Free Peggy Klaus by Brag!: The Art of Tooting Your Own Horn Without Blowing It

good as your last film.
    Tom’s strategy for foiling this credit robbery is all wrong. Instead of reining Julie in, he should be planning his own attack, figuring out ways to be seen and heard while taking ownership of his own ideas. A revised bragging plan for Tom is amazingly simple and effective. It begins with him freshening up his bragologue by making a list of everything he has accomplished in the last few months and is planning to work on soon. Once a week he sends this list to his boss, then follows up with a phone call to discuss it. Before each meeting that she is going to attend with him, he shoots off an e-mail to her outlining his ideas. After the meeting he follows up with another note proposing the next steps. He copies everyone in attendance, including Julie. At client luncheons Tom now gets up and introduces himself, talking about his long history in the department. He religiously meets his boss once a month for lunch. And then to really top it off, he even compliments Julie to her face in the boss’ presence for her hard work. This simple gesture raises Tom up a notch by making him appear gracious, knowledgeable, and filled with true team spirit—all the qualities of an up-and-coming player.
    GATHER AROUND THE WATERCOOLER
    “I always take lunch at my desk. Who has time for idle chat?”
    The corporate canteen for lunch, the watercooler, the coffeepot, or vending machines for impromptu gatherings are key bases in your bragging operations. Although generally taken for granted, these spots provide nearly constant opportunities to gain a stronger personal footing with people you may want to impress.
    I can hear it now. Business is business and break time is
my
time. One of my clients, Lucille, used to be a perfect example of this attitude. She always ate lunch at her desk. Frustrated with her lack of progress on the career front, I suggested she change her ways and use lunchtime as an opportunity to casually get to know others. She went along reluctantly at first, coming back to me five lunches later saying, “I’ve been chatting it up, and I’ve even met a few interesting people, but where has it really gotten me?” I sent her back, insisting that she keep to her promise to try it for two months. A few weeks later, I got an enthusiastic call from Lucille, saying, “Well, how do you like that? Who would have ever believed it, but a woman I spoke to at lunch about my BA in women’s studies mentioned to the human resources director that she should check me out to run the company’s new diversity effort. The director just called and I’m meeting her next week.” It’s easier to accomplish the big things in our bragging campaigns when we wake up to the littlest opportunities that were in front of us all along.
    DON’T LET YOUR NUMBERS DO ALL THE TALKING
    “All I need is to deliver the numbers. They speak for themselves!”
    How many times have you sat in a weekly status meeting and heard people moan and groan about the issues they are facing in trying to achieve their goals and objectives? In your next meeting, try something completely different. Share your successes and the tough spots you’ve turned golden. Do it once, and I can guarantee that your bragging campaign will hit high gear and immediately begin to earn dividends that will pay out over time.
    “What’s the point, Peggy?” asks Gwen, a sales rep in the pharmaceutical industry. “My bosses see my numbers, and that’s all they want to hear about—that I’ve met the goals.” I respond, “People like to learn from others how they have overcome obstacles. It’s one of the best bragging tools in your arsenal.” At my urging, Gwen kept a running log every day for the next week. She looked beyond the numbers, and started to write down in detail how she managed to win accounts. At her next meeting, recalling one of her recent victories, she explained to the group how she had worked on one big client for nearly two years:
    He had been on