Throw away the old belief that you shouldn’t brag about yourself. Self promotion, when done correctly, can be a valuable tool to help you elevate your career. Have you ever experienced seeing a work colleague getting promoted, but they performed at the same level as you? Most likely, the main differentiator (their proverbial leg is up) is that they’re taking that extra step in self promotion. Self promotion isn’t a bad thing. Kudos to them for serving as their own advocate, we should all follow their lead. Empower yourself to brag, practice it often. In the end, you should always be your biggest cheerleader.
Self Promotion: Confidence & Strategic Incentives
Create a Personalized Brag Book
Self Promotion: Confidence & Strategic Incentives
For many of you, it doesn’t feel natural and that’s ok. For many of us, including me, it has been ingrained since birth to be modest—don’t ask for anything like a raise or promotion because if you work hard enough it will happen. Yes, it did happen for me but I also feel if I had practiced more self promotion and asked for what I wanted, I would’ve climbed that executive ladder a lot higher, a lot faster.
Also, for women, there’s a clear gender gap for self-promotion. Harvard Business Review found a large gender gap in self-promotion—with men rating their performance 33% higher than equally performing women. To understand the main drivers for the gap, they looked at two factors that might influence one’s level of self-promotion:
Confidence: You’re unsure of your actual performance
Strategic Incentives: You may talk up your performance to get a raise or promotion
Overall, they hypothesize that women were simply less confident than men in their performance and men were overconfident; and knowing this, men were more willing to take advantage of this system. Although more research needs to be done on the causes of the gender gap, one thing is clear—we need to start self promoting.
The B.R.A.G. Method
For those that struggle with swagger, here is a way to make it feel less unpleasant. Use the following method:
Be yourself, believe in yourself.
Reveal your top 3 strengths.
Achievements with numbers.
Ground yourself in gratitude.
Use this easy way to promote your wins during your performance reviews and manager 1:1s. If you're in the market looking for your dream job, this is absolutely NOT the time to be humble. Bragging is an art form and essential for moving forward and upward in your career. Self promotion is not selfish or arrogant (when done masterfully), it is your opportunity to showcase your strengths.
Create a Personalized Brag Book
You are the superhero of your story and you deserve the chance to tell it on your terms. When you get the open ended question of “Tell me about yourself…”, come back to this bragging formula:
✨ Be & believe in yourself
💪🏼 Focus on your top 3 strengths (with examples)
📈 Weave in numbers
🙏 Exude gratitude
Brag away my friends, you’ve earned it. Check out our personalized Brag Book template (link below) and guided workbook to help you craft your value story that's worth bragging about.
Need help or have questions? Feel free to email etsy@rocketrygroup.com.
