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

You would think that Denzell would have jumped all over this chance, but his mission got scuttled for the silliest of reasons: He didn’t want to appear to his co-workers like he was kissing up. It was better not to run the risk of potentially exposing himself to their jealousy and judgments, and quite possibly ridicule and back-stabbing. He might blow his image as a team player. It was much safer to be discreet, stay with his pack, and roam the room in obscurity. There would always be other less public opportunities.
    If you want to get ahead, I have one response to the kissing-up dilemma that Denzell and so many of my other clients grapple with:
Get over it
. The game of getting ahead is the game of being secure and confident in blazing your own trail, and getting in front of the people you need to impress. It’s fine to have co-workers whom you enjoy and respect and to behave as a team player, but what isn’t so fine is succumbing to a herd mentality—to your own detriment, no less. People would rather be approached at a time that they have committed for open-ended mingling and conversing than when they are busy and involved in other things. The very fact they are at a public event is an invitation for you to engage them. And here is another secret: A lot of very senior executives whom I’ve coached have remarked that they often find themselves seated alone at corporate functions because so many people are afraid to approach them. The CEO lonely for some companionship? You bet.

CHAPTER 4
    Techno-Brag: Tooting in the 21st Century
    •  “I never see my boss anymore.”
    •  “I don’t see how bragging will warm up my cold calls.”
    •  “His bragging was a complete turnoff over the phone, but in person it worked.”
    •  “I’m nervous about my virtual presentation to a customer whom I’ve never met.”
    •  “The only time I hear from him is when he wants to toot his own horn.”
    •  “His e-mail has come back to haunt him.”
    When I talk to my clients about bragging over the wires, they complain, “It’s too impersonal.” But when I talk to my clients about bragging in person, it elicits the opposite response: “It’s too personal.”
    So there you are: You can’t win for losing! But let’s face it, more and more workplace communication today is faceless, and if you ignore this critical detail in your bragging campaign, you’re most likely to come up short. Learning how to take advantage of technology—to cast yourself in the best light and deliver your message with impact—is an essential skill when you’re promoting yourself in an e-mail, selling yourself on a voice mail, or tooting your own horn into the telephone receiver.
    Techno-bragging can be used to keep people you want to impress up to speed on your progress and successes in an instant, whether you’re traveling, based thousands of miles from headquarters, have customers and co-workers scattered around the globe, or even when you’re in the office and can’t catch your boss or the person in the cubicle next to you!
    It can be used to open doors that were once closed, letting you make personal contact with professionals whose opinions count. A rather timid junior client of mine was so excited about a speech given by the CEO of his corporation, one of the largest packaged-goods companies in the world, that he boldly sent off an e-mail telling her how her words of advice helped him land a new client. A few days later he got a call and was invited up to the CEO’s office to meet her.
    Effective techno-bragging can keep you in the front of every key person’s mind for all sorts of career opportunities. One client of mine targeted the company human resources director, whom he first met while interviewing for his job, as someone whose radar screen he wanted to stay on. Even though three thousand miles separated them, he communicated with her casually every few months by dropping her an e-mail and occasionally calling to