How Achievements Help Introverts Demonstrate their Value in the Workplace - Introvert Whisperer

Introvert Whisperer / How Achievements Help Introverts Demonstrate their Value in the Workplace - Introvert Whisperer How Achievements Help Introverts Demonstrate their Value in the Workplace As an introvert and a naturally careful and astute observer, you may have noticed the sheer momentum of change in the workplace in recent years. Like typing a letter with an antiquated typewriter ribbon, or latching onto a job you think will whisk you along as you make a steady climb up the corporate ladder until retirement is a thing of the past. One of the most essential survival tools in today’s fast paced environment is entrepreneurial skill. While you don’t actually have to become an entrepreneur yourself, your task is to think like one. Your professional success depends on keeping yourself directed and creating your own professional opportunities. As an investor in your personal start-up, you will achieve a competitive edge by knowing how to market yourself and understanding what makes you standout.   Demonstrating your value to employers Employees must perform at the highest level by solving problems, delivering positive outcomes, and introducing and/or implementing innovations and new ideas. But that’s not all. Most important, they must shine a light on their accomplishments, as well as on their talents and skills that generated them. This can be particularly difficult for introverts, since achieving success in  this environment requires speaking up, and promoting oneself and one’s ideasâ€" areas they can find challenging. As a result, they tend to stand on the sidelines while social dynamos with the skills and confidence to take initiative and toot their own horns get the jobs, the promotions, and all the attention as demanded by our current extraverted work culture. But introverts are quite capable of getting recognition if they learn to promote their achievements.   Achievements: Your Life Awards One of the best ways for introverts to appreciate and understand how they add value in the workplace is through accomplishments. Throughout your life, you can no doubt list a variety of achievements of which you deserve to be proud. They might be personal accomplishments like learning to fix a flat tire, running a 5K, cooking a gourmet meal, and organizing a family event, or career-related successes like writing a proposal, training staff, introducing a new program, or creating a database. Whether simple or complex, achievements can instill a sense of pride and boost confidence. They also offer clues into your overall interests, skills, and values, and will generate words and phrases you can use to describe who you are, your unique talents and whatever your goals may be.   Achievement Exercise When I taught a Career Evaluation course at the University of Pennsylvania, I used myself to model the Achievement Exercise by listing three of my favorite achievements, and then asking my students for feedback on what they learned about me based upon these accomplishments. My Three Accomplishments Creating my first flower garden. Getting selected by my High School English Department to recite the Gettysburg Address before a large audience at the end of the town Memorial Parade. I managed it, in spite of my fears of being in the spotlight. Designing, planning, and presenting the first Career Discovery course for college students at the University of Pennsylvania I asked my students to boil down all this information to the essence of my key skills and values. The result was as follows: SKILLS: written and verbal communications, problem solving, public speaking, and counseling/advising, interviewing, teaching, processing, planning and researching. VALUES: creativity, recognition, and knowledge I have used their analysis many times since to respond to the request “Describe yourself” and to answer the question, “What are your strengths?” Keep in mind that you don’t have to be an Olympic champion to feel as if you’re accomplished. Achievements can be challenges that you’ve met, successes you’ve achieved in creating projects or initiatives, or even a simple act of kindness.   Your Achievements Write down at least three achievements that make you proud, plus the skills and values attached to each.   In high school, maybe you were on the track team, or wrote for the school paper, or served as class or club officer. In college, writing an outstanding research paper, studying abroad, and volunteering for Habitat for Humanity are all examples of major achievements. At work, consider your successes with challenging projects or tasks, reports, presentations, leadership roles, and innovations. You may also want to ask colleagues or friends to review your list and see if they can add othersâ€"As an introvert, you might well have overlooked some gems. Knowing exactly what to say about your achievements will easily reflect your added value to employersâ€"as you meet people who can support you in your job search, or as you promote your career.  So get out of your introverted modesty zone and give your ego an overdue massage as you take pride in your many accomplishments. Author Bio: Jane Finkle is a career coach, speaker and author with over 25 years of experience helping clients with career assessment and workplace adjustment. Jane served as Associate Director of Career services at the University of Pennsylvania where she created and led the Wharton Career Discovery seminar, and served as liaison to recruiters from major corporations. She has been published in the Huffington Post, Adirondack Life, Talent Development and mindbodygreen.  Her newest book is The Introverts Complete Career Guide. www.janefinkle.com Go to top Power-Influence-Office Politics: it comes down to your Strategic Relationships and understanding of how you build each one of these elements. I want to help you accelerate your career by connecting you with your Free Instant Access to my video that outlines all of this and meaningful actions you can take today!   Start watching now by clicking here! Brought to you by Dorothy Tannahill-Moran â€" dedicated to unleashing your professional potential. Introvert Whisperer