Last year after a pitch I made to a group of venture capitalists in New York City, I got some well-deserved feedback: don’t be self-deprecating. I unthinkingly opened my pitch with a stupid “Sorry about …” statement. Now, a VC pitch can be brutal. You have less than 5 minutes to convince people to invest in your new business. I was nervous, but I know better. It was a good reminder to never diminish myself - at work, in business, wherever you are presenting your personal brand.
Being self-deprecating is more a problem for women than for men. In Necessary Dreams: ambition in women’s changing lives, author Anna Fels suggests most women self-deprecate. Men don’t. There’s not a lot of research on this topic but anecdotally I would agree. Most men find it easier to use and enjoy their bragging rights. Women seem uncomfortable using their achievements, their well-earned bragging rights, to promote themselves.
In our society, we’ve institutionalized an acceptable form of boasting. We call it “bragging rights.” We give people permission to brag about real accomplishments. Not surprisingly, bragging rights are most often used with sports achievements. Maybe that’s where men first become comfortable with recognition and self-promotion.
On LinkedIn, I recently met a woman named Colleen Chan from Australia. She is a business analyst looking for a job. She’s done something quite clever with her personal brand. She is doing personal advertising with her bragging rights.
Also, recently I read a blog post that struck a chord: Defend Your Personal Brand. Barbara Boxer shows how. Senator Boxer, during a committee hearing, asked a Brigadier General to stop calling her ma’am and start calling her Senator saying “I worked so hard to get that title.” Sen. Boxer obviously understands her bragging rights and her personal brand.
What I tell my kids…
Use your bragging rights to build your personal brand. It’s not about hubris, the word used to describe overconfidence, arrogance, and lack of humility. It’s about self-promotion: giving people information about you with a little bit of bragging rights mixed in.
In my world, I use “Dr.” as part of my personal brand. Like Sen. Boxer, I worked hard to get that title. You should use whatever accomplishments, achievements, licenses, certifications, degrees you have to build your personal brand.
People like successful people. Make sure your personal brand represents your successes. Get comfortable bragging.
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