At a DC Web Women event, I listened to Sally Strackbeing speak about “strategic bragging.” She said:
- Stop talking about what you don’t want.
- Identify what you do want.
- Start talking about what you DO want.
Strackbein then asked everyone to raise their hands and repeat after her:
“I will not talk about what I do not want in my life.”
What does that mean? When someone asks you how you are, do you go on about a project you hate? If you do, that is how people will remember you. They’ll think, “Oh, Mary works on these kinds of projects” because you talked about that kind of project. Guess what kinds of projects people will send your way? The kind you do not want.
If you’re unemployed and looking for a job, go ahead and say you’re unemployed. However, tell people you are ready for the next position and/or that you’re ready to help an organization do X, Y, or Z.
Spend your time talking about what projects you LIKE to work on or what you want to do, so people will remember you for that.
Strackbein says to get specific with your stories.
Someone might say they want high-paying clients. Get more specific. When Strackbein searched for a job, she had to get more specific to attain success. After 13 years, her husband left her. She’d been a stay-at-home mom and was a former programmer. Imagine looking for a job in programming when you’ve been out of the workforce for more than decade. Any programmer knows that’s going to be difficult.
Strackbein considered government positions, but she knew she’d have to start back at the bottom and work her way — slowly — back to the top. Instead, she sought and accepted a position with a small software company. At a small company, she could hit the ground running and have more impact. She started at a low salary and then doubled it in a year.
Notice how that story had a problem, solution, and a result?
Each of your true stories should include: Problem — Solution — Result.
The way you let people know what you do is through strategic bragging. Tell true stories about your success to show how you helped someone.
Story Example: Strackbein worked at Occidental College, which used people to register students for classes. As you can imagine, professors did not want to spend their time registering students. The process was old-fashioned and a headache. Strackbein wrote a program to register students. Professors loved it since they did not have to spend days registering students by hand. Students loved it because it was efficient.
More About Sally Strackbein
Sally Strackbein inspires people to discover, clarify and express their value through speaking and storytelling. Her presentations, workshops, and coaching help her clients create and deliver messages that motivate, educate, or sell.
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Great article! It can be a challenge to keep the positive thinking and visualization first in your mind, but it’s completely worth it. During my recent job search, I tried to spend time thinking about the types of things I was hoping to accomplish and only seeking out those opportunities.
I appreciate the comment. Thanks!