ASKING FOR HELP TO GAIN CHEERLEADERS

“Find your cheerleaders. I can’t tell you how important it is for self-doubters to build a hype crowd around them. You need two to three people you can speak to, ask questions, get support from, but most importantly, that you can celebrate your wins with unapologetically. These could be your best friends, peers, a mentor, family member or partner – just anyone who wants to see you succeed and will support you when you need reminding of how great you are”  

Stefanie Sword-Williams Founder of F*ck Being Humble

Don’t be afraid to ask for help!

“Do you ever worry about what other people will think if you ask for advice? Worry about sounding desperate or lacking in knowledge? Well, that’s got to stop here, and here’s why:⁠

Asking for help does not mean people will see you as unskilled or incapable, if anything, they are more likely to keep cheerleading you on because they invested their own time to give you support. People like helping people. So they are more likely to mention your name in rooms you’re not in, they are more likely to reshare the things you do and they are more likely to open doors to opportunities you might not be able to currently access.⁠ Without asking for help, people don’t know who you are, what your ambitions are, or how they might be able to add to your journey.⁠ So please let go of this worry that asking for help will damage your reputation or how people see you.”

Stefanie Sword-Williams Founder of F*ck Being Humble

Ever posted about your ideas or work online, on LinkedIn or in a group chat, and get an amazing response or kind words? When someone shares your work and champions for you, how do you feel? You feel great, right!? Well did you know it’s good for your wellbeing to do it for other people too? Being kind, advocating for or supporting others, and celebrating another person releases more endorphins than if someone does this for you (we heard this once and like it…!) Read this for more info.

TODAY’S MAIN TASK:

Go and find 2 professional bios that you think are good, that you like the tone of and that feel tells the person’s story effectively. 

• Why is this a good bio in your opinion?
• What does it do or say to you that you like?
• List the key areas they have discussed or shared…

YOUR BIO OR PROFILE:

Write a bio about yourself, no more than 200 words. Look back at what you reflected on throughout the course so far. Think about yourself as a whole human, not just an employable one, who are you and what are you about, what do you often keep hidden from people that’s actually super important to you, what do you value and where do you want to go in the future? What plans are you making or goals have you set? What skills do you have? 

Starter 

Name, degree/level of study, place of residence, where you are from if you live somewhere different to your hometown/country 

About you 

What you study, what you care about, your WHY – why you chose that subject/area of study, where you hope to go in the future, what are your goals (personal and professional) 

Skills and abilities 

What are you good at, what do you believe in, how do you approach things, what do people say about you? 

Values and interests 

What are your core values and how do your values affect your goals? What are you interests/hobbies?  

Current situation 

Where are you at, what are you working on or developing, how does this impact your future? 

OR 

Have a go at freewriting using these bullet points as starters: 

• Job title or workplace / Current course or university  
• University degree and other qualifications 
• Hometown or city of residence 
• Personal or professional goals 
• Mission statement and values 
• Skills and expertise 
• Interests and hobbies 

RE-READ IT, EDIT IT, LOOK AT THOSE BIOS YOU LIKE THAT OTHER PEOPLE HAVE WRITTEN, RE-EDIT YOURS… 

EXAMPLES: 

• Man Met Placements: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/13907675/ 
• Man Met Enterprise community: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/12702449/ 
• Professionalising Practice Project P3: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/13761051/ 
• Man Met Alumni: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/2846637/ 
• Man Met Uni Group: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/2846637/ 
• Creative Manchester: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/1492907/ 
• How to use LinkedIn effectively from Man Met careers: https://mmu.careercentre.me/resources/elearning/hub.aspx?redirect=/e-learning/asset/view/1554 

Championing people you think are doing really great things or who might be underrepresented is a great way to develop a voice for how you might champion yourself too. Just like asking for help from a community you respect, seeing people do things that make you smile, or inspire you and celebrating this is a genuinely positive activity, you can share your thoughts in a way that helps you develop your voice for online promotion.  

For this main task, there are 2 sections: 

TASK

Firstly, you are invited to find another person that you think is doing really great work or has a voice you wish to share. It might be someone you have heard from in this course, someone from a talk you went to or a podcast you listened to, a friend or family member, maybe someone you follow on social media who promotes things you believe in. Anything goes! Connect with them on LinkedIn, write a post

State what you are sharing, and why you think it is important. Link what you are sharing to your own ideas or work, think about the why behind your interest in championing this person and/or their ideas or work. Think about your positive language and how you write this, be honest and real, consider how it will be read by other people. 

• Write the post that shares and advocates another person 
• Tag the person you are championing in the post 
• Tag any other organisations or connected places you think are relevant 
• Use hashtags that relate to the content of your post 
• Add an image if there is not a link 
• Or add a link to this person’s work or content 

See this post as an example of how or why you might champion another person:

Stefanie Sword-Williams LinkedIn

Celebration of your small wins, reflection on things that you care about or are proud of from the past, and even asking your network for help, can get you started with your approach to personal championing! 

TASK

Now you are invited to share a post which champions YOU! Think about how you might from this, what do you want to say to the network you are building online, in a professional space, and how can you acknowledge all the learning you have undertaken in this course? 

• TALKING, SHARING & SHOWING: finding a way to communicate what you have done, who you are, or a piece of work you are proud of. Share it! 
• PROMOTION – giving yourself the credit for everything you have already achieved, will help you achieve what you want to do in the future. What have you learnt in this course? What have you discovered? How might you promote your skills, values or ideas for the future? 
• ACCEPTING you are good at what you do, think about praise you have received, or some feedback that is positive. What words did people use to describe you? How did you feel about this? Have you received great feedback from friends or academic staff?