The Hindu Business Line : Blessed are the braggers

YOU are Mr Meek or Ms Humble, remaining quiet about yourself or, worse, downplaying your success. What happens next? You are under-appreciated, but you don't care. But you would be allowing others to take credit for your achievements. Ah, you suddenly descend from your philosophical heights and decide, "In today's competitive business world, bragging is a necessity." And this is something you always wanted to ask but were afraid to: "Ahem... er... how do I, well... talk about myself?" Peggy Klaus shouts: "Brag!" and that's the title of her book which is about "the art of tooting your own horn without blowing it", to show how to "put your best foot forward — while keeping it out of your mouth!" There's more:

You are living in the Age of the Entrepreneur, even if you don't work for yourself. The workplace is no longer a safe and secure haven for anyone or any career — job security is virtually nonexistent. The only sure thing is that no one is going to look after your best interests except you. And if you don't speak up for yourself, who will?

Brag bites are snippets of impressive information about one's best self, expressed in a brief, quotable manner. They function as memory insurance so that people will remember something compelling about you. They can be dropped into conversations as single gems or woven together to create longer `bragologues'.

Many people shy away from introducing themselves, especially to higher-ups. And when they do work up the courage, they mumble their names at an inaudible level, as if they are embarrassed to get any attention. In larger organisations, particularly, people often skip this basic courtesy. They assume that everyone will magically know who they are and what they do, or that those who need to know them will beat a path to their door.

In today's wired world, you need to master technology and become a virtual extrovert. When contact is infrequent, people tend to think the worst about you, or even worse, think nothing about you at all. Be proactive in your virtual communication so that your presence is felt daily.

If you feel your bragging campaign is falling on deaf ears, is turning people off, or is not getting you where you want to go, trust your intuition — you're probably right. Stop and evaluate: (a) Was what you said meaningful and valuable to the other person? (b) Was it within the scope of the conversation? (c) Did your delivery have both style and substance? (d) Was it the right time to be tooting your own horn?

"But... if you're good at what you do, won't your work speak for itself?" That's all well and good if someone's listening, but these days, in the age of information overload, mergers, and merry-go-round management, you can't assume anything. Remember, other people don't get up in the morning thinking, "What can I do for you?"

Communication research has shown that within the first one-thousandth of a second of meeting you, those in the receiving end have already started clicking off judgments about you. Within seven seconds, they're trying to determine whether they like and trust you, and whether you appear confident and qualified. If they can't decide within that time frame, they spend the next thirty to sixty seconds going through a critical checklist in their heads about you.

Stop reading, and start bragging.

Book courtesy: Fountainhead

CatalystBooks@hotmail.com

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Blessed are the braggers