Locals promote ‘sucking up’ at work with new book

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Turns out that “sucking up” can be good for your career and your company.

“The Truth about Sucking Up” – a Center for Creative Leadership fieldbook written by University of the Rockies faculty member Dr. Gina Hernez-Broome and CCL staff members Cindy McLaughlin and Stephanie Trovas – gives several reasons to encourage employees to self-promote.

Among their points:

• “Talent does not equal recognition. Many high-performing individuals are overlooked.
• It’s dangerous not to. Everyone is doing more with less. In times of layoffs, the most visible – not necessarily the most valuable – employees often make the cut.
• Your boss can’t know everything. People are busy, organizations are dispersed, and technology has changed the way we work. Don’t let a lack of face-time limit your success.
• Success requires many relationships. Keeping only your boss informed only goes so far. Many people need to know who you are and what you have to offer.
• Your organization should have the right person in the right job. When you keep quiet about your skills and accomplishments or downplay your role, you are limiting yourself and the organization.”

Self-promotion connects the dots between what you do and why it matters. If they are honest, and have integrity and authenticity, employees can promote themselves with positive results, the authors said.

Hernez-Broome, McLaughlin and Trovas have written a second guide, titled “Selling Yourself Without Selling Out: A Leader’s Guide to Ethical Self-Promotion.”

Both books are available for purchase through the Center for Creative Leadership, which has an office in Colorado Springs.