A Few Simple Tips for Selling Yourself

Welcome back to my LinkedIn newsletter where I share tips, ideas, and strategies to help you become more effective in business and life.

If we haven't been acquainted yet, I’m a professor of organizational and cross-cultural psychology, the author of?Global Dexterity?and?Reach, and an HBR contributor and consultant.?I also work closely with coaches, trainers, consultants and teachers to certify them in my?Global Dexterity Method.

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Selling yourself isn't easy - especially at the beginning of your career when you don't even believe your own sales pitch. But if you're looking for a job... or a promotion... or funding for your start-up, it's essential to find a way past the fear.

Here are 3 tips to make selling yourself a little more palatable.

1. Realize you're helping solve a problem.?Companies hire for a reason: because there is a real need. Their social media is broken and they desperately need someone to fix it. Their financials have been mismanaged and they need someone to clean up the problem. They need a new crop of junior colleagues to reach their ideal scale. You're not imposing by selling yourself; you're actually helping a company fill a real need.

2. Think fit, not flaws.?You might not get every position you aspire to. In fact, I guarantee that will be the case. But that's OK because you're looking for the right?fit?between the skills you possess and the problem the organization is looking to solve. So, think fit, not flaws, when you assess opportunities -- and, especially, when you need to cope with inevitable rejection.

3. "Failure" is insight.?Of course it's only human to feel disappointed, but can you substitute self-improvement for self-pity? Think about failure as insight: What can you do next time to make an even better impression? How can you even better position yourself to address the needs of the employer and secure that job?

In the end, few people truly enjoy selling themselves. But by having a positive attitude and keeping these tips in mind, you'll be in a solid position to set yourself up for success.