Dear Reader

August is the month that we celebrate women. It continues to inspire me how the buzz continues to grow around this month. There are some fantastic events and initiatives underway to celebrate women. I wish all the organisers the best for these.

On the plane this morning my thoughts drifted to the developmental work I am doing with a number of senior managers. In our assessment phase of the developmental programmes, we explore their aspirations, developmental needs, perceptions and performance to best define a programme that will impact both the organisation and the individuals.

In so many conversations the issue of creating visibility for yourself in the organisation comes up. So many people are “allergic” to the concept of self-promotion, seeing it as arrogance or vanity. Interesting conversations emerge around remaining authentic. The hard truth is that each person recognises that they need to grow their visibility but are not sure how.

As I contemplated this challenge, I realised that all too often I don’t take the time to consider the work I do and the impact it has. No wonder I find it hard to let others know what I have achieved. It dawned on me that unless we celebrate our successes and ourselves personally, we will never find an integrous way of promoting ourselves. I wonder what impact it may have if we took a moment to reflect on the year to-date and to celebrate it firstly for ourselves and secondly with others in our workplace.

So dear reader, as you enter this month, I hope that you will celebrate who you are and all you do.

Enjoy

Rachel