3 steps toward advocating for your career
Confidence is not being surprised when you watch yourself win.
In June, we talked about assessing your career path – now let’s build on that.
Advocating for your career is an essential skill that’s often under-developed in aspiring leaders.
Verbalizing your career aspirations can lead toward materializing those goals. Letting people in on where you plan to go can help you secure not only support, but opportunities. Here are 3 steps I recommend to help you verbalize and materialize your career confidence and aspirations:
#1 – Challenge your imaginary walls.
Are you stuck because you’re afraid to challenge the things that are holding you back?
Often, we are our own biggest critics, and negative self-talk can create imaginary walls that hold us back. Notice how I said imaginary. Of all the things that could hold you back in your career, don’t let it be you!
Those limitations? Self-imposed.
Those excuses? Fear.
That fear? Imaginary.
Here’s what I want for you: To get unstuck and start building the confidence you need to advocate for yourself – to really internalize the idea that the world is cheering to see you succeed.
Confidence is not being surprised when you watch yourself win.
#2 – Find your voice.
Now, you’re going to identify people in your organization (or outside it) with whom you feel safe sharing your career goals. Start your list with:
Trusted colleagues who can provide support and encouragement
Your manager, if you have a psychologically safe relationship and can share without fear of being judged or reprimanded
A mentor or sponsor who can advocate for you in rooms when you’re not there (HR can help you find these people)
The right people are those you trust, who will help steward your goals and challenge and encourage you along your way toward achieving them.
The first person on your list should be your most trusted person – which means this should be the easiest conversation to have. For many of you, your manager might feel like the most risky conversation – so move them farther down the list. After those first couple conversations, sharing will get easier.
I want to add something important: When you’re thinking about who you can share with, there’s a balance to be found in sharing with as many people as you can, but doing so in a contained way. You should be proud of advocating for your career… AND you should be very careful who you share your goals with. Yes, advocating for your career is about sharing your goals with the world – but you can keep them close to your heart, too.
#3 – Write down what you want to say
I hope you saved some bravery for this one.
Here’s a basic script:
Start with gratitude:
“First, I want to thank you for your [specific support and guidance] as I’ve grown in my role.”Give context:
“I’ve been doing some work to flesh out my career goals and I’d like to share some of that with you.”Set expectations:
“I’d love to hear your thoughts and if you think this is feasible or realistic for me.”Share your goals
Clearly articulate your goals and why they are important to you – your “why.” Talk them through your thought process.Ask for feedback
Play out potentially adverse feedback or pushback in your head ahead of time and think about your response. Some of you may be tempted to hold back from sharing your career aspirations at all because you’re afraid of hearing “that’s a terrible idea.” Preemptively playing out criticism can help you calmly internalize (or dump) tough feedback instead of backing down from your goals entirely.
As you approach the conversation, think about how you can bring energy and openness, while still protecting yourself. You don’t have to spill every last detail of the dreams closest to your heart!
If you feel disappointed by their feedback or lack of enthusiasm, remember that this can be part of an ongoing conversation – they are only one person. You can seek feedback from others.
wrapping it up:
Advocating for your career is an ongoing process that requires self-reflection, vulnerability, and courage.
I hope these tips help you feel more confident about advocating for your career. Remember, your career path is uniquely yours. Build your leadership committee, and have courage in identifying and sharing your goals. You never know where these conversations will lead, and in my experience, it’s amazing how women help to sharpen each other just through conversations about their goals.
If you wrote out your goals and aren’t sure who to start sharing them with, I’d love to hear them. DM me on LinkedIn – I’ll personally answer.
Lead the way,
PS – If you want to keep learning about career progression and development, I share resources & more in my monthly newsletter. You can subscribe here →
