Author: Annabel

For many, the idea of posting a win on LinkedIn is enough to break out in a cold sweat. Sure, some posts make you cringe – the same humble not-so-humble brag on repeat can make anyone hit “unfollow.” But celebrating our wins and advocating for ourselves is essential, especially if you’re a freelancer, exploring a new role, or pivoting your career. If you don’t advocate for yourself, then frankly, who will?

I spent a few years of my early childhood living in the U.S., where self-advocacy is taught from the start. Think “show and tell”: you bring in something from the weekend or holidays and explain why it matters to you. It’s about learning to communicate, present, and share your perspective. I still remember bringing in a cake tin with a Union Flag on because I was the English kid in the class – and of course, everyone wanted to know about the Royal Family (which I knew very little about!).

“Show and tell” isn’t just a cute childhood exercise. It’s an early lesson in sharing stories and speaking up for yourself. Storytelling is how we communicate in the most memorable way. As I tell my clients: if you want someone to vote for you, buy something from you, or support your cause, you need to tell them a story and one that resonates with them. 

So how do we advocate for ourselves on LinkedIn without feeling awkward or boastful? Here are a few ideas for how to post your wins with a dose of grace:

• Celebrate a win while recognizing your team: Highlight the people behind your success.
  
• Share a win along with an insight: For example, “While producing the latest series of my award-winning podcast, I noticed engagement increased when I released shorter video clips and collaborated with guests.”
  
• Open doors for others: “Excited to graduate as a McCain Global Leader from the McCain Institute. It’s been a hugely valuable experience. If anyone is thinking of applying, feel free to reach out!”
  
• Occasionally, just share the win: Particularly in cultures like the UK, where underdog modesty can prevail, we need to get better at championing success, while still cheering on others. Skip “thrilled to announce” and focus on your audience’s interest: what’s your next step, what’s useful or inspiring to them?
  

Self-advocacy and LinkedIn can feel awkward at first, but it’s a skill worth practicing. I’m still learning but my advice is start small, share authentically, and remember – your story is the most compelling way to make yourself seen.

I recently attended a really insightful and important #MediaStrong event, a mental health symposium for journalists, at City St George’s, University of London this past week. It was great to see former colleagues Clarissa Ward and Schams Elwazer speaking and Hannah Vaughan Jones hosting.

Here are my top takeaways:

1) Mentally healthy newsrooms make for better journalism and emotionally intelligent storytelling

2) It’s not just the war reporters and field teams that can struggle. Desk-based fact checkers, UGC teams (which often skew younger) are day in day out watching content that can be traumatic

3) Managers often get a bad rap generally but I know from my own experience that it can at times be a lonely, stressful job with high responsibility. How do we better support newsroom managers?

4) Where in organisations does Mental Health sit? It’s got to sit with someone in the business who has influence AND budget

5) Mental health is often seen and talked about through a Western lens. Are your speakers, courses resonating with different cultures?

6) Talking about mental health needs to be normalised

7) Mental health offerings in newsrooms can’t just be giving employees a number to call should they need it. Training needs to be part of onboarding and then regularly held alongside regular check-ins

8) Training cannot be offered as something you have to fit around your day job.

9) As a Certified Coach, I know that mental resilience can be taught and it’s something we also have a personal responsibility to focus on

10) Peer to peer support is really important and those organisations offering that are seeing huge benefits

It was great to see so many journalists and producers from BBC, SkyNews, #CNN, #NBC, #CBS and #AlJazeera coming together on this issue.

Having worked in a busy newsroom, it’s harder than ever for leaders to be able to make events like these, but I would definitely urge more C-suite executives to participate in the future. Leadership from the very top on this issue is vital to see it through. It’s also critical that leadership that reflects the whole work force is there and definitely more women at that level would be helpful.

If you’d like help working on your own workplace resilience or any other professional or personal development goal, I’m offering a Summer 50% discount on my six-session Coaching block! Head to my Coaching page to find out more.

Today, I want to share a tool that’s great when you’re taking the time to reflect on your strengths, where you’re focusing your time and energy and how you can feel more motivated and confident. It’s called the Zone of Genius. I first came across a version of it through human behaviour hacker Vanessa Van Edwards, Founder of the Science of People.

Evidence shows that people who are really focused on their Zone of Genius earn more money, get promoted quicker and are happier in their work – what’s not to like?! 

Grab a piece of paper and pen (better than doing this on a screen) and draw a table with four columns. The left column is Zone of Genius, then working across – Zone of Excellence, Zone of Competence, Zone of Weakness. You can also think about it as A, B, C, D too. Remember school grades? Start thinking of all the activities you do professionally which would go under these different categories. 

Zone of Genius – this is stuff you’re fantastic at, known for perhaps, things or tasks that get you in your flow, you’re great at these things and importantly you really enjoy them.

Zone of Excellence – this is stuff you’re pretty good at, not the best, you can get these things done easily but you’re perhaps not known for them. This column is different to A – because A is exceptional. This is not that.

Zone of Competence – average column, you might be a little bit embarrassed around these things/tasks but you can do them okay. The thought of doing them can make you feel a bit deflated.

Zone of Weakness – stuff you’re not good at, tasks that take you longer than others, yeah – this is the column of stuff where you suck (and that’s ok – we’re not good at everything).

Here’s my quick example:

What comes up for you when you reflect on your columns?

What percentage of your time is in each?

As Vanessa says, if you really want to utilise your work energy the best way possible – the aim is to optimise the A column and as much as possible give away/delegate B, C and D. 

• How do you reflect on that?
• Are you giving away/delegating your A work sometimes? Don’t do that! You’re exceptional and known for it – lean in!
• How could you better lean into A more?
• How full is your B column? Smart people tend to spend too much time here
• Where could you make some changes?

A reminder of what the impact of all this is? When we really zone in on our Zone of Genius, our productivity increases, our confidence rises and we grow. AND when you know what your B,C and D are – you can hire people in your team that have those things in their A column. Genius, right?

There is still time to take advantage of my 50% off coaching deal. Six sessions normally cost you £540. Right now you can get the bundle for £270! There’s no better time to focus on yourself and your goals.  

This is a topic that comes up a lot for my clients. Spinning plates at work, an overly demanding boss, juggling kids, elderly parents, school holidays, a sick pet, a broken boiler, job insecurity. You name it – the pressures can rain down and often all at once. And I haven’t even got to the news… devastating loss of life on repeat, impunity, incompetent and ineffective leadership. I will be thrilled if I never hear the word “tariff” again.

When thinking about being overwhelmed, a little bit of neuroscience understanding is helpful. The prefrontal cortex is right at the front of your brain. It’s quite small but it’s a key area for our decision making. It’s where we solve problems and anticipate and manage emotional reactions. It uses up lots of battery power! If we perceive a threat in our environment, energy leaves that area and goes to fight that threat. That’s when we might struggle to focus or make a decision. In the immediate, space is helpful and sometimes enough to allow you to regulate. Breathing exercises are also highly effective.

There are a number of Coaching tools that can help when you’re feeling overwhelmed. In a workplace setting, Stephen Covey’s Time Management Matrix can definitely be beneficial. This is where tasks get organised into four quadrants around how urgent and how important they are. What would you put in Q1? Is that task actually Q2? And whatever you put in Q3 – get good at delegating – vital (I can help with this by the way!)

Another useful tool? I’m a personal fan of a “Brain Dump” – where you write down everything that comes to mind that you want/need to do. Often it can be really helpful to do this on a Sunday night as you think about the week ahead. Just this act of transferring everything on your mind to paper is powerful and settles the Sunday Scaries. It frees up space in your head and is an act of decluttering. You’re then in a position to prioritise, organise, schedule and relegate. So for example, replacing the kitchen tiles isn’t going to get done this week (and that’s fine) BUT fixing the bathroom door handle is because I will feel a lot better if this time next week I can shut the damn door. Or, I’m definitely not going to revamp my website this week, but I am going to write my next blog post. Why don’t you give a Brain Dump a try? Remember – there is going to be a lot on that list that just ain’t happening this week.

There’s a lot in our lives that’s out of our control. When we realise what we can control and how we can make small steps of progress that make us feel good, the overwhelmed feeling begins to ease.

If you’re interested in turbo-charging your professional and personal development, I have a 50% discount on a bundle of six coaching sessions. Normally that would set you back £540 but right now it’s an investment (in you) of just £270.