presentation — still boggles my mind.

The respect and admiration that came my way after the “advert” was palpable.

Folks who had earlier taken no notice of me, chiefly because of the humble and non-assuming way some of us carry ourselves, started casting awe-inspired looks my way.

Now they knew what I was about and what I had done.

That “advert” puffed me up.

It filled me with so much pride and increased awareness of my own value as a professional and as a person. I swear I must have walked on air on my way to the podium.

Yet it had seemed like unnecessary tooting of the horn.

But you see, this is where women lose the plot, thus missing opportunities.

One of our greatest undoing as women looking to rise and make an impact in our spheres is that we do not self-promote. We do not toot our own horns.

We make the mistake of assuming that one gets by only with hard work and determination, that it is enough to keep your head down and do a good job.

And that this would get us recognised, rewarded for our work and help us climb up the corporate ladder.

Well, newsflash dear sisters, statistics worldwide have shown that hard work alone is not enough.

Despite many women being highly educated and hard working, in Fortune 500 firms only 15 percent of senior leaders and 3 percent of CEOs are women.

Only about 10 percent of women-owned firms receive equity capital and our elected officials are overwhelmingly male.

Hard work alone is not the key to the top.

Women often underestimate the value of being visible and being heard. It is imperative that women learn how to self-promote, start making a habit of it and use it for career advancement.

On the other hand, men have got this self-promotion thing down to a science. In fact, they tout themselves even for things that women are better at.

Here is the thing, to get promoted you first have to promote yourself. You have to talk about your accomplishments, get your name, expertise and impact known and recognised within your organisation, industry and beyond.

We cannot always wait for others to “advertise” us.

Of course, this does not come easily to many women. Women fear that they will seem like they are bragging or self-serving.

But keep in mind that self-promotion is more than just about you, it is about the impact of your work and that is not something you want to hide.

Here are some self-promotion techniques to create visibility for you and your work.

Talk about your accomplishments

If you landed that big client for the organisation, made a sale, successfully led your team into completing a high impact project under budget and on time or negotiated a high stakes deal — do not wait for that next performance appraisal to be recognised for it. Instead, as soon as possible, send your manager a brief email outlining the result.

Get noticed in your company

Find out how results are made known in your organisation and how you can place them on the agenda. Is it through an internal newsletter, an annual report, a town hall meeting or the Monday weekly sessions?

Accordingly then, speak up and share your latest project at the particular meeting or occasion, or submit an article to the newsletter or annual report editor.

Become an industry expert

It is also important to be visible beyond your organisation.

Cultivate essential social media presence. Be strategic on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook — anywhere you can connect with professional contacts.

Utilise these platforms to communicate your ideas, your skills, contributions and involvement in work-related or objective-focused activities.

You can also promote yourself as an expert by writing or speaking about your area of expertise. Industry publications and websites often need contributors.

Additionally, you could consider giving a presentation at an industry conference.

Do not wait to be invited. You can contact the event convenors and propose a topic or ask about a panel you could sit on.

Build and cultivate your own”tribe”

Create your own network — your own web of relationships with likeminded people dedicated to helping each other succeed, sharing resources as well as supporting and promoting each other.

◆ Maggie Mzumara is a leadership, communication and media strategist as well as corporate trainer. She advocates women leadership and is founder of Success in Stilettos (SiS), a leadership development platform for women. Contact her on maimzumara@yahoo.com or follow on Twitter @magsmzumara.