The Art of Bragging - Or is it Personal Branding?

Just saw a recent top tips in The National Post here in Canada from the fairly new book - "Selling Yourself Without Selling a leaders guide to ethical self promotion" by Hernez-Broome, McLaughlin & Trovas of the Center for Creative Leadership and there were a lot of similarities between this and building your personal brand inside your current company.

1. Expand your network. Make an effort to reach out to people outside your department. For leaders this is critical, you can all too easily get caught up in the 'its not my job, or that's the finance departments responsibility. Quite often I find that teams are very aware of the need to let other departments know what they are up to so there is less blame or mis-understanding.
2. Tap others peoples expertise to build a stronger network. The world of work is changing too quickly for anyone to be an expert in everything. Recognise what you are good at and find others to do what they excel at - then there is less stress, everyone looks good and the job gets done.
3. Acknowledge the efforts of your team. No-one appreciates or wants to work for someone who takes all the glory, especially when its a team result. People have long memories and you never know when you will next need their help or recommendation.
4. Celebrate success. Its no longer the domain of HR or even the Communications Department to let everyone know what is going on or keep an eye on who is being successful. If you do not shout about it (in an authentic and tasteful way) you can be sure no-one else is going to do it for you - they are far too busy.

Comments

[Dan Schawbel]

Good points here. You can never be the expert on everything, so by networking with like-minded individuals who have expertise in a variety of fields, you are in turn helping yourself develop new skills.