Leveraging Social Proof for Career Success

Hello, and welcome to The Traveling introvert. Today, I want to talk about having a fan club or having champions in your corner to help you move forward in your career. And this is something I talk about with my clients a lot because one of the first things I advise them to do, no matter where you work, whether you work for yourself, whether you work for a large company, whether you work for a small company, whether you're a 1 person department or a department head of 20. The first question always is, do you have, like, a virtual c c suite? Your own virtual c suite for you, not for your company. Who do you go to when you need advice? Who will mention you in the room of opportunities? And if you don't have The, as introverts, we might not like to speak up for ourselves or we might not know the right way to promote ourselves. Having The people do it for us is a great way to go. And not only that, I'm sure you've all heard of sort sort of, social proof. So having champions, having a fan club, having people who will say how wonderful you are is social proof.

This will help you open doors and get opportunities that you never would have thought about. So how do you go about getting The social proof? I mean, why do you need them, what's the power of it, and how to build the social proof on those relationships. And, also, to be fair, you also should b, that social proof for other people. It should be a reciprocal relationship. And so we all know how competitive the world is, how competitive it is to get jobs, to get promotions, to do this, that, and the other. And so having people in your corner who know your strengths, who know your weaknesses, and who who can speak up on your behalf is key. So going ahead and not just knowing people in your industry. Knowing people in your industry is great, but knowing people outside side of your industry.

It's gonna help you innovate. It's gonna help you have new ideas or outside influence about things that you might not know and could bring into that particular industry or department or role. There's nothing better than seeing something in a different industry like marketing and then bringing tweaking it and making it your own and having it as part of your accounting department to make things better. You can't get new ideas if you're fishing from the same old well. So going ahead and not just thinking going to networking events and being like, who should I talk to? Going to events that aren't necessarily work related or are different industry related so you can start to make those those connections. Therefore, you don't have to think about it as, oh my goodness. I'm going to a networking event. It could be something else that you are just interested in.

Like, why does marketing work the way it us or, AI is really big right now. Just going and taking part in other activities. It could be pottery. It could be archery. It doesn't have to be work related, but you will be surprised at the type of people you might meet doing these things. Things, and you get a more personal connection because you're not just talking about work. You could be talking about horses. You could be talking about crocheting.

All sorts of things can lead you to people who do different things who will advise you or and think of an opportunity and think of you because they've got that personal connection. But you can also be very clear. Hey. This is what I'm doing. I'm at this point in my career, and I'm looking for promotion opportunities, job opportunities, speaking opportunities, networking opportunities, opportunities to travel. Whatever it might be, be clear about what it is you want. And if you no. Right now, that is okay.

It but if it comes up, like, you're like, you know what? I'm thinking about this. So if you hear about anything, please let me know. It doesn't have to be a big ask. You're not asking them to go and troll the websites for you. You're just saying, hey. This is on my mind. This is top of mind. If you know anything, please let me know.

Sometimes something will happen and sometimes it won't. And when you ask, also say, hey. Is there anything that I can do for you? Is there anything specific you're looking for? One I can connect you with and be genuine about it. If you can't, say so. But if you're like, you know what? Let me go and do some research. Let me see x, y, and z. That is helpful. So being a champion for others and being reciprocal in what you do is really, really important.

So cultivating that fan club, that social proof can get you through doors that you never would have thought of, and people will speak for you so you don't have to go out there and brag about what you're what you're great at. Thank you for listening. This is Janice at The Career Introvert, helping you build your brand and get hired. Have a great rest of your day