Take Credit For Your Work!

Happy Monday, Sisters!

Today we’re going to chat about taking credit for your work without seeming “braggy.” This is something that I think women tend to struggle with a lot more than men, for fear of coming across as cocky. But I think it’s a SUPER important skill to have, that can have real impact on your career. 

The first way we can start to take more credit for the work we’re doing, is to simply accept it as it’s given to us. When people commend us for a successful project or great results, it always seems nice to say “Oh, it was a team effort!” or “Thank you, but Kim really put this project over the finish line.” While it’s definitely nice to recognize other people’s efforts, you may be missing opportunities to shine in front of your leadership. 

Start by just accepting the praise! You can say something like “Thank you! I really enjoyed leading this project, and I’m excited to see how the results impact this quarter’s sales.” 

Now, if Kim really did have a big impact on the project as well, you don’t have to cut her out of the credit entirely. Every situation has its own nuances, and this is where we do need to be careful to not step on toes (or piss people off). 

You can say, “Thank you! I really enjoyed taking charge on this project, and I’m excited to see how the results impact this quarter’s sales. I also want to call out Kim’s contributions, as she provided excellent insight.” In this example, we’ve taken credit for leading the successful project, but also ensured that Kim isn’t going to be mad that we took all the credit.  

Now, how can we proactively take credit for the great things we’re doing? In a 1:1 meeting with your manager, you can say “I want to give you an update on the project I’m working on. This campaign is tracking to bring in 22% more leads than last quarter, and I believe this is due to the new campaign I’ve been running. I’m happy to share this project has been a success!” In this example, you brought up your success in a legitimate way, and didn’t pass off the credit to someone else. 

Separately, in your team’s all-hands meeting, you can say something similar to what you said in the 1:1 with your manager. Phrase it in a way that it’s beneficial information for the whole team. Don’t just constantly provide updates to the group that your projects are kicking ass, but occasionally toss out an update on a new campaign you’re running that may impact other team members. 

For example, “I want to give you all an update on a campaign I’ve been running that has been successful so far. Since we’re seeing a 22% increase in leads over last quarter, I’m going to continue to expand the scope of the campaign. I wanted to give the sales team a head’s up about the potential increase in lead volume.” 

I do want to emphasize the “occasional” part of that statement. Constantly talking about your success in public can start to come across as braggy and annoying. So just make sure you’re doing it tastefully, and reserving the group updates for the really awesome things. 

I’ll see you next week. Remember, you can either kick this week’s ass, or let it kick yours!