How the Be Visible! Workshop helped Belinda get a promotion in the middle of a pandemic
“… using the skills I learned I was able to package, present my skills and expertise and I got a promotion at work!” — Belinda K, Workshop participant from Uganda.
A little before:
The lockdown phase of the global pandemic came with a lot of idleness and uncertainty about the future.
But as Belinda, a participant from Kampala, Uganda explains, coming across the workshop was the push she needed to carve the space she’s always wanted in her field. Specifically, she felt stuck at work and wanted to make something more meaningful out of it.
She says this is why she signed up for the workshop:
“I’ll admit I was bored; my country was in lockdown. Universities were closed, transport restricted so I was at home scrolling through my feed when I came across the post for the workshop; I was also stuck in a rut at work, going through the motions, I also admired people who seemed to have everything together, who have carved out a niche/space for themselves online and have become the go-to people in their fields; and I wanted to be like that. I wanted my online engagement to be more meaningful and even eventually monetize it. So, the self-promotion workshop was like when you say you want to eat cake and cake ads just pop up all over your socials.”
She also gave an insight into how she felt about things before she registered for the workshop:
“As I mentioned earlier, I was stuck in a rut, unmotivated and frankly bored at work — I could do my work with my eyes closed. I’d been a programme assistant for 4 years and I was done; I felt I’d learned everything I needed to learn and was ready for a more challenging role.”
During the workshop:
According to her, she wasn’t sure how the workshop would be but Be Visible! was very hands-on with each participant and surpassed her expectations. Belinda was also happy to know her problem was not uncommon and it was solvable. “What surprised me is how many people signed up; I liked that it was a sizeable group of people and I was not alone in my struggle,” she said.
She was also particularly impressed by how seamlessly the workshop flowed and the use of technology. “I was honestly wondering how it was going to be done being virtual, but it was wonderfully executed.”
Belinda was impressed by everything: “I can’t think of what didn’t impress me.”
Result: Increased confidence and a promotion at work
Belinda continues to use what she learnt from Be Visible! to improve on her skills and raise her profile. Using the tips from the workshop, she was able to properly highlight her skills and get the courage to pitch them to her Executive Director at work.
Here’s what she says:
“The workshop got me thinking. I found a minute and decided I should be running the leadership programme at work and not just be an assistant. I listed down the skills and found that I had the necessary skill set. So, in July when the organization was re-structuring, I put together a list of why I was the right fit for the coordinator role and in a meeting with our Executive Director, made my case.
With Be Visible!, Belinda is confident that the possibilities of what she can discover in herself are endless.
I’m currently working on a couple of projects; one is a leadership manual for women intending to contest in the upcoming General Elections and the second a toolkit for a youth mentoring programme starting next year; because of the workshop I know the possibilities of what I can do with this content is endless. I’m excited!” she says.
You too could get that promotion, get that job, make that connection while we’re all remote and connecting virtually and even in the middle of a pandemic.
The Be Visible! Your guide to self promotion without feeling icky workshop is a 90 minute programme I created to help people overcome their fears and concerns about self promotion and learning how to do it the right way, making connections and increase their network the easier way. It is a combination of everything I’ve personally learnt about how to network and self promote and what I have seen work for other people.
Previous participants have gone on to improve their self confidence, start new projects, get promotions at work, and increase their global network.
There’s also an ebook and an online course.
