It's August...Time for your comms career glow-up!

How's your summer going so far? I'm just back from a really relaxing week in Greece and gave myself ample time for daydreaming and mental vision boarding on the beach! I often find that getting out of your normal routine and into a new environment can help stimulate ideas and give you room to explore and think about what's possible in your life and career.

And with that in mind, I want to share some tips today for giving yourself (as the Tik Tokers say), a mini "glow up" for your comms career.

August is traditionally seen as a slightly slower month at work, and whilst I know that is often NOT the case in Comms (we always seem to be planning something big for September don't we?), I hope you are still able to carve out some time for yourself - whether that is at work and/or on holiday. I find August and the end of December to be those times when I can plan a bit more and get around to those projects and opportunities that are usually shoved down the list.

Here are my five tips for giving yourself a mini career glow-up this August:

1) Read a book that will help you plan your next career move or strengthen your leadership approach - this is particularly important for comms professionals as we are prone to second guessing our own leadership capabilities and credibility. I'm currently re-reading Atomic Habits (join my free book club if you want to catch up) and last year I compiled a list of my favourite "non-traditional" leadership books, but let me know what's on your list at the moment! The most important thing though? Don't let this become just a reading exercise - pick one or two practical actions from your book of choice and start to implement them at work - see how they feel and how people respond. Then do more of what works!

2) Revamp your LinkedIn profile and start engaging as a thought leader NOT as your employer's mouth piece! Far too often, us comms professionals use LinkedIn like just another publication channel for our employer's news announcements. This is despite us often giving out advice to our own leaders that they need to be more authentic, human, compelling on the platform! It's more important than ever these days to have a strong personal brand for your career and this can start with LinkedIn. Start with the easy bits (profile pic, banner, about you headline and summary), then think about how you can put your own best comms advice into practice and start engaging/commenting to add value and sharing your own insights on our profession. If you need some help figuring out "who you really are" in terms of your professional brand, that's one of the things we cover on my forthcoming group coaching programme The Confident Leader. We start later in Sept and you can join the waiting list here to receive an early bird discount and bonus.

3. Have a proactive conversation with your manager about your leadership and career development. Don't wait for your appraisal to do this (although if your 6mths one falls at this time of year, go for it), but take advantage of a slightly quieter time at work to go for a coffee and really talk to your manager about how things are going for you, ask for feedback, offer them feedback and ideas for how you can work together even more effectively, explore and agree priorities for the upcoming period and any stretch development goals. If you or your company has a learning and development stipend or budget and you haven't used it yet, take full advantage before the year ends. (You can fund your place on The Confident Leader this way too.)

4. Consider a "skills swap" within or beyond your team. Too often, we miss what might be right under our noses when it comes to skills development. For example, maybe your comms officer happens to be an Excel power user? Or the best person on the team to research social media trends might be the 40 something woman (ahem) who spends more time than they perhaps should on TikTok? If there's a skill you know you want to learn or brush up on (recognising that leaders don't have to be and shouldn't be technical experts in everything, but it's always good to expand your horizons), think about how you might be able to train each other within and beyond your team, and what the swap is going to give to you both that will benefit your work.

5. Identify one big, hairy, audacious goal (a BHAG) that you / your team want to achieve over the next six months. And start to put a plan in place (aided by a strong and compelling vision) for achieving it. Not only will this boost your team's morale and visibility at work, it will also give you new opportunities to step up and lead, engage with senior stakeholders and really make your mark. It will be good for the business and good for your CV too! Of course, make sure it is aligned with organisational goals and priorities before you start.

There. Sounds do-able doesn't it? Even if you just picked one thing off this list, you'd still end the month in a far better professional position than when you started, so there's nothing to lose.

Let me know if you're going to do this glow-up in August and which steps are you going to focus on?

Louise?

#communications #strategiccommunications #commsjobs #commshero #prjobs #summerplans #bookclub #leadershipdevelopment #leadershipcoaching