Promote Yourself: The New Rules for Career Success

For example, Millennials aren't the only group who would benefit from using Twitter and LinkedIn as self-promotion tools. It's not just Millennials who need to understand what managers are looking for when deciding who to promote. And, it's not just Millennials who need to get on with colleagues of a different generation.

This book offers practical tips and strategies that are useful no matter how old you are. So, don't be swayed by its targeted audience. If you feel stuck or unfulfilled in your career, or if you just want some practical tips on how to use today's technology and tools to move up in your organization, this book is for you.

Dan Schawbel is the managing partner of Millennial Branding, a Generation Y research and consulting firm. He's the author of the international bestseller, "Me 2.0." He’s also a columnist for Time magazine and Forbes, and founded The Personal Branding Blog, which was ranked as one of the top websites for career advice by Forbes.

So, keep listening to find out which hard skills will make you an asset to any organization, how to use soft skills to win support for your ideas, and several strategies for overcoming generational differences at work.

"Promote Yourself" is divided into eleven chapters.

In chapter one, the author presents a philosophy that we really liked. He says that although he's an evangelist for entrepreneurship, he doesn't believe everyone should start their own business. In his view, entrepreneurship is a mindset.

Organizations need, and want, people who have big ideas, who aren't afraid to take risks, and who aren't afraid to work hard to turn those ideas into reality. These are the same skills that successful entrepreneurs have. And, you can use these traits to become an entrepreneur within your organization.

Throughout the book, the author quotes a lot of current research to prove his points, and there are plenty of eye-opening statistics that show why professionals need to know how to change, adapt, and work flexibly.

Here's our favorite. The American Society for Training and Development estimates that 60 percent of all new jobs in the 21st century will require skills that only 20 percent of current employees have.

Soft skills are becoming far more important than hard skills. And tomorrow's leaders need to start learning these skills right now. You need to know how to listen, relate to others, work effectively with a team, and coach or mentor someone else. These skills can take longer to learn than hard skills. And, they're the ones companies will be looking for more and more as years pass.

Chapters two and three look at both the hard and soft skills you'll need to develop to get ahead.

Charles Darwin once said, "It is not the strongest of species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change."

This quote perfectly sums up the dilemma facing today's professionals. If you want to survive and thrive in today's constantly changing world, then you have to be willing to change. The more time you spend learning high-demand skills, the more valuable you'll become.

You’ve heard about some of the soft skills employees will need. What about the hard skills? A few of these hard skills are project management, budgeting, contract negotiating, proficiency in a second language, business writing, and sales forecasting. You can take most of these with you into any career.

But, this is just a general list. If you're eyeing a promotion in your company, you need to know exactly which hard skills will get you the job.

One of the first things many candidates do is read the job description. But this isn't always a comprehensive or accurate assessment of what you need. Instead, talk to the hiring manager directly to find out which skills they're looking for. An even better idea is to talk to someone who's already doing the job you want. They can give you an accurate, real-life assessment of what it takes to succeed in this role.

You heard earlier that it's your soft skills that will ultimately get you noticed and promoted. Soft skills are also called emotional intelligence. When you have high emotional intelligence you know how to form good relationships with your co-workers. You fit into the corporate culture, and you know how to communicate well.

Soft skills also include time management, storytelling, listening, having a positive attitude, tact, problem solving, self-confidence, integrity, empathy, and a sense of humor, to name a few.

How many soft skills do you think you have? The author provides a self-assessment test in chapter three to help you figure out what you do well, and what you need to work on.

Even if you don't bother with the test, there are several ways to improve many of the soft skills you use every day.

First, learn how to listen well. When you're talking with someone, really be there with them and ask lots of questions. If they say something you find interesting, explore a little deeper, and base your follow-up questions on their responses.

Sometimes, the more you let people talk about themselves, the more they're interested in you. And, the more they'll support your ideas.

Good listening skills are the foundation for many of the other soft skills you need to develop, like writing, presenting, and observation. Observing other people is particularly important because when you pay attention to other people's speech and body language, you can gain insight into what's truly motivating them. You can then tailor your approach to their situation, wants, and needs.

There's a lot of good information about soft skills in this chapter, but like much of the book, there's nothing really new or groundbreaking here.

In chapter four, the author shows you how to use social media to brand and promote yourself.

Most readers will already know that you can use LinkedIn to locate and connect with other people in your industry. This is a great way to find out about upcoming trends, and network with other professionals who can teach you something new. But, you can also do this on Twitter by using Twellow.com.

Twellow allows you to search for specific people in your industry. The author says you should focus your energy on the few people you're most interested in. You can also use a service like HootSuite to manage all your social networks on one console. This allows you to track conversations that mention you, your industry, or anything else you're interested in.

The author covers a broad range of topics in this chapter. You’ll learn how to follow specific conversations on Twitter, how to build your website and blog, and much more. There's also a really useful "Dos and Don'ts" list about using social media professionally.

For example, don't ever bad mouth your company, your boss, or your colleagues. It will always come back to haunt you.

And, don't share classified information about your company. This can include unposted job openings, company salaries, news of any upcoming acquisitions or mergers, and office rumors or gossip.

Chapter seven is another one that’s really useful for professionals of any age. Here, the author talks about how to develop cross-generational relationships. We thought this was a really valuable addition to the book, especially since many organizations can have up to four generations working together.

Each of these generations has its own unique communication style. They also have their own values, wants, and needs. Knowing how to navigate all these variables is incredibly important, and will only become more so, as new generations enter the workforce.

The author spends some time talking about the personalities and career goals of each of the four generations currently in the workforce. And, he does caution you that you shouldn't judge a person on their generation alone. Every person is different and should be approached with an open mind.

That being said, people in each generation do follow similar patterns of behavior some of the time. The author provides a handy chart that breaks down the management style, training needs, career goals, and work ethic, to name a few, of each of these generations. We thought this was a useful chart that anyone can use to better understand older or younger colleagues, clients, or bosses.

So, what do you need to do to bridge the generation gap?

All the advice here is aimed at Millennials. So to bridge a gap with Baby Boomers, who often value work over personal relationships, make sure you do your job well, because that's ultimately what they're looking for. Physically being at the office is important to them, because they need to see the work you're doing. When you notice and respect their values, they will, in turn, notice and respect you.

Another way you can bridge the generation gap is to ask questions. Older generations do have a lot of experience, and by listening to their stories and asking questions, you might be able to avoid some of the rookie mistakes that your colleagues or competitors are making.

If you identify someone who has skills or experience that you really want to learn from, ask them to mentor you. And when you ask, be specific about what you want to learn.

For example, you could say, "I want to learn about brand management. Can you help me?" This is a simple, honest, and direct way to ask for a mentorship. And it sends several positive messages to the other person. It shows you respect their wisdom and knowledge, and that you're committed to learning what it takes to make the company successful.

As you think about mentoring, don't overlook what you can offer the person who takes you under their wing. Reverse mentoring, where you mentor your mentor, benefits everyone. You could mentor your mentor on social networking, technology, or any other area where they have a weakness and you don't.

Chapter 10 is another valuable addition because here, the author talks about how to "start your own business" while on the job. By this, he's not talking about using work time to research market opportunities so you can jump ship in a year or two. He's referring to Intrapreneurship.

Intrapreneurship is when you act like an entrepreneur, but you operate inside a larger company. As you heard earlier, the author believes that this mindset is what organizations are really looking for. Essentially, you spend time thinking of ideas that will help move your company forward. This is one of the best ways to get noticed and make a name for yourself.

Many organizations already have programs in place to encourage Intrapreneurship. Google is probably the best known of these. At Google, employees can spend up to 20 percent of their time on projects that fall outside their role. Facebook, consulting firm PwC, DreamWorks, and Dell also have intrapreneurship programs.

So how can you become an Intrapreneur?

One of the first things you have to do is become expert at your job. You have to prove your worth and demonstrate that you can handle the responsibilities you were hired to take on. This is the only way you'll get other people, especially your boss, to take your ideas seriously.

Next, look at your organization's strengths and weaknesses. What does it need to do to improve? How can you use your own strengths to help your company go where it needs to go?

We thought this was a really valuable chapter. Don’t miss it if you want to learn how to become a forward thinker in your organization.

So, what's our last word on "Promote Yourself"?

We think this is a useful and practical book that any person, at any stage in their career, can learn something valuable from.

Our criticism is that there's nothing truly groundbreaking here. But since the book is written for Milliennials, who might not have read many business books by the start of their career, this won't matter much. The advice here is good. It's just been repeated.

The writing style is friendly and engaging, and there are a lot of practical strategies and tips that you can use tomorrow to promote yourself and stand out in your organization. The author does a good job of making his case, so by the end of the book you'll be convinced that this is something you need to start working on.

All in all, we think this book is worth your time.

"Promote Yourself," by Dan Schawbel, is published by St. Martin's Press. (Click here to buy the book from Amazon.)

That's the end of this episode of Book Insights. Thanks for listening.