Why We Need to Self Advocate

I am so happy and grateful that I was invited to attend a coaching session with Girl Geek Sydney; yet entry into this special event was not automatic. Those of us ladies in STEM (I work in UX Design, so that qualifies me) we're asked to write down in 25 words or less, what would we do if we were unstoppable in our tech careers. From this intimate workshop; the need to self advocate was ingrained into my psyche, where more information on this inspiring movement for women in STEM can be found by clicking on this LinkedIn post.

Being an advocate for yourself is more than just sticking up for yourself, and for what you believe to be true, both in your career, and in your life. This school of truth is knowing the right time and place to open your mouth, and to put your best foot forward. Self advocacy does not always give you what you want and/or need, yet gets you closer to achieving your goals, and most of all to be seen and heard for the contributions that you are making, and of which are all valid. Self advocating also means to reach out and ask for help at any stage, when you need that help. Even if you need someone to be a referee for you, if you are shortlisted for your dream job, and your potential employer is asking for a couple of references to call.

Here is a video that illustrates why you need to self advocate in your career, and most of all in your life. You would not want be sinking, if it was not completely necessary now, would you?

That is life, we do not always get what we want. Dear reader, I am sure you can relate to a time when you have asked your boss for a pay rise, usually at the time of your annual performance review. Irrespective as to whether or not your desires were fulfilled, deep down (consciously and unconsciously) you had to self advocate, and justify why you deserve a pay rise, by explaining the types of actions you had to partake in, in order to demonstrate how you added value to your organisation. Such may have involved keeping those all important emails where either your boss and/or client had praised you for a job well done.

I have had many moments in my career, where (like many of us) I had failed to convince my boss (before solely working for myself) that I am worth more to him, and to his organisation. Then the time came to stop self advocating, and upon this recent discovery in my tech career, I did so because I was burnt out, and therefore did not see the point in self advocating. Little did I know, that failing to self advocate in these tense situations had costed me my health, and my client services management career, even though things definitely happen for a reason. Never again will I hop on a ship without a life jacket.

There was another time in my final year of school, where I approached the relevant subjects teacher, and then my year co-ordinator to ask why I was not given an academic excellence award for this subject, while someone else was, and we were both equally ranked at the top of the class. Therefore my need to self advocate was justified. I ended up with a merit award, and the year co-ordinator explained to me the reason why I did not get an academic excellence award was because the other student beat me in a critical exam, despite our marks being equal at the end of the day. Yep, life can be very unfair. It our our prerogative to never ever give up.

Since coming to appreciate the importance of self advocating - it has been a success. With practice, people begin to appreciate and see your point of view, and you talk about it in a way that your needs benefit them, way more than your proposal will benefit you. For example, with my IT support client; the contract was supposed to end a week ago (as at the time of writing this), yet due to half of Australia being in lockdown at the time; I advised this client that I will need to help them out for those reasons, due to people having more time on their hands to get the necessary paperwork back for their jobs, of which overloaded the company's servers and other tech and non-tech resources. I mentioned that I am able to make myself available to help, so to check on servers often, and sure enough a few things had to be configured in order for the work to flow seamlessly with this change in external circumstances. Now my contract has no end date, and this work does not interfere with any other work I engage in, for any other client. Plus I am earning more. Winners all round.

To self advocate, you need to be visible, and to not hide in a corner. No one will see you if you are hiding, and that is a massive disservice to you, and to that people that would appreciate your support, skills, and expertise in times of need. Self advocating also involves asking for feedback, if it is fitting and appropriate in order to do so.

Self advocating is also about taking those daily micro steps towards being good and then great at what you do. For example, if you are learning to code, you can engage in some code, and then ask your instructor to check the lines of code for you, in gathering some valuable feedback. Ask yourself some great questions to your direct report (not just at performance appraisal time, as you need to show initiative) such as "am I achieving what you expect from me?" and "what do you need to see more of from me?" Even if you freelance/own your own business, these questions are still appropriate to ask your clients. If they get upset, then they are not the right client for you.

Another great question you can ask yourself: "how can I add more input into the areas my organisation cares about?" Maybe you might need to initiate a Brown Bag presentation. The answers will come. Do not say that you don't know, because if you did know, what would you need to do in order to build resilience, and to be more visible?

It takes some guts and determination to self advocate, yet that is part of being your own best friend. Failure to self advocate can cost you your dream. It can also cost you a pay rise and/or promotion, not to mention the ability to go out on your own. It could cost you your marriage, and even your health if you are miserable in your career. The epitome of a great career is to self advocate, and to make yourself be seen and heard by being more visible.

#UnstoppableMe #girlgeeksydney #geeq #coaching #debugcareergrowth #selfadvocacy