Be Your Own Best Cheerleader

[RANT ALERT]

Last week I put a post here in LinkedIn about job security and the need for executives to be more proactive in preparing for their next role, even if they don’t have short-term plans to find a new job.

Ironically, it was the same day that Telstra announced they will be shedding 8,000 jobs at all levels of the organisation over the next three years. Word also came out that day that Toys ‘R’ Us is closing down, with 700 jobs going from there. 

The Telstra announcement is the largest single redundancy announcement since the Ansett Airlines collapse in 2001. 

If there was ever a day for job security to be front of mind, last Wednesday would have been it.

Here’s what I said in that post (this was before the news of the job losses was announced)...

===Start Post===

What’s the best form of job security? I posted the other day about the importance of employers being proactive rather than reactive with their recruitment efforts, especially for senior leadership positions.

Today it’s the employee’s turn for the same message. Gone are the days when you could be assured that your current job is yours until you decide to finish it. Even if your performance is outstanding, market conditions, a merger or acquisition, or any number of other factors could bring an end to your current job.

So, the best form of job security is to prepare yourself for your next role by being proactive, by making yourself marketable, even if you are not currently looking for a role and don’t plan to for several months or even years.

This includes keeping profiles and CVs up to date and adding achievements to your LinkedIn profile on a regular basis. If you gain a new qualification, win an industry award or hit a milestone at your company, post about it here on LinkedIn. An active stream will tell future employers a lot about you and increase your ‘market value’.

In fact why not start now? Post a recent or upcoming achievement on your LinkedIn stream then share it here in the comments to draw attention to it.

===End Post===

I came back to that post 24 hours later to see how many people had posted their achievements in the comments.

Much to my dismay, but not at all to my surprise, the sum total of people who had posted their achievements amounted to zero. None. Not one. Nada. Zilch...

Despite over 3,000 people viewing the post, and despite my posts having an average of about 30 comments apiece in recent weeks (some from me admittedly but mostly from others), not one single person took the opportunity to post a comment and to publicly share their achievements.

People not commenting on my posts is obviously not a problem. I can cope with that just fine (well that’s what my therapist said anyway) but this particular example highlights a problem I come across pretty much every day in my work as a headhunter and executive recruiter. 

Australians are not their best cheerleaders. 

It’s even worse than that - Australians are their worst cheerleaders.

I get to see resumes every day. And even though it’s standard practice for many to embellish their achievements on their CV, most of them are pretty underwhelming. That’s why most applications end up on the ‘Thanks but no thanks’ pile. 

When I sit down with executives I’m coaching to help find their next role, it never ceases to amaze me how hard we have to dig to find the ‘gold’ in their track record. It’s like pulling teeth sometimes.

But the thing is, most people wouldn’t need to embellish their resume anyway if they got into the habit of talking themselves up a bit more and declared their achievements publicly. 

It doesn’t make you overbearing or boastful to do so. It makes you accomplished. And capable. And admirable. It makes you more employable and it gives others the opportunity to share your wins with you.

Your next job hunt doesn’t start when you submit an application. It’s ongoing. Your reputation, your ‘personal brand’, hinges on you talking yourself up from time to time. It’s that simple. 

And even if you don’t have plans to look for a job in the near future, someone could very well be looking for someone like you right now with a fantastic opportunity that you don’t even know about. Right here. On LinkedIn. But if your accomplishments aren’t thorough and up to date, chances are that you’ll miss out on that opportunity. 

Bottom line - If you aren’t willing to talk yourself up, how do you expect to find the best positions?

So rather than asking you to share your accomplishments today, I’ll make it easier. I want to invite you to rate yourself out of ten in terms of how often you accomplish something worth sharing, and how often you actually do share it.

And to spark ideas of accomplishments worth sharing, here’s a few to get you started… a promotion, taking leadership of a project, hitting a milestone in a project, ending a project, becoming a mentor to someone, engaging with a mentor, completing a course, getting certified in something, onboarding a new member in your team, meeting budget, exceeding targets, speaking at an event, presenting to stakeholders, doing something charitable, resolving a crisis, averting a crisis, restructuring a division, rolling out a culture change project, having an idea accepted by the company, reading a book even and sharing your insights…

These are not just opportunities to shine a bit of light on yourself but also to shine a light on others that are part of that accomplishment. It also allows others in your network to engage in a bit of encouragement and support. You can never get too much of that

So, here’s that invitation again. Please share in the comments below how you would rate yourself out of 10 in terms of sharing accomplishments. And for bonus points, share also if you think it might be worthwhile to take some steps to raise that score a little.

[END RANT]

#headhuntingsimplified #beyourowncheerleader #wakeupAustralia