Those who achieve success make things happen and have developed the ability to be assertive. If your secret desire is a promotion or more money, being assertive can be the key to making your dream a reality.
Not being assertive can doom you to continually being passed over. Wishing for recognition is no longer enough, you have to take real action to be noticed.
In this issue of Promotional Consultant Today, we share these signs from author Jill Johnson that can confirm if you need an assertiveness fix.
Signs You Need an Assertiveness Fix:
1. Do you struggle to get your point across or constantly have to explain yourself? If people take away the wrong message from your verbal communication, then you are not being clear. You are presenting your ideas in a disjointed manner and a jumble of meaningless words. People tune you out and only hear part of what you say. You are talking out loud trying to figure out what your point actually is. You assert yourself on the wrong points and exhaust your listeners as they wait for you to get to a point that matters.
2. Do co-workers interrupt you in mid-sentence or talk right over you? Constantly being interrupted indicates people do not respect you. Worse yet, the ideas you are presenting might actually be poor ones, demonstrating you really do not understand the crucial issues needing resolution. Co-workers may be so frustrated with your lack of insight that they interrupt you in order to keep the focus on the critical issues and keep the discussion moving constructively forward.
3. Do people take advantage of you for saying “yes” to everything? It is one thing to accept new assignments because of an opportunity to learn new skills. It is a whole other thing to give up your nights and weekends because you cannot say no. By trying to please everyone, you make it easy for others to take advantage of you.
4. Do your peers or upper management say you are too quiet? A comment like this is a neon sign demanding that you start speaking up. When they finally tell you this, you are already identified as not being a power-player. If you do not comment on the critical issues, they will wonder what value you really do have. Hanging back and hoping someone will notice the good job you do just ensures you will be overlooked.
Need to be more assertive? Read PCT tomorrow for four ways to boost your assertiveness.
Source: Jill Johnson is the president and founder of Johnson Consulting services, a highly accomplished speaker and an award-winning management consultant. Johnson helps her clients make critical business decisions and develop market-based strategic plans for turnarounds or growth. Her consulting work has influenced nearly $4 billion worth of decisions. She has a proven record of accomplishment of dealing with complex business issues and getting results.
