I’ve been accused over the years of being too self-promotional, too aggressive, not aggressive enough, unfocused.

All of that is correct.

What I know – at heart – is that no one can promote me as well as I can promote me – on any platform. I suspect the entrepreneurs I work with feel the same way … I mean, who can speak to the value of my product as well as I can? I get that.

I’ve worked with hundreds of recruiters over the years to say nothing of entrepreneurs. I don’t know how many “Managing Directors” who apparently are in charge of staffing their firms I’ve spent time with eating over-priced sandwiches and drinking sparkling water. They all ask the same questions, and they don’t dig into the essence of What Is Really There.

Promote yourself. Get in the trenches, have a viewpoint and go.

I learned this again this week when I saw a Tweet from someone mentioning a milestone that came about as a result of work I’d done four years ago. I’d asked a “colleague” for a reference relative to that work in recent weeks and he’d turned me down  – “so much has changed, wouldn’t want to fudge anything” – yet here was actual data that the work I’d done, the mindbending that had to happen, had had an impact. At the time it put a few people to sleep (old people who shall remain nameless) and, granted, it’d been a while, but it had an impact.

I had to jump into the conversation, saying “glad I could help get here.” In doing so, the poster determined my Tweet to be among his “favorites.”

Don’t be afraid to take credit for your accomplishments. They may take time to simmer, percolate if you will, but they come around. Keep an eye on them and, when they are fully cooked, get in there and take your share.