If you're anything like me, it's not that you don't care about success, collaboration, or making a real impact, you absolutely do. But you crave something a little deeper. You want work that plays to your strength and allows you to do what you do really well. And learn from like minded people. But the problem is that people at work don't really know what you're interested in, what you're skilled at, and what you really want to be known for, what you want to be the go to expert for.

And that's what we're going to change today.

Hi, and welcome back to the awfully quiet podcast. My name is Hannah. I am an introvert in corporate and the host of this podcast. If you're an introvert in the workplace, I know the number one thing that keeps you stuck is this clash between who you really are. And what others perceive you to be. So today I want to break down the introvert dilemma and what you can do to overcome it.

Three fill in the blank questions that help you drive clarity for what you really want to be known for at work. And then the real tangible example for how you can influence what others say about you behind closed doors.

If you like this show and this episode in particular, the single most important thing that you can do to make it more meaningful is share it with a friend who would benefit from it too. And you know how it is a five star rating on either Apple podcasts or Spotify, a like and subscribe on YouTube is what really fuels this experience and gets the show going.

And I can tell you it makes for one happy host. I see every single one of them and it always puts a smile on my face.

So where I want to start on your journey to position yourself as an expert in your field, I want to tell you what you need at the end of the day. And it's all about how you're being positioned in the workplace, how others see you. And it really comes down to personal branding. And I want to explain to you how you can use the tool of personal branding, because I know there is all too much buzz out there about the concept, but to bring it down and make it really, really simple, it's this sweet spot between who you are at your core and how others perceive you in the workplace.

And the middle ground of those two intersecting is personal branding. Now, in order to achieve that, there are a couple of things that you need to do, and I'm going to get into that later, but I want to stick with the problem for a second, because more often than not, you don't hit that sweet spot. Who you are at your core is not how others perceive you at work.

In fact, most of what you want to be known for, what you want to be an expert in, others may not even know about. And this is an issue. And I want to explain that to you with a simple brand marketing metaphor of why this is so hard for us. So if you think about the difference between branding and marketing, branding on the one side is all about a brand's identity, what it stands for at its core.

It could be a brand, could be a product, could be a service, could be a person. And it's about who you are, what you do really, really well, what you want to be known for, what your skillset is, what is it that you do that is unique, that's just different to how everyone else does it. What are your values?

What do you stand for? It's that rich in our world of what lives inside of us. But then a brand can't really survive or can't really thrive Unless it is visible to a certain extent, you can have the most elaborate brand world made up the most elaborate brand identity. But in order to bring it to life and make it meaningful, it needs to be visible to the world.

It needs to be known by others so that they can buy, purchase the brand or interact and engage with the brand. Now, in order to make that happen, You need marketing, you need marketing strategies to bring a brand to life, to promote it, to sell it with the right message, with the right strategies and tactics.

If you don't have marketing, if you don't make it visible, if you don't put it into the spotlight to a certain extent, brand doesn't mean anything. As introverts, I feel like we are great at branding. We are really good at tapping into ourselves, into our personalities, and understanding who we are at our core.

We really know our core identity. That's what we're very much in tune with. But what we don't do is the marketing, the selling, the promoting, the letting other people know, the stepping into the spotlight, making known who we are, what we stand for, what we do uniquely well. And that is an issue right there.

And although I am a big fan of branding and I would love to do branding all day long. In fact, this is what I do in my corporate life. Marketing is necessary, but marketing doesn't have to be that uncomfortable. It doesn't have to be loud. It doesn't have to be awkward or salesy. Marketing can be subtle.

And I think in order for marketing to thrive in the future, it has to be subtle. It has to be genuine, has to be meaningful. And I feel like this is something where introverts could thrive. In subtle ways to get noticed, subtle ways to bring your message across and convince somebody else of who you are, what you do really well and enable them to help you get ahead in your career.

And this is what I want to talk about today. What are some of those subtle ways, some of those unconventional pieces of wisdom that nobody really talks about in corporate. Let's get into it.

Before we get into self promotion though, I want to stick with the branding for a second, because it is really important that you are super, super clear on what it is that you want to be known for. What it is that you do really well. What do you have a special take on? What's your secret sauce? What's your unique selling point to stick with the marketing and branding lingo?

And more often than not. You will tell me that you don't really have anything that stands out about you. You don't have a secret sauce. You don't have a special take or a special approach. And I want to challenge that. I want you to really dig deep and look into how you approach new tasks, how you approach interactions with others, how you collaborate that makes you different.

And I can promise you there is something different in your approach. More often than not, that difference will lie in your unique personality, in your introspection, in your quiet and calm demeanor. I know that is the way it was for me. And I really want you to have a think about how you approach things.

What is the how behind? How you interact, how you collaborate, how you engage with others. That is where you find your secret sauce. And I have three fill in the blank question prompts for you that will further help you drive that clarity. And then I want you to complete. Now, the first one is I am known for, but I really want to be the one they turn to for.

The second one is my superpower is. But I secretly want people to see me as, and the third one is my biggest flex is, but nobody notices because now you'll see they're all fairly similar, but I want you to compete every single one of them because they're They give slightly different angles to the same thing, and they help you uncover some of those nuances that are really going to drive the clarity that you're looking for here.

At the end of this exercise, I want you to have something in mind that you want to be the go to person for. Something very tangible, something that ties in with who you are at your core and bring some of that flavor of your calm, quiet, unique introvert personality.

Now, as promised, I want to give you an example that really brings to life how you can start to influence what others say about you behind closed doors at work. And this is the marketing part. We've done the branding part where you understand what it is that you want to be known for. And now it comes down to making that visible, the marketing and how I like to call it subtle self promotion, because it doesn't need to be awkward or cringey or salesy.

I want to start with a very tangible example to bring this to life for you. And something that I feel like applies to a lot of introverts in the workplace. And this could be a situation where you are really known for being good with data, for data crunching, but what you really want to be known for is strategy.

You want people to turn to you, not only for the data, but also for your strategic insights into them. And this is a transition that can be a little tricky for us introverts, because we're very happy with. You know, putting our head down, doing the work, coming up with a very neat Excel file and providing the data that we were asked for, but how do we take it a step further?

How are we actually going to be asked? How do people turn to us for strategy when they have no idea that we have great strategic insight? Again, this is some of the things that is just a blind spot to others because they can't look into our heads. They can't look into ourselves and see, Oh, this person is not only good at Excel, they also have great insight.

I should ask them for their opinion. It's just not going to happen. So I want to cover three different things that you can do to subtly start self promoting and become known as somebody who has great strategic insight. Now, the first thing I want you to do is to stop waiting for somebody else to give you permission and start giving yourself permission, just start to do strategy.

Offer up your strategic insight. Now, chances are you're crunching data all day long. You have great insight when it comes to data and you can likely easily apply this data into, onto a business context based on what you know, from a data perspective, you likely have ideas, perspectives, suggestions that you can bring to life.

Now you can create a little one pager and say. Based on the data that I have or that I report on a monthly basis. Here are my top insights. Here's how I would turn this into action. These are some of the suggestions and recommendations I have for the business based on the data that I'm providing. That's the first thing that you need to do.

Stop waiting for somebody to tap you on the shoulder and ask you for your strategic insights. It will never happen. Just start applying your strategic insights and offering them up. Now, the second thing. So the first thing you need to do is make your strategic insights known to others. This could be by asking the right questions in meetings.

You know, you have all that data, you have all that insight that sets you up for success when it comes to big meetings where you can ask strategic questions based on these insights. Another thing that you can do is proactively reach out to your superiors or to senior leadership in the organization and have a conversation with them.

Share a little bit of those insights that you have and some of the suggestions that you were thinking about to showcase the That you're not only great with Excel and that you're not only great at putting your head down, but you also have ideas and perspectives based on them. This is not at all awkward or salesy.

It's genuine and it offers them something that they can take away. So it's a win win. Win at the end of the day. Now, the third thing that I want you to do is to position yourself as the go to person for strategizing. And this is where you're going to need to ask somebody else for support. And more often than not, this will be your direct manager, the person who can influence what kind of projects you're on and what kind of work you do.

What are the kind of development opportunities out there for you? So based on this intention from you to move from somebody who is known for data crunching to somebody who is also known for great strategic insight, Ask your boss for opportunities to build that muscle. Ask them to put you on the right projects with the right teams and the right people to strengthen your strategic insight and to be exposed to the parts of the business who take that data and turn it into insights and into actions.

You are already well positioned to do so because you have the data part covered. And now it's down to you taking that next step. And if you lay it out for them like that with a very clear ask or request, it is so easy for them to help you and put you on the right project. So don't hesitate to ask them and thus position your intention.

Let them know what you're there to do. Let them know where you're headed. And then they can help you achieve that.

Now, I have been working in brand marketing for a number of years. Now I work for big, global, iconic brands. And believe me when I say that there is something to be said about the future of marketing and how it doesn't need to be loud and salesy and overly promotional in order to be effective. In fact, the best brands out there.

They will pull their consumers and they will make sure that they build that intrigue, that they build that magnetic pole that draws people into them so that they don't have to shout from the rooftops. That is exactly what I want for you introvert. You don't need to let everybody know what you're great at and what you want to be known for through a megaphone.

It can be subtle, it can be strategic, can really tap into that quiet confidence that you have, that subtle authority. And that way it is so much more fun, but also so much more what you're there to do. And what plays to your personality and what is natural to you. And that is what is most important here.

At the end of the day, what we want to achieve is for you to be really, really clear on who you are, what it is that you want to be known for, where you're headed and making that known to others. That is personal branding and as a tool that can really work for you and help you stand out without having to shout or without having to pretend to be extroverted.

And it does the heavy lifting for you in your career to unlock Work that speaks to you, that plays to your strengths and that fulfills you at the end of the day. That is exactly what I want for us. Now, if you liked this episode, please share it with somebody who could benefit from it too. If you want to stick with me and on the journey of subtle self promotion and personal branding, subscribe wherever you listen or watch.

It means the world to me. Thank you for being here and I'll see you next time.