Embracing Self-Promotion: A Strategic Choice for Leadership Success

This article was first published in my LinkedIn Newsletter 'Open Door Conversations with A' here

Why practicing self-advocacy can transform your career and workplace culture.

Over 80% of people hide their successes from loved ones, coworkers, or even strangers to avoid the appearance of bragging. This statistic raises an important question: Why do we resist acknowledging our achievements? Self-promotion isn't merely about boasting; it's a strategic choice crucial to personal and organizational success.

My Odyssey with Self-Promotion

Like many leaders, my relationship with self-promotion has been complex: both a rose and a thorn. Our last #PeopleBeforeStrategy Roundtable in December 2024 perfectly captured this duality as we shared our experiences through the lens of our current rose, thorn, and bud. Early in my career, I dismissed self-promotion as unnecessary, believing my track record of hiring and managing dozens of employees would speak for itself. That proved to be wishful thinking. While putting yourself out there can lead to valuable referrals and opportunities; it also requires embracing vulnerability and occasionally facing negativity. This journey has taught me that effective self-promotion isn't about constant visibility. It is about strategic authenticity.

The Significance of Strategy and Focus

Whether you are a solopreneur or run a large organization, you have to make decisions on how to allocate resources, time, and energy. Effective strategic planning starts with reflection: looking back to assess what has worked, what hasn't, and how external factors play into those dynamics. How do we form a hypothesis for the future? The answer often lies in the choices we make today and how we bring those choices to life.

Building Effective Self-Promotion Systems

As I'm entering my seventh year of business, I credit much of my success to the strategic choice to prioritize self-promotion in a way that feels good and is sustainable for me. Here's how I continue to operationalize that choice:

1. Feedback Systems: Implementing forms, surveys, and reminders to gather and showcase feedback systematically.
2. Sharing Impact: Committing to share my impact or results at least once a week.
3. Scheduled Reflection: Dedicating time in my calendar to review feedback and update my website.
4. Daily Wins: Reflect on my small victories each day before I start working and writing them down in my journal.
5. Daily Highlights: Select a highlight of the day as I wrap up each evening and write it down so I can read through it during weekly reviews.

The Core Skills of Self-Promotion

As I often share during my #IAmRemarkable Workshops, effective self-promotion starts from within. You must first recognize and validate your worth before you communicate it externally.

The essential skills include:

• Internal Awareness: Cultivate gratitude and internally acknowledge your contributions.
• Value Sharing: Practice explaining your impact and value openly in varied contexts.
• Goal Alignment: Ensure self-promotion supports your professional and personal goals.

The Ripple Effect of Self-Promotion in the Workplace

Though I've shared the self-promotion practices that sustainably support my bottom line, I've seen first-hand that when leaders embrace and model confident self-promotion, it creates a powerful ripple effect throughout their organizations. By practicing self-love and openly acknowledging our achievements, we create psychological safety for others to do the same. This shift in behavior doesn't just benefit individuals. It transforms workplace culture. As one leader shared:

"... Despite the fact that most of us have worked together for over a year - the session with Akua was the first time I felt everyone in the team actually opened up about their ambitions, even the most closeted and silent team member...And just one week later, normally complacent people are putting themselves forward for projects and calling me out of the blue to share why they are remarkable."

When leaders demonstrate healthy self-promotion, they give implicit permission for everyone to own their worth, leading to more engaged, authentic, and strength-focused workplace cultures. Teams become more likely to share their successes, celebrate wins together, and support each other's growth.

A Self-Promotion Mindset

Why focus on self-promotion? Self-advocacy is similar to practicing self-love and gratitude. It's about reinforcing what you want to grow in your career and life. You can't simply automate away the need for self-advocacy. Acknowledging and sharing your worth is a skill that you must actively practice. I believe good leadership is a system built on the habit of recognizing your worth.  It is also much easier to see the value that others can provide when you are clear on what you can bring to the table.

Join Us to Reflect on your Relationship with Self-Worth

As we enter 2025, I invite you to take concrete steps toward embracing visibility and assertiveness. Here are two opportunities to start your journey or brush up on your skills:

1. #PeopleBeforeStrategy January Roundtable - How Leaders Can Showcase Their Value Without Bragging (Register Now): Join us to understand the importance of messaging and positioning in today's context. If you can't attend live, register to receive the recording and ask a question.
2. February 5th #IAmRemarkable Workshop (Register Here): Like most leadership skills, self-promotion can be learned. Make sure you bookmark my events page (here) for future free events.