If you’re one of life’s extroverts, congratulations!  No doubt you find it easy to ask for what you want and to argue why you’re worthy of it.

Many of us, though, are not extroverts.  We don’t feel comfortable speaking up for ourselves, being clear about what we want in our career or ‘selling ourselves’. Sadly, this can have a direct impact on our careers. We may not be seen as effective, dynamic or ambitious.

If this is you, happily there are tactics that can be deployed to overcome natural shyness and enable you to have the careers you want and deserve.

1.  Decide what you want

Firstly, and most importantly, you have to decide what you really want. Many of us bumble through our careers without giving enough thought about what we actually want and how to get it. So, invest the time to look at your career over the short, medium and long-term.

It’s easiest to start with the long term, which for the purposes of a modern career is about 20 years. What do you want to be doing in 20 year’s time? Ambition is great, but is it on the right side of realistic? If so, what are the main steps to get there? i.e. what do you need to be doing in 5 year’s time, and again in 10 to 15 year’s time?

When thinking about this, don’t just consider qualifications and technical expertise, think also about the ‘soft’ skills that are important if a leadership position is your goal. Consider how you can excel at managing people, at communicating, being creative, having vision, and being resilient. All of these are skills that can be honed over time and prepare you for the career you want.

2.  Get clear objectives

Once you know what you want, you need to excel in your current job so as to have the best (and quickest) stepping stone to your next role. Be clear on what your objectives are. If you don’t have SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and timely) objectives already, request a meeting with your manager to establish them.

Prepare for the conversation

Understandably, as a shy person, this meeting may cause you some anxiety. Similar meetings in the past may not have had the outcome you desired. There are some ways to make sure that the meeting is a success. The key is preparation. So, it may be useful to follow these steps:

• Write down a list of what you want to cover

• Send the list as an agenda to your manager in advance of the meeting

• Rehearse what you want to say. In this case, it’s that you want to make sure that you are contributing effectively to the team and achieving what your manager requires. To do this, you’d like a list of objectives and you’d like to make sure they’re ‘smart’

• Visualize a positive outcome for the meeting

• Try to remain calm in the meeting

• Work through the agenda items one by one

• Agree when you will meet again to review progress.

3.  Plan

When you have your SMART objectives, you need to turn them into a plan. The plan should be detailed, with key review stages. You should allocate clearly who will do what, and when. And each step should have success criteria.

With such a robust plan, you can then start to implement all of the actions on it.

4.  Review

Finally, attend a review session with your manager. Use the same broad approach as before and give a factual review of the progress of your plan and objectives. No matter how shy you appear, your manager will appreciate being kept informed. Having met all of your objectives, it’s a good point to start discussing what you need to do to take the next step of your career.

There’s no doubt that shyness can be a problem. But, having a clear approach to follow will give you the confidence you need!

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Heather Foley is a consultant at etsplc.com, a UK-based HR consultancy