The Best Promotion is Never Self Promotion
Once you've been in the spotlight, it's really hard to step back into the shadows-- but you should.
Promoting
yourself is easy. All it takes is a little guts, a little determination, and in
extreme cases, very little self-awareness. We all try, to some degree, to promote ourselves. That's
why we're all experts at picking out the self-promoters, shameless or
otherwise. And that's why self-promotion is rarely effective. There's a much better way. Here's a story told by the
comedian, actor, and author Albert
Brooks in Vanity
Fair about an appearance on "The Tonight Show:
"There
was always that last two minutes where Johnny was asking people, "Thank
you for coming--what do you have coming up?" And during the last
commercial break Jack
Benny leaned over to Johnny Carson and said, "When we get
back, ask me where I'm going to be, will you?"
So they
came back. Johnny said, "I want to thank Albert. Jack, where are you going
to be performing?"
And Jack
Benny said, "Never mind about me--this is the funniest kid I've ever
seen."
And it
was this profound thing. Like, Oh, that's how you lead your life. Be generous
and you can be the best person who ever lived."
You have the same ability to promote with your employees,
your customers, your vendors--basically anyone--but it's easy to lose sight of
that when your primary focus is on crafting a business image, building a
personal brand, or just protecting your professional turf.
Entrepreneurs are especially vulnerable to glory hogging
since early on a small business is a reflection of its owner and its success
often depends on the owner's ability to build a reputation for knowledge and
expertise. Once you've stood in the spotlight for a while, it's really hard to
step back into the shadows. But it can be done. And it's easy. A couple examples:
Instead of blogging about your company's success, talk
about a customer--but don't make it "salesy."
Instead, share how a customer did something smart. Share
how a customer took a different approach to an old problem.
Helping others by promoting their expertise or success is
reason enough to do it. But if you need another reason, the fact that you work
with such smart and savvy people reflects well on you.
Instead of leading an implementation meeting, turn it
over to the employeewho spearheaded the project. Don't be tempted
to somehow include yourself in the introduction; just say, "Next week
we're rolling out our new scheduling system, so Mary will walk you through the
process." Turn it over to Mary, sit down, and shut up.
Everyone already knows you're in charge; the fact that
your employees get things done reflects well on you.
Today, promote someone else.
Then they win--and so do you.
By: Jeff Haden
Source: Inc.
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