Tuesday 22 June 2010

Brag!

Over almost 12 years in a range of Management roles at IBM I have taken part in a lot of annual appraisal meetings, interviews, 1-1s, career discussions etc in which I have heard people talk about what they have done.

I'd noticed of course that some people seemed to be better at communicating what they had been up to than others. People's reputations also varied hugely, and not always in line with what I thought I could see of their work.

In a chance conversation with one of my US colleagues over coffee one day he recommended I read Peggy Klaus' book "Brag! The art of tooting your own horn without blowing it."

I did and found it to be a very interesting and thought provoking read that gave me an insight into what I had observed in all those meetings.

Today I got to give a talk at work based on some of the ideas from the book plus some thoughts of mine relating to our particular work environment.

I get a real buzz out of doing presentations like this on topics that interest me and where there are often no clear right or wrong answers. My audience obliged with lots of questions and discussion and the materials that I had prepared proved to be a good fit for the allotted time.

If you are looking for ideas and advice on how to ensure that you are effectively communicating your achievements and desires for the future then I really recommend Peggy's book to you.