You may be surprised to find that introduce yourself is the first Raise Your Visibility & Value visibility accelerator. After all, introducing yourself to others seems so simple. What is difficult about saying “hello” and shaking the hand of a new colleague?
Carl is also surprised because, like you, he has been meeting people his entire life. As an adolescent, he found himself at parties introducing himself to new friends. As a young law student, he attended classes where he introduced himself to fellow classmates. Today, as an in-house attorney for a growing software company, Carl “meets and greets” people all of the time – colleagues, clients, and other professionals in the legal profession.
Yet, regardless of the simplicity of an introduction and all of his experience, Carl is not comfortable introducing himself to others. He often avoids introducing himself, missing opportunities to meet new colleagues and raise his visibility with potential decision makers. When Carl “takes the plunge” and introduces himself, he is clumsy and uncomfortable, thus creating a poor first impression.
Like Carl, you are probably one or more of the following when you introduce yourself to a new colleague:
- Inconsistent. Sometimes you introduce yourself to others effectively and sometimes you do not.
- Uncomfortable. You find introducing yourself to be uncomfortable; you either introduce yourself quickly just to get the introduction over with or you avoid introducing yourself altogether.
- Inattentive. You pay little attention while you are introducing yourself – you may be shaking the hand of another, yet your mind has already moved on.
- Underskilled. You do not know how to introduce yourself effectively.
- Underinvested. You do not value the importance of a strong introduction, and you have not thought about building your skill for introducing yourself to others.
Whether you are inconsistent, inattentive, or underinvested, introducing yourself effectively is one of the foundations for raising your visibility in your organization and industry.
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You can find Ed’s book, Raise Your Visibility & Value: Uncover the Lost Art of Connecting on the Job
on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.
