Remember and own your brilliance so others reward you for it.

If you ever think or say these things, you’ll know you’re undervaluing yourself or being undervalued or underselling yourself.

• “I want to be taken more seriously”
• “I’m often treated like a secretary rather than a director”
• “I end up undercutting myself – I give people a price for my services or the salary I want and then I undercut myself and backtrack or apologise”
• “I need to change other people’s perception of me”

Are you able to hear one or more things you’ve either said or thought in there?  Especially at the moment when it’s easy to feel you slip off the radar or between the cracks at work.

A client Kelly said to me as we started our work together “I need to change other people’s perception of me”.  She was an EA whose boss saw the potential and eye for detail she had and wanted her to move out of the admin/secretarial role and into risk compliance.  Kelly couldn’t ‘see’ herself in that role so she assumed others would see her as an EA still.  

You can guess of course.  It was only when Kelly changed her perception of herself and realised the true value she was delivering that she was able to – in her mind – change others’ perception of her.

I can promise you I’ve heard these phrases so many times in different formats from so many brilliant women, in different ways and places. I know it’s because that person saying those things isn’t owning or marketing if you will, the value, the importance, the difference that their work makes.

Now, I never really liked to think about marketing myself but, let’s be honest – you do need to be offering yourself and putting yourself forward and tooting about what you’ve achieved or are making happen in the workplace. Showing and telling people what you’re about. 

Never underestimate or assume people get how special and valuable what you do really is. They have to see it or experience it or have it shown to them. Clearly. Don’t assume they can see it for you. They rarely can.  They’re too busy considering their own value and how they’re showing that to be thinking closely about yours.

(My ex-colleague James saw my gifts more clearly than I did and guided me on to the path to where I am now. He asked if I’d heard of coaching back in 2005 when it was virtually unheard of here in the UK. He said I’d always been approachable, smart-thinking, curious and able to connect with people quickly. He guided me to take that first step to what I’m doing now. Pay attention to what people see for you. It’s often pure gold!)

I’m reading ‘Greenlights‘ by Matthew McConaughey at the moment.  Billed as ‘Raucous stories and outlaw wisdom from the Academy Award-winning actor‘ I’m loving his spiritual, spirited and open musings and recollections and learning about how his famous “Alright, alright, alright” phrase came into being.  

He’s quite easy-on-the-eye too and saying to Snowy “I’m off to bed now with Matthew” creates quite the image!