Professional bragging

No one likes a bragger. In the workplace, however, it is crucial to be able to articulate your value and successes in ways people can relate to and remember. This is what I call "professional bragging." When done well, it is one of the keys to being recognized and rewarded at work.

Learning to see your value
Many people I mentor fail to see the big picture of how their work creates value for the company, customers, or even themselves. Often times, they view success only as large project completions. While major launches are important, I also view success as all the smaller "wins" along the way, including process improvements, learning, cost savings, etc.

The key is being able to consistently assess your value through a broader lens; one in which others can understand, even outside of your immediate team. Some questions to help broaden your lens and identify value:

• How does my work impact our company? Our customers?
• What improvements have I made to our team? Myself? Our processes?
• What positive feedback have I received? 
• How have I grown in the past few weeks? Months?
• Where have I been proactive?

Your list of wins
The questions above can help better identify your "wins." Even small wins are important because of the cumulative value they bring.

My suggestion is to write down your wins each week. Keeping an ongoing list is important for two reasons: 1) it's a great list of accomplishments which we can use as a basis for our future "professional bragging"; 2) it trains the brain into continuously seeing (and seeking) value in our work. At first it might not be easy to think of 1 or 2 things each week, but over time your lens expands and identifying wins comes more naturally.

Making it meaningful to others 
So now you have expanded your lens, and are documenting your wins -- great, time to "brag!"

Just like wins, professional bragging can come in all shapes and sizes. Identifying the appropriate opportunities (or timing), message, and audience is most crucial with professional bragging.

• Opportunities: These are literally endless. It just takes some creativity and awareness to identify them. Some of them can fall in your lap: for example, your boss may ask you to present to senior management. Some may require you to seek out opportunities yourself: for example, requesting to post on your company's internal blog or intranet site. Forwarding an appreciation email to your boss is an (easy!) opportunity, or perhaps you can host a lunch-and-learn session to present new learnings and benefits. The list goes on...
• Message and audience: Utilize your list of wins to help shape topics or ideas. Crafting a message which resonates with the audience is the most important aspect of professional bragging. The message must be one which answers the question for the audience: "Why is this important for me?" This means the focus should remain on value to them and your mutual interests. Answering this question when thinking of your message content can also help ensure your intended audience is appropriate. 

Professional bragging is a skill which takes time to develop. Be sure to continuously assess reactions and feedback to your messages. You will know you are doing well if others refer to them positively or unprovoked afterwards. Ultimately, this can significantly help your career progression, as you become more visible within the company, and synonymous with positive, valuable, and impactful work.