Self Advocacy: Tell Your Story
Self Advocacy
We all have a story that deserves to shine. Our experiences, talents, competencies and dreams … it’s all part of your story. And that story is the foundation for your next step; because experience breeds readiness for opportunity. So, craft your story, spark your confidence, and share.
In this module you will:
Uncover the mindsets that boost or block your tendency to self-advocate
Explore practical, effective strategies to let your story shine through
Set a plan to begin to expand your self advocacy and drive your career growth
What is Self Advocacy?
Let’s start with what it’s not …
Self advocacy, in our terms, is not using a megaphone for your personal soliloquy. It is not cheerleading. It is not a stage call. It’s not a spotlight; but it might be like a light bulb. And you have the power to keep it dim or make it shine.
The research and context of self advocacy is typically centered on securing something more or something greater, like self-advocating for a promotion or a raise at work. It’s most often depicted as ‘target-oriented’ and ‘event-based’; self-advocacy as a technique for getting ahead at a certain point in time.
But we need to switch this motivation and mindset. The reality is much more practical.
Let’s consider self advocacy like a small but critically important muscle that keeps your career aligned and mobile. Yes, it’s a muscle that if developed stays in shape and supports your career, but without exercise, it lapses and becomes harder to reboot.
In the schema of leadership muscles, self advocacy might be best described as the subtle process of telling a compelling story that ignites future possibility.
This is a story that unfolds chapter by chapter, in alignment, to build a strong and consistent narrative for success. Self advocacy is simply learning the ability to ignite possibility in self and others.
Three skills combine to build the self advocacy muscle.
(1) Self directedness is your ability to know what you want, and to map out how to achieve it.
(2) Self champion is your ability to exercise confidence; it’s the art of claiming your strengths and acknowledging your potential to contribute. As you proactively manage your career, you need to be your own best champion.
(3) Ally advocate is a mindset to advocate for others. Many of us find it easy to recognize our team or colleagues, but we fail to use the same skills for personal success. Developing this skill increases the engagement of others and simultaneously builds our personal skill set and comfort.
Self Directedness — Be Ready; Know Yourself
Believe in your Strengths: You are not advocating without foundation – you have a reason to tell your story. You bring value to the organization. Your work moves the agenda and supports the goals. Your insight helps others on the team. Your track record gives you a strong foundation in experience. You are unique and gifted. Be ready to own the statements above; explain them, and build from them.
Track Accomplishments: Often, in the rush, we move so quickly from one thing to the next that we forget what we’ve accomplished. When we look back, we tend to focus on what didn’t work, rather than what did. Our memories promote feelings of inadequacy. Thus, it's important to start tracking today. Find a place to begin tracking and recording accomplishments, both big and small. A list of accomplishments is a practical reminder of all the things you’ve done right. This list is the evidence to prove to yourself that you have reason, a “track record,” to advocate on and with. Keep your list.
Have a Brand: We can all learn what works from the advertising world; have a recognizable brand and stick to it. If you can clearly describe who you are, what you bring, and where you want to go, then others in the organization have a mental model to support you on that path. Be ready with the three words that you want everyone to consistently use to describe your contribution, or the elevator pitch of your current work to deliver when the timing is just right. Without this frame, they are left to force you into pre-determined options that may or may not align with your goals and motivations. So crafting your personal brand is an insurance policy for your own self development and self promotion on your career journey.
Help Others: Advocating for oneself should not be taboo. But it’s not easy for many people, and we need to help each other. We need to practice the skill, and reinforce it in others. Use every opportunity to prime your self-advocacy muscle. We can choose to turn up the volume on the voice of advocacy in our heads, and turn down the doubt, and in doing so— we are building our muscle to charter our own career. As Sheryl Sandberg says, “What would you do if you weren’t afraid?” Let this be our call to action.
So, start with YOU: Know your strengths, accomplishments and brand. Keep this up to date. And encourage yourself to tell this story when you can.
2. Self Champion—Be Proactive; Everyday Encounters
Self advocacy is about taking the time to tell more about yourself in an effort to shape perceptions and charter your own course. You want to be your guide, so you need to set the course. And that’s about weaving your story into your everyday encounters.
Here are a few ideas to get started.
Tell the Back Story: Many of us have routine meetings with supervisors to provide necessary updates on our work. The cadence of these interactions is typically the same: here’s what I/we accomplished, and here’s what’s in my/our sights for next time. We tend to focus on the what, and skip over the ‘how’ and ‘why.’ But, telling a more full and detailed story is critical to building understanding of the value that you bring to an organization. It’s this sprinkling of subtle self advocacy that primes the listener to understand your skills and values behind the deliverables, and to sponsor you for bigger things.
You might consider adding 1-2 of these details to your next update:
Well, we accomplished everything on the list for this week. But I want to share one particularly difficult challenge and how we overcame it…
Our team really pulled it off. Especially Shelby – she used this amazing approach to sort through a complex issue that really stumped us at first. Let me describe that…
I’m glad we got this done. One rough spot was ____________, and we handled it this way _________________. What other suggestions do you have?
As you hear about what we’re doing, what would you add? How can we take it to the next level?
Each of these scenarios provides a bit of color commentary that illustrates value. This is a process of providing a behind the scenes tour to unfold the credibility you bring to your leadership. Your work is more than the deliverables – your true value is how you arrived at the finish line, and how you plan to keep going. Tell your story and build your brand in small snippets as often as you can.
Deliver Beyond Expectations (In Small Ways): More often than not, we deliver precisely what was asked for, when our special expertise knows that there’s a bit more or an added twist that could be interesting and important. Take time to show people more of what you can do. Uncover the ‘you don’t know what you don’t know’ about the work, and surprise your colleagues and bosses with your expertise. Go ahead and take the risk to share a bit more and really intrigue someone with what you’re thinking. This type of advocacy is proof that you’re worth more than they might assume. If you surprise them, they might just surprise you.
Seek Challenge: Challenge yourself to grow in the work that you love. That is part of the message encouraged by Sheryl Sandburg in “Lean IN.” Challenge that aligns with our goals can be energizing, so seek out those opportunities in your work. Advocate to get the kind of work that you want. Don’t be the last person assigned, instead, add yourself to some projects or teams. And, take initiative to over deliver when you can. Be the improver. Find a way to give yourself a challenge you will enjoy, and create your own limelight at the same time. This is advocacy in action.
Inform Your Sponsor: First, you have to have a sponsor. Not a mentor who provides advice and guidance, but a sponsor who is politically connected, hierarchically strong, and committed to your advancement. A sponsor is top-down, and side-to-side, 24/7 support. A sponsor is your advocate.
Once you have a true sponsor, you need to prepare them to advocate with accuracy and effectiveness. Yes, this includes a regular cadence of meetings or updates, but again, take the time to pass along a success story or share a compliment that you received. As a sponsor, they will delight in your continued growth, and they may be able to share the good examples at precisely the right time.
Be Realistic— Prioritize Wellness
Know your limits. Part of truly knowing yourself is awareness of personal limits. We all have life beyond work, whether we actively acknowledge it or not. And, this life, impacts us. Core to self advocacy is frequently tuning into what we need to be at our best—mentally, physically, and emotionally. Recognize that this might frequently shift, so think about daily adaptions rather than big picture changes. Advocating for a work routine that meets your personal needs is the foundation for exemplary performance. And, it’s your responsibility to advocate for what you need, because no one else will.
Hone in on healthy practices. Often, the little things make a big difference; it might just be quick and easy work style adaptions that drive productivity and wellness. For example, monitor your work energy and schedule your day accordingly. Try to do your important work when you have the most energy. Turn off technology and interruptions and give yourself time to focus. Use time blocking in your schedule to protect your focus time. And, take breaks and lunch to refuel during your workday. Given the frenetic pace and demand for multi-tasking, it seems you can’t take a break. But, you should and you must. It’s how you refuel and maintain optimal performance without errors. It’s what your organization wants, even if the culture doesn’t seem to allow it. You must advocate wellness for yourself and others. It’s all about being true to you.
3. Ally Advocate— Be Generous; Give & Get
Recognize Others: Without hesitation, make yourself an advocate for someone else. This is an easy way to try out certain words, sprinkle in detail and gauge the reaction of supervisors in your organization. Consider: “not only would this help others be more confident, it provides the practice opportunities we need to eventually make advocating for ourselves and others a normal routine in our lives.”[1]
Create Connection, Not Impression: In every interaction, stay true to who you are. Effective self advocacy is authentic; it’s not bragging. It’s explaining your commitment and hard work in a way that shows you care about success for yourself, your team and your organization. It’s a process that uncovers your values and effort in a way that focuses on making a connection, not an impression. It’s about building shared understanding of the “how” and “why” which leads to the “what” of work.
Summary
The key takeaway here is that self advocacy isn’t something you just do when there’s something you want.
It’s actually a muscle that you exercise frequently, to be true to yourself and to align your work on a path for success.
You must set the story to help others see the “how” and “why” behind the “what” you deliver – so that they begin to know and recognize more of what makes you thrive.
If you share your story authentically and generously, then you are providing the opportunity for others to get on board and sponsor your next step.
It all starts with you. you just need to start.
[1] Hasseldine, Rosjke. “Self-Advocacy: A Women’s Catch-22.” Forbes, 25 Apr. 2017, https://www.huffpost.com/entry/self-advocacy-a-womens-catch-22_b_58ff3effe4b06c83622e7033. Accessed October 15, 2019.