Comments on: Learn to Love Self-Promotion – Part I

By: George W. Dudley

George W. Dudley — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 17:53:51 +0000

Ms. Swim, “Learn to Love Self-promotion” is extraordinarily timely. The comments from your readers are thoughtful, instructive and clearly representative of the scope and depth of what the fear of self-promotion is and what it does. The ruminations of otherwise talented and capable people who often resign themselves in doubt and confusion to settle for the financial crumbs left over by natural self-promoters (some, according to our research, ethically challenged) represent as consise a summarization of the fear of self-promtion and its’ attendant costs as I have seen. My colleagues and I have specialized in the on-going scientific study of this problem since the early 1970′s. As scientists, perhaps we forget sometimes that the fear of self-promotion (which is a term by the way, that our research popularized) is something that is lived and struggled with as visibility management has become an important element in modern career management ( whether we like it or not.) Personally, I don’t like it, having been raised to believe that good work speaks for itself. But, that’s drifting…

Thank you for your reminding us about the fear of self-promotion as it is lived and to your readers for their thoughtful and candid contributions.

George W. Dudley, Board Chairman, Behavioral Sciences Research Press, co-author, The Psychology of Sales Call Reluctance, principle author, The Hard Truth About Soft Selling

By: Karen Swim

Karen Swim — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 21:49:54 +0000

Hi Ellen, thank you so much for the comment. I’m sure that many others reading will gain value from your insights. In answer to your questions, yes you can promote your own value and skills without sounding like a disgruntled worker. From the circumstances you describe, I gather that you are an innovative problem solver with the ability to use available resources to do what it takes to get the job done. It also sounds as if you are not focused on a narrow definition of your responsibilities but take initiative to learn new skills and make contributions that attain the company’s objectives. If you would like some one on one help translating your value in positive terms, don’t hesitate to reach out to me via phone (800) 648-5158 or email karenswim at gmail dot com.

By: Ellen

Ellen — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 15:07:34 +0000

Whenever I see self-help articles about how to self-promote, I find that they don’t take real-world considerations into account. My current job consists mainly of an eternal struggle to make things happen in a high-pressure, high-responsibility atmosphere using outdated software and poorly designed workflows in a chronically underfunded, understaffed department. I prevent disaster in a bad environment; that’s about all. None of the work I produce is anything I’m particularly proud of because I know it could be so much better with the proper funding and equipment. So all I have to market are my reliability, my problem-solving ability and my ability to bang rocks together. How on earth do you promote THAT skill set without sounding like a whiner, troublemaker or ungrateful employee? I can’t point out what a valuable employee I am unless I also say bad (but true) things about the environment I work in.

What am I supposed to put on my resume here? “High ability to correct sloppy mistakes at 5 a.m. made by people paid more than me”? “Responsible for keeping together butt-ugly website with no formal training in code but just with skills I picked up during various emergencies along the way”? Those don’t sound quite right to include on a resume.