Have you ever hesitated to talk about your career accomplishments out of fear that it might sound like a shameless plug?
Perhaps that’s because you’re not a pro at self-promotion—yet. Or it could be that self-promotion has long been seen as something women aren't supposed to do. So when it comes time to toot your own horn, you might feel awkward about it.
In their eye-opening study, researchers Christine Exley and Judd B. Kessler found that women often described their work more negatively than “equally performing men.” This finding is sobering but unsurprising; generally, men are seen as confident and assertive when they promote their own accomplishments while women are seen as braggadocious and arrogant. As a result, many women—either knowingly or unknowingly—avoid self-promotion altogether.
Still, self-promotion doesn’t have to feel insincere, and it certainly doesn’t have to be boastful. It can actually be useful in multiple work scenarios, such as:
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Vying for a lead role on a project
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Participating in a performance evaluation
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Pursuing a job promotion
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Networking to change careers, gain industry knowledge, or increase your contacts
Why self-promotion is important
Self-promotion isn’t just important; it’s necessary. “There are many women who are under the illusion that if they work really hard at their jobs, someone will notice and they will get that promotion or raise,” says Marina Field. “The reality is that’s not how it works in many organizations.”
Field—the facilitator and executive coach at Northstar Workforce Solutions—has more than 20 years of experience in human resources and provides career guidance to graduate students as a lecturer at Columbia University. “Practicing self-promotion helps women proactively shape how they’re perceived within the organization. It goes back to that question, ‘What do you want people to say about you when you’re not in the room?’ If you’re not practicing self-promotion, the answer might be that very little is being said about you when you’re not there.”
In other words, self-promotion is important for highlighting the value you bring to a company. Although it’s nice when your supervisor or coworker compliments your work or mentions one of your achievements, you should take control of your professional brand by highlighting your own accomplishments and contributions.
How to improve your self-promotion
For most women, self-promotion is a learned behavior. Take some time to decide how to do it in a way that works for you. Start with these tips, then adjust them to fit your unique brand.
1. Pretend you’re doing it for a friend
If your friend meets a professional milestone, you’re going to celebrate them—even if you find it hard to celebrate your own milestones. “As women, we’re typically very comfortable recognizing the contributions of our peers and hyping up their accomplishments. Consider how you might champion a friend or colleague who has achieved what you have and apply that same supportive approach to your own accomplishments,” says Field. Continue reframing your approach until recognizing your wins feels more natural to you.
2. Take advantage of big and small opportunities for self-promotion
You don't have to wait for the next time someone asks you about your achievements to talk about them. You can promote yourself during lunch and learns, ice-breaker introductions at work functions, and even during regular team meetings. Here’s how that might sound:
Meeting leader: “Does anyone have any updates to share?”
You: “Yes. After reviewing the third quarter report, I can confirm that I have handled all account reconciliations, collecting nearly $7,000 in past-due accounts. This is a big win for the company, especially as we prioritize boosting revenue.”
When sharing your specific contribution, don’t feel pressured to label it a “team effort.” “Many women are comfortable discussing accomplishments and achievements within the context of a team. I’m not saying that the team’s efforts shouldn’t be recognized, but women should also become more comfortable with stating their specific contributions along with the team’s effort. What value did you add as an individual?,” says Field. “Embrace opportunities that come your way to share your accomplishments. For example, when a manager asks how your work is going, use that moment to highlight your achievements.”
If the opportunity to self-promote doesn’t come up on its own, create it. Use any space your company has to share your wins, such as a Slack channel or e-newsletter.
3. Learn to sit in discomfort
The idea that women shouldn’t promote themselves is largely rooted in misogyny and sexism—both constructs that are harmful to women and serve as a direct threat to professional advancement. These ideas can begin impacting many women from an early age, with Exley and Kessler stating that the gender gap in self-promotion starts as early as sixth grade.
As you practice promoting yourself, you will find that other people are uncomfortable with it. While some people will praise you, others might give you awkward silences and funny looks. The moment you commit to not filling those awkward silences or trying to make your excellence more palatable for anyone, the sooner you will be on a path to healthy self-promotion. And health self-promotion can do wonders for your confidence and your career!
Tips for using self-promotion to advance your career
Consider ways you can start incorporating these tips into your daily life to advance your career.
1. Track your accomplishments in real time
Create a central place for all of your wins, such as a notes app or spreadsheet. When you save the company money, reduce the time spent completing a project, or make a dissatisfied customer happy, write it down. Track each accomplishment in real-time so that you don't have to remember it all after you've left the job or the project has ended.
According to Field, tracking your accomplishments can help you feel more confident, especially when “imposter syndrome” or self-doubt sets in. “Whenever you’re in need of a boost of confidence, you can pull out this list as a reminder of what you’re capable of.”
Your running list of accomplishments can also be helpful when you’re talking to leaders within your organization. “They may not have insight into everything that you’re doing and if you have a planned or spontaneous meeting, having that list will allow you to easily highlight the various contributions you’ve made to the company.”
2. Quantify it
Did you supervise five team members? Manage a $10,000 budget? Earn 10 perfect customer reviews? Quantify your contributions to convey the impact of your work. The more specific you are, the more you can help your audience note what you did and why it was useful.
3. Provide context
Saving your company money is a great thing! However, saving the company money when sales are low could be critical to its long-term success. By sharing the circumstances under which you achieved something, you can help new and existing employers and contacts understand just how much your work made a difference. Here are a few examples of how you can provide context to your contributions:
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I coordinated time-sensitive meetings between seven different departments, which was especially important as our company merged with KLM Financial.
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I secured an additional five vendors for our annual fundraiser in 2020, when many of those vendors were still recovering from economic instability.
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While the company was transforming its brand, I collaborated with 15 coworkers to develop the branding strategy as part of a major business improvement project.
4. Define ‘self-promotion’ for yourself
Self-promotion is often likened to bragging, and bragging often has a negative connotation. This has led many women to avoid talking about their contributions. However, Field says that you can redefine this for yourself. “At the most basic level, ‘self-promotion’ even in a work setting is bragging! An alternative way of defining it that some may find easier to accept is simply ‘advocating for yourself.’”
Self-advocacy—communicating to promote your own interests or needs—that comes from a genuine place and does not involve putting another woman down is what sets self-promotion apart from bragging. This is a right that every woman should exercise.
Self-promotion in remote work environments
Field notes that women who work remotely should be especially adamant about self-promotion. “For those who work remotely, out of sight may mean out of mind depending on the culture of their organization. Some managers don’t believe that employees working remotely are as effective as those that they are sitting next to. So in this context, it may be even more important to make your achievements clearly visible to your manager and other key stakeholders.”
This might mean attending more team huddles, showing up on camera more often, and attending more virtual happy hours, but the increased visibility could substantially aid your self-promotion and help you achieve longevity in your career.
