This Isn’t Self-Promotion. It’s the Truth About You.
Nov 12, 2026The Obvious Choice Career
Become the Obvious Choice™ for What Comes Next.
This is a special series focused on how to uncover and articulate your unique value to get chosen for the opportunities you deserve. For the rising leader and the accomplished Vice President. You are more than the market currently sees, and more than you currently let yourself believe.
Your integrity made you excellent. It’s also why you keep getting passed over.
“I actually passed the bar exam when I was three. I’m a lawyer. I sue people for breathing.”
This rather ridiculous but hilarious line comes from one of Kristen Wiig’s best SNL characters, Penelope, the topper, who is always trying to outdo and one-up everyone in a conversation.
What makes it so funny is that it taps into our universal desire to seek status. There is always someone in the room ready to put themselves in a better light, whether or not it’s accurate or earned.
We All Know This Gal or Guy at Work
And let’s face it, we all know this gal or guy at work. The one who claims credit for others’ work. The one who is always there to speak up and highlight themselves, whether it’s deserved or not.
You’re Probably the Opposite
I’m guessing if you’re reading this, you’re probably the opposite. You truly believe what my dad taught me: keep your head down, do great work, take care of your people, and you’ll get ahead.
So seeing others get ahead by claiming credit instead of doing the work probably bugs you. I know it always annoys me.
Your Great Strength Is Also Your Achilles Heel
I’m here to tell you that your belief that doing great work is sufficient is holding you back.
The integrity that makes you excellent is the same integrity that makes self-advocacy feel like betrayal.
That’s the trap.
The way out isn’t performing. It’s saying what’s already true about you, clearly, so the right people can repeat it. The epitome of yourself, not a persona.
If I can teach you this one belief change, I know you will end up achieving so much more because others, especially the people who matter, will understand your value and treat it accordingly.
Why I’m So Passionate About This
Without it, you don’t succeed as much as you deserve. And the bigger problem is that neither does the business, the system, or the people who work for you.
It’s age-old wisdom: you cannot keep your light under a bushel. It doesn’t serve you, and it doesn’t serve others.
This Isn’t Your Fault. It’s a Skill.
This is a skill and a craft you haven’t developed yet. That’s why I call it executive branding and not personal branding.
What you need to learn is how to uncover and then articulate your unique value, so you become the Obvious Choice in your company and in your industry. That is how the best people rise to a higher level, achieve more results, and have a bigger impact in their work and their life. You need to learn how to authentically tell your story.
Emma Didn’t Believe in Promoting Herself
Emma came to me as part of work I was doing within a company. To say she was reluctant is an understatement. She found this kind of work almost physically painful.
“I don’t believe in promoting myself,” she told me. “The work I do helps my people. Others should be seeing it.”
So we had a heart-to-heart. Others weren’t seeing it. And yes, she resented not being promoted when she knew her work was better than that of the people who were advancing.
What Emma Said Before
“As an operations manager, I support our clients and the organization. I listen closely and create materials that make our services more valuable to clients. I embrace each new challenge with positivity, optimism, and confidence.”
What Emma Says Now
Once she realized this was important for her to learn and do, this is what we came up with:
“I am a catalyst for change and a beacon of support for the people who serve our clients.
I listen carefully, to the person, the system, and the dynamic between them, because the best solution is already living somewhere inside the person who owns the problem. My job is to help them find it. When they do, their ideas are stronger, their solutions more innovative, and their results better than anyone expected.”
This isn’t self-promotion. It’s the truth about Emma.
She was promoted within the year.
Do You Want More?
Do you want more out of your career and your life?
I think you should. You worked for it, and you deserve it. Now is the time to go out and get it. Finally.
The First Step: Understand Where Your Story Is Breaking Down
Over ten years, working with more than a thousand leaders, I built a scorecard to answer one question: where is your story breaking down? I built it for managers, senior managers, and directors who are doing the work and done waiting for someone to notice, because watching talented, hardworking people get overlooked is the unfairness I’ve never made peace with. I call it the Rising Leader Clarity Score™.
5 questions, 2 minutes. You score yourself honestly, not on how you see your work, but on what people say about you when you’re not in the room.
You’ll have something on paper you didn’t have before: one number that shows you exactly where your story is breaking down, and what to fix first. The number isn’t a verdict. It’s the starting point for the bigger career and life you’ve been dreaming about.
Nothing about this score asks you to perform. It simply shows you where your story is clear and where it isn’t.
Take the Rising Leader Clarity Score™
Branding Changes Everything®
Because clarity changes everything.
