Promote Yourself – Find Your Fit

Once you were on board, the boss checked an item on his to-do list. This doesn’t mean he doesn’t care about your happiness and advancement. It does mean that the ball is in your court to find your fit and promote yourself in the practice.

Think about your task as building bridges, not gangplanks. No matter how long you’ve been with a practice, you should start checking these items on your own list:

• I know what I need to know to fit in here
• I’ve begun to learn at least some of the “unwritten rules”
• I know what it takes to move ahead her
• I know whom to go to with questions

If you can’t check these off your list, do the research and ask questions until you can.

Having this basic foundation won’t get you ahead. You also have to …

Perform: Do good work. Develop your skills. Make yourself indispensible as someone who can be counted on in good time and bad.

Prepare: Develop an internal resume and keep it updated with your accomplishments. Note what unique qualities and abilities you bring to your job. You would be amazed at how helpful this will be when performance reviews roll around.

Package: Take an honest look at your self-presentation and reputation in the organization. Ask a friend at work to give you five adjectives (not all positives) that others use to describe you. How can you turn the negatives to positives?

Promote: Launch your own, low-key marketing program. When you have a success, remind the boss in the spirit of “keeping him informed.” Look for other ways to make your accomplishments more visible.

Getting ahead at your practice isn’t hard. But it is yours to make happen, or not. If you are working to make it happen and you’ve having no success, maybe it’s time to contact us.