“Being ready isn’t enough; you have to be prepared for a promotion or any other significant change.” Pat Riley
“Selfless Service,” one of the U.S. Army’s seven core values still runs through my veins. It comes, in part from military experience which made me a soldier, a member of a team supporting a cause greater than myself – not myself. Self-promotion, at least in the military was (is) taboo. If a leader under my command engaged in self-promotion, I’d show him or her to the door. This type of behavior would indicate that they were focused more on themselves and what they might gain from serving instead of how they might contribute to the mission. Today, nearly ten years following my time in a military uniform, I still find self-promotion an out-of-body experience. I know I must do it though, if I am to survive as a leadership coach, speaker, and trainer.
There is a time and place for self-promotion. It should never be to advance oneself at the cost of others. Indeed, if you advance, someone else may not, yet the core goal of self-promotion should not be the defeat of another. “Don’t compete,” I stated to my leaders. I didn’t want them focused on their advancement. I wanted them and their organizations doing their best in support of the mission. From that, greatness would come. I digress. Here is the why, when, where, and how of self-promotion.
