One common thread across all levels of clients has been their internal road blocks to recognizing their accomplishments.  They are so used to living and working day in day out that their record keeping of accomplishments fades into oblivion. Although, there are still the handful that have enough ego for the rest of us, those aren’t the people this blog is meant for – not to mention I am sure many of us wouldn’t mind if there were some choking happening there (wink wink).

When trying to gain perspective on our accomplishments establishing a simple process comes in handy. Take note of the events, meetings, projects you have enjoyed leading, contributing to, participating in, challenge yourself to uncover what you have done well and what you have found satisfying. Let this be your brainstorming starting point. There are two paths upon which many of our accomplishments can be found, work/career related and personal life. For the purpose of this blog we’re focusing on the work/career path.

During your brainstorming session, ask your modesty to take a coffee break for 15 minutes, and then you go to town tooting your horn loudly – on paper that is …This isn’t the time to be critical, or shy, simply write out as many work/career accomplishments that come to mind. Some of us will still struggle at this step, which is why I support the services of career coaches who are trained to ask the right questions and get you thinking and seeing things from a different perspective.

So your modesty has finished their coffee break and has joined you in looking over your brainstorming list of accomplishments. This is the time to review and adjust as required by asking yourself: “What did I do to make this happen?”, “What did I plan, negotiate, create, market, communicate, motivate, mediate etc.” The list of possible action oriented words that can be added to this question is bountiful, so go as far and deep as you like. Then start listing the results of these actions, what was the outcome, how was it successful? What technical career skills were implemented that led to this success?

Once you have all these dots, then you begin to create your short buzz of accomplishments. Each accomplishment needs to be communicated clearly, “Situation, Action, Result”, and in under 45 seconds.

Another key to keep in mind is be careful of bragging versus self-promoting. What do I mean?

Bragging: The team couldn’t have done it without me.
Self-promoting: I enjoyed having a pivotal role within the team.

See the difference? Believe me when those sentences are spoken the receiver certainly hears the difference. It is a fine line we walk in communicating our accomplishments in the best manner possible. The end goal should always be to come across confident instead of cocky. One who is confident in their accomplishments is also able to appreciate, recognize and give proper recognition to others’ accomplishments as well. Those who are threatened by others sharing their accomplishments (i.e. always try to one up the other person); their communication compass leans towards arrogance. Keep your accomplishment communication compass in check at all times to avoid finding yourself in a horn choking situation. : )