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Dear friends,
I hope spring is bringing you some peace and optimism as our challenging times continue. This month I want to share some advice that I gave a colleague who is going on sabbatical. Like many of you, this person excels in their work and loathes the idea of self-promotion. We have talked about bragging effectively and using peer amplification to get the word out. I thought of another strategy for staying top of mind that felt acceptable and feasible: the AWARE Share. And yes, it's an acronym (Awareness of Work and Achievements through Relevant Emails). Consider sending quarterly updates to key stakeholders who should be aware of you but are not in your immediate mentoring circle. Here are my tips.
Awareness of Work and Achievement: These shares should include papers, grants, speaking invitations (of course) but also project milestones that advance your long-term goals. Recruiting your first patient for a study or finishing cleaning your data are both true achievements. Building your team, taking on a mentee, or starting a new collaboration are all worth sharing.
Relevance is key. Don't just share the fact, say why this is exciting for your long-term career goals and why you are sharing with them. E.g., "It was so exciting to have a ZSFG patient try on a VR headset for pain management. I knew you would share my excitement about advancing health equity through innovation." If you started a new collaboration, add why it is significant to you.
Email, as much as it tortures us, is still the cornerstone of work communication. Follow good email hygiene, always. If you feel hesitant about adding to someone's inbox, remember how much you enjoy receiving a positive message. For leaders accustomed to hearing about thorny issues and fielding multiple competing requests, an email with positive content is a breath of fresh air.
One way to make your own luck is to appropriately cultivate decision-makers. There is such a wide range in how early-career academics engage with leaders in their field and/or institution. I promise that you will be able to tell if you are over-communicating with leadership, and I would bet that your leaders and sponsors would love to hear more from you.
As always, please send me your good news so that I can amplify it, and share this message as widely as you like. You can sign up at the bottom of the page here for monthly messages from me.
Warmly,
Urmimala