Being open to others’ expertise will make you better at sharing your own
By Jim Wiederhold
Over the past year, countless organizations have created COVID-related content to let the public know how they’re responding in “these unprecedented times.” While some articles and ads have been inspiring or moving, some organizations have overpromoted to the point of being obnoxious. Rather than taking a partnership approach, they’ve chosen a selling approach, and it lands all wrong at a time when the country is struggling.
Individuals in transition easily misstep in this area as well. They hear that they need to build a personal brand and share their expertise while searching for the next step in their career. But when it’s not coming from a place of humility and a genuine desire to serve others, it just looks like self-promotion.
I have nothing against self-promotion as long as it’s done with good intent and at the appropriate time, and isn’t over the top. It is certainly not wrong to hope that creating helpful content and sharing hard-won knowledge will lead to additional business, a job, etc., but the main focus should be on your audience. What do they need to hear? What need can you fill (without you selling something to them)? When you realize that what you’ve learned over your career has the power to touch people’s lives and impact your industry, self-promotion becomes an unappealing approach.
