Own your Professional Success with Confidence Minus the Smug

“I can’t talk about myself” and “I don’t know how to tell my story” is common commentary from high-achieving women. And it's one of the obstacles blocking female career progression.

43% of American women said they would rather give up social media for one week when asked to name something more pleasant than talking about themselves in a room full of strangers.

1,000+ American women surveyed also said they’d rather run errands in the rain (47%) or clean the bathroom (42%). Is it evident women don't like talking about themselves? The research goes further. 69% of women would rather downplay their success than own it, in conversation and on their resume.

This kind of hesitancy (dare I say, reluctance) costs in visibility, promotion and securing a next-level role in the job search. It doesn’t have to be this way.

Telling your career story starts with first knowing your wins, then owning and sharing them with others. It’s time to cozy up to your impact and get comfortable articulating your unique promise of value. It’s a matter of career advancement. If this is a struggle, try one (or all) of these five conversation cures to catalyze your career mobility:

Keep track.

You are forgetful - Join the club! I can’t even remember my kids’ birthday at the pharmacy counter! Counteract your short-term memory loss (or undervaluation) by jotting down your career wins regularly.

Recruiters and hiring managers assess candidates on the proof of performance. They are looking for concrete examples of how you solve problems similar to the ones they have!

Decision-makers can only stomach so many sentences (written or spoken) about work generalities before they’re pining after your unique contributions. If you can barely remember (or believe) your impact, you won’t be able to communicate it when it matters.

Equip yourself with the evidence of your influence by carving out time to jot your wins down. You can do this digitally or with pen and paper. No matter the method, make sure you are storing your details on a personal device or notebook pages. Unsuspecting layoffs happen to the best of us, so ensure you own your stats with little threat of being locked out of them. If you’ve neglected this area of your career, check out 101 Questions for Women to Uncover Wins for Career Advancement to get started.

See your wins as data.

Once you have a record of your impact, take the emotion out of it. View your wins as data. I’m talking metrics around money, time, percentages, and before and after Cinderella stories. Here’s some food for thought to get you started on your data:

PEOPLE

Did the peopleI manage earn awards?
Win (multiple) promotions?
Recruited by peers or highly esteemed organizations?

Achieve "firsts" under your leadership?

COMPARISON

How have I performed compared to predecessor(s) in the role? Peers in the same role?
Team/departmental targets from the year or quarters prior?
Prior year(s)/quarter performance?
Industry averages/standards?

MONEY

Did I propose or work with a budget of a certain dollar amount?
Did I increase sales or profitability? By how much?
Was I able to reduce expenses?

TIME

Did I decrease delivery or turnaround time on a project? How?
Was one of my achievements completed within a tight deadline?
Did I resolve any particular issues? How soon?

PERCENTAGES

Did I increase sales, market share, or customer satisfaction by a certain percentage?
Did I increase efficiency or productivity by a certain percentage?
Did I recruit, work with, or manage a certain number of employees or teams?
Did I implement new ideas, systems, or processes? What was the impact?
How many customers did I serve on average? Did it increase?

Once you’ve nailed down the metrics, separate your feelings about the work to get clear on your impact. It’s hard to argue yourself out of the cold hard facts.

Own your impact.

Don’t you dare retort: “I’m just part of the team,” “I didn’t do it alone,” or “I just led the staff who accomplished it.” Of course, others were involved! Success doesn’t happen in a vacuum.

Own your part and your leadership in it. Honesty? Yes, please be truthful, but accept the work that wouldn’t have been possible if you weren’t there. Here are a few resume bullet examples to demonstrate how you can own your accomplishments with integrity:

Championed product reimagination with a new insights-based framework and prototypes across 4 concepts within a 5-member team.

Designed diverse workspaces based on employee preference in collaboration with architectural firm.

Co-wrote accessible software for a uniform customer experience and standardized knowledge base piloted across 500 reps, later approved company-wide for the 3,000-employee workforce.
Advanced 10 staff members to internal and external promotions under leadership.

Put on the friend mindset.

Most women don’t have any issues sharing about their female friends’ success and wins. Heck, I shout them from the social media rooftops!

View your wins as you would a friend’s. Share your success stories with humble confidence.

Serve up your success.

If not for you, do it for others. Think about your achievements as a way to serve others. 83% of women reported they are inspired by other females who share their success and accomplishments, per a 2019 Survey. Start the uplifting work today!

If reaching your highest potential is your aim, get comfortable owning and articulating your success as a means to secure meaningful work. Go for it! Stake a claim to your career path.

Need a guide to own your brilliance? Check out my digital course, The Resume Key, to unlock opportunity on your terms.

5 Conversation Cures for Career Advancement