Three Barriers to Presenting Yourself Professionally.

It's daunting to sum up who you are as a professional for others—whether that's in a LinkedIn profile, a resume and cover letter, or a networking conversation.

Here are the top reasons why:

1) Clarity 

It's hard to see yourself clearly in order to understand what you uniquely bring to the table. There's such a tangle of skills that you can't see the patterns.

To gain clarity on who you are as a professional, you need a mirror.

Whether that's a coach, a mentor, or a trusted colleague or friend, enlisting someone to reflect your skills, qualities, and presence back to you helps you to understand what you beam out into the world—and put it into words.

2) Cohesion

You feel like you are lost and directionless—a mess of disconnected ideas, interests, and stops along your career path.

The challenge lies in tying it all together to tell a cohesive story.

You need to take a deeper look inside what you're made of to identify the thread that runs through all that you do—whether that's a certain skill set, a sense of purpose, or common theme to your work.

Instead of tuning in to the differences, challenge yourself to see the connections.

In this modern job economy, cohesion will not likely come with an easy capitalized label like your job title (Policy Analyst) or industry (Education). Today, our professional identities are personalized and nuanced (advancing equity in education). 

3) Confidence 

When you don't have a clear picture of your skills and you feel like your path is anything but cohesive, it's impossible to present yourself with confidence.

Your attempts will feel artificial, like you're bragging, faking it, or puffing yourself up to act bigger than you are.

Developing clarity and cohesion in your professional identity leads to a grounded sense of who you authentically are—and confidence naturally follows.

You'll stand stronger on your two feet and have the words to articulate yourself to others.

You'll shift from thinking, "I hope I say what they want to hear" and "I hope they'll pick me" to "This is who I am, what I stand for, and what I bring to the table—is this a good match?"

You'll share your talents with a clarity of purpose to make an impact that is meaningful to you.