It's an essential exchange in the world of work to be seen and heard. —Lisa Bragg

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My son is 17.

If you’ve ever had a teenager in your house, you know…

It’s hard to keep the refrigerator full.

Two full plates of food is normal at a meal.

Then I can hardly believe he’s hungry again a few hours later.

I’m finally starting to adjust to the reality.

Three meals + multiple snacks every day are required just to get him enough calories.

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With meals and snacks on my mind, I was discussing self promotion with a client this week.

He had been of the mind that the work would speak for itself.

He had started demonstrating new behaviors and getting good results.

His assumption was that others would notice the change and he would be rewarded for it.

If there’s one thing I’ve come to appreciate in corporate environments, it’s this.

👉 The work doesn’t speak for itself.

If you want others to notice your results you must point it out.

That is doubly true for new behaviors you are demonstrating to create great results.

Other people are too focused on themselves to notice what you’re doing.

The antidote to this problem is like feeding a teenager.

1️⃣ First, you have to accept that it requires more volume than you think.

Just like you need more food to satisfy a teenager’s appetite,

You need to recognize your wins more frequently to adequately inform others.

2️⃣ Second, balanced self promotion requires both meals and snacks.

You can’t survive on either alone.

In this context, meals are periodic (2-4 times/year) strategic reviews.

You review your prior goals, progress, wins, and where you need help.

Then you set new goals for the coming months.

Snacks are the little wins that you drop into conversations every week.

A snack can be just a sentence or two — highlighting a win from you or the team.

Snacks serve a double benefit — educating the audience on your wins, and recognizing the team members who did the work.

(As a side note, recognition is one of the easiest, cheapest, most effective ways to to boost employee engagement scores).

Self promotion is not selfish, arrogant, or boastful.

It’s a responsible step to support your career and elevate your team.

Where can you best boost your self promotion: meals or snacks?

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To your success,

P.S. Follow me on LinkedIn to snack on multiple weekly posts to become a stronger leader.