Introducing yourself when in Transition

Times of change bring specific challenges when it comes to introducing yourself. For some people, the transition will be from a technical career to a managerial role. For others, it will be the change from corporate life to independent professional, or from service provider to thought leader.?

While challenges vary, some of the typical ones include:

• How do I explain the shift to others? Will they wonder why I quit or if I was fired?
• Establishing credibility in a new field
• Loss of friendship and connection, for example when a young professional gets promoted and is now managing their peers
• Explaining increasingly complex roles to people outside the organisation
• People still seeing in your old role e.g. “The web guy” or “the copywriter” long after you have moved on
• Choosing which parts of the job to focus on

Sometimes it’s a life transition that creates the complexity e.g. from living / working in one country to an international environment, from working life to retirement, or from full time parent to re-entering a changed workplace.

Typical Pitfalls

Here are some of the classic ways in which people often waste precious moments to make an impactful first impression:

1. Talking about what they used to do. (“My first job was…”, “I used to work for…”, “Until recently I was the…” etc). The problem with this is that it consumes valuable seconds talking about the past. Even if you want the credibility that comes from your former roles, it’s more likely to be impactful if you first of all state what you are now doing.

1. Beginning with educational qualifications and degrees, where you got them etc. Again, this wastes precious moments and all too often pigeonholes you into a box e.g. “lawyer”, “academic” “technocrat” etc.??

1. Sweeping statements of generalised, vague purposes and values e.g. “I am a passionate advocate of transformational leadership” etc.? At the very least, such impassioned language often leaves others with no idea of what you really do or what we stand for.?At worst, it may even damage credibility.?

1. Extensive use of jargon or ploughing deeply into scientific / technical / legal / regulatory detail. While some people may understand this, many will not.

1. Taking up too much time. This is particularly unpopular in online meetings, where time flows very swiftly.?

The problem for those in transition is that many of the above risks are magnified!?

Beginning with Today

Rather than start with the past, the most powerful way to open is with today and what you are doing now. (Or what you are about to do in the very near future… but if so, why not just state this in the present tense?)

For example:?

• “This week I am working with…”
• “My favourite clients / projects are…”
• “You know how many pharma organisations are grappling with…”
• “I am just about to start working with…”

When you start with today, you are immediately relevant. You can give tangible examples from your current work—or your ideal work—that show others the value of your services.

Your Temporary Identity

If you have followed this newsletter for any length of time, you will already be familiar with the notion of professional identity. In one sentence, this is who you are in your work – not just what you do. Now is the time to make this clear.

But what do you do when you’re in transition? This is when a temporary identity is very useful. You are not wedded to it for life, but you can use it as a bridge from past to present (and to future).

Example: “I am just about to start work with XXX, a top-tier legal firm. They have hired me because of my experience of value-driven business-development in my previous roles, which is all about….”? Now is the time to bring in your past, as credible evidence of your professional identity (in this case, value-driven business-development.)

In other words, be “about something” that utilises your past experience, but is also big enough to encompass your present. This is what professional identity is all about: finding the golden thread that connects the past, the present and the future.?

Self-worth

Many of my clients are now telling me that in order to do this work effectively, they first needed to deepen their inner roots of self-worth, rather than get stuck on the dictates of self-esteem.?Self-esteem leaves professionals craving validation, so they are often talking about past roles, brands and qualifications. Once your roots are in the deeper soil of self-worth, you can grow beyond the confines of chasing validation and instead fashion insights that are useful in the external world.?

Looking outwards

On that basis, you are no longer telling another “me-story”, whether about transition or anything else. Let’s face it: while your transition might be big news to you; the people listening to you probably have other things to worry about.

So rather than bore them with the details of your journey, why not use your introduction to do things like:?

• Share insights of value, that are relevant to current problems
• Highlight risks to be avoided, for example when rolling out AI
• Look at current issues from a fresh perspective, for example seeing the need for new clients as an opportunity to sharpen / update the value-proposition
• Alert people to future changes, so they can be prepared

When we start to see our introduction as an opportunity to be useful / valuable, a whole new realm of opportunity opens up.

More?

In the January 25th live zoom session, we will cover:

- Specific challenges—and pitfalls—during each of the major transitions

- Introducing yourself online: some do’s and don’ts

- 4 proven structures that work

- How to introduce yourself if you have been out of role for an extended period

- Q&A

REGISTER here

? John Niland, January 2024. For enquiries about John as coach or speaker, on topics of self-worth and professional identity, see www.selfworthacademy.com or email [email protected]