In Focus/Self-Promotion—Showcasing your talent with authenticity
✍ Scribed by Gina Hernez-Broome; Cindy McLaughlin; Stephanie Trovas
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 2009
- Weight
- 88 KB
- Volume
- 29
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 1093-6092
- DOI
- 10.1002/lia.1300
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
S elf-promotion gets a bad rap. Many people in organizations revile its practice and belittle the people who adopt its tactics with derogatory labels like brownnosers and suck-ups. Yet time after time, organizations reward selfpromoters. Rewards and opportunities are routinely bestowed on the most vocal or most visible even when they aren't the most qualified. The peers and direct reports of self-promoters may dismiss them as braggarts, attention hogs, and manipulators, but the people who shine a light on themselves are inevitably first in line for promotions, funding, and plum assignments.
How can this be? How can authentic performance lose out to grandstanding? Why does this disconnect occur? Employees at all levels of organizations wonder why leaders overlook and even reward what they themselves see as plainly bad behavior. Why aren't the suckups seen for what they really are? Why aren't they held accountable for their outlandish promises or for claiming credit for group accomplishments? If organizations don't