As I watch my son take on adventures in life, I find myself telling him “Sometimes you win and sometimes you learn.” Learn how to find his own golf game without me teaching it to him at a young age. Learn to advocate for himself, to stand up for himself, and to make his own decisions. Learn to believe at a young age that you can do anything or be anything starts the foundation for self-advocacy. Self-advocacy means to stand up for your future successes, and it is necessary in life and in the workplace.
Understanding the following points will help you advocate for yourself in the workplace:
Highlight Your Achievements, Link Them to Facility’s Goals
What a rewarding feeling when you know that you have achieved a goal. It is crucial not only to recognize your own achievement, but also demonstrate how it positively impacted your facility or team. Knowing your facility’s mission statement and short term/long term goals is a key tool that can be used when it comes to self-advocacy. By linking your goals to the facility’s goals, you can showcase how your efforts contributed to the overall success of the organization.
Did you create a new junior clinic that led to a new member? Did you design a survey that helped you better understand your membership, which then led to a higher overall customer satisfaction level? These examples highlight how a personal accomplishment led to a bigger success story.
Why Do You Need to Advocate Your Achievements?
It’s essential to communicate your accomplishments in a quantifiable way to help your employer understand the impact of your work and help support your path for your futurist goals. When you advocate for yourself, make sure that you are specific and clear about what you have accomplished, and what you plan to continue to accomplish for your facility and yourself.
One area where you want to include specific percentages or amounts is on your resume. Quantifying and highlighting concrete numbers can enhance your profile, help demonstrate your capabilities, and set you apart from other candidates.
Build Out Your Portfolio – Showcase Your Success
Building a portfolio that includes your skills and accomplishments throughout your career provides proof of your achievements when you go to advocate for yourself. A portfolio helps you build a case for why you are advocating and takes pressure off you when you are trying to verbally express your successes. A portfolio should be updated on a regular basis; whenever you have a success story make sure it is added to the portfolio right away. Port-folios should contain examples of your work, reports, photos, certifications, positive employee evaluations and relevant documents that can help promote yourself.
Be prepared to hand out a copy of your portfolio to your leaders, or an interviewing committee. A portfolio also shows your professionalism and preparation.
Building, Strengthening and Maintaining Your Network
A network is a group of people who help you expand your knowledge by exchanging ideas. My grandpa always said that golf provides a great opportunity for building a network outside the traditional office setting. The relationships that form because of the game are invaluable for your future career growth. Relationship building en hances your professional development and creates a wealth of support and knowledge to help you advocate.
Building a strong network is just the first step. You then need to maintain those connections and stay in touch with your acquaintances on a regular basis. A reference testimonial can be a powerful tool in advocating for yourself as it provides concrete examples of your skills, personality and your philosophies. There is no better person to ask for a testimonial than someone in your network.
Trust Yourself and Know Your Worth
“Sometimes you win and sometimes you learn.” Learning to trust yourself and knowing your worth is something that should be illuminated throughout your whole life. You are the best person to communicate your goals and accomplishments. Articulating your value and confidently showcasing your achievements helps you gain recognition and advancement. Trust yourself and the path to which you have committed, and remember self-advocacy means to stand up for yourself — because if you do not stand up for yourself, who will?