Profile yourself: something positive and natural for one person, a word with a negative sound for another. But profiling yourself is nothing more than ‘adopting a clear character of your own’.
Success factors in profiling
In that sense it has nothing to do with bragging. How do you profile yourself, how do you make yourself visible in the workplace?
By giving some extra attention to the points below you can profile yourself even better. Try to name them for yourself and write them down.
Self-awareness
Be aware of what you have at home. What is your talent? What are your motives? Name them for yourself. That way you can make them clear to others.
Transparency
Make it clear to colleagues how you approach things. In this way they get to know your approach, qualities and motivations. So communicate and keep others informed. Do a Personal branding training where you learn how to show more of yourself in a natural way.
Communicate concretely and powerfully
Support your story with practical examples. So make it concrete and do not weak yourself. Do not say that you ‘have a little experience with organizing’, but tell what experience you have gained.
Celebrate and share successes
“Modesty graces the human being”, that’s for sure, but it’s also nice to celebrate and share success and be proud of what you achieve together. Important factors: enthusiasm and honor that is due.
Stay in touch with the other person
Simple: if you want to be seen, then also see the other. For example, if you are celebrating a success, do not draw the success to yourself, but also mention the contributions of colleagues.
Dare to learn
Allow yourself the time to learn this. Start small and always go one step further. You need a small dose of guts, and a method that makes you feel comfortable. ‘I am introverted and service-oriented, so I don’t have to profile myself’ Profiling is not just for extroverts. Introverted people are also looking for means to profile themselves, means that suit them.
For example by e-mailing, writing and staying close to their substantive knowledge. You can do the latter by, for example, joining LinkedIngroups where you can show your expertise.
Short tips to profile yourself
- Explain to your colleagues what your day looks like.
- Walk in another department.
- Tell your supervisor what you have contributed; who can work better or faster thanks to your efforts? What do customers get from your contributions?
- Which people annoy you? What are they not doing well, or: what can you do better? That is probably a quality of you. Does anyone know that quality?
- Ask others what they see as your qualities. How could you better bring this to the attention?
- How do others (that you appreciate) present themselves?
- Accept a compliment with “thanks!” instead of weakening it.