Sharing your accomplishments like a pro

Hey friend,

We are entering the final months of the year, which means year-end reviews will soon be upon us. Are you feeling ready?

Or, perhaps you're starting to think about what's next for you career-wise and are considering moving companies.

Either way, today's newsletter is for you.

Here's the thing, you're probably doing some pretty great stuff. But how are you at sharing all of this great stuff with your manager? How are you at capturing it on your resume so you become the no-brainer choice for that dream role?

If you're like many women I know, you struggle here. And for good reason: many of us have been brought up to think that sharing our wins means bragging, and that's something we don't want to do. So instead, we work super hard with our heads down and hope the right people will notice.

Not a great strategy. Time for a new one.

In today's newsletter, I'm going to share:

• My favourite habit for keeping track of wins
• My top tips for sharing these wins

Let's dive in...

Keeping track of wins

Have you ever been faced with filling out a year-end review form or updating your resume and found yourself wracking your brain to remember what to include? I know I have.

The best way to avoid this is to create the habit of capturing your wins and successes on a regular basis. I tell everyone I work with to do this: Create a brag sheet.

A brag sheet is just a document you keep on your computer that you update weekly with wins and positive feedback you've received. Be as specific as possible when recording these, such as the impact you've created or the measurable result.

Once it's time for year-end reviews, you can pull up your brag sheet and see which items you want to include. Same goes for updating your resume or LinkedIn profile. It's all right there for you.

As an added bonus, if you're feeling a little down or experiencing some imposter syndrome, it can be helpful to read your brag sheet and remind yourself what a total badass you are ;)

Sharing your wins

Now that you've captured your wins and successes, how can you share them most effectively? I see many women get this wrong - they've had some significant accomplishments, but when I look at their resume or annual review, I can immediately see that they aren't effectively sharing them.

There are two things you want to focus on:

1. Be concise

The most common first piece of feedback I provide when someone shares their resume with me is, "Too many words."

The problem is that when you have a TON of information listed, the really great points get lost in the mix. Not only that, but the reader gets kind of...well, bored reading your list of 25 bullet points from your last Project Manager position.

Whether on your annual review or your resume, sometimes less is more. Only list your top accomplishments so they get the attention they deserve. Ideally, 3-5 of them.

2. Quantify your impact

The importance of this can't be overstated. In fact, if you only take one piece of advice from this newsletter, take this one!

When you can share the measurable impact of your accomplishments, they become so much more compelling. If you work in an area such as sales, this is relatively easy, but you can also share the impact from all types of projects and roles.

You want to add tangible numbers wherever possible and also share the broader impact in terms of company goals or the bigger picture. Here are some examples:

• Exceeded target by X%. Grew territory by Y.
• Scaled team from X to Y to achieve Z.
• Completed key project ABC X% under budget (or Y% under time) to achieve Z (result)
• Created process ABC, which was rolled out to X and Y departments to achieve Z.
• Reduced churn by X by implementing Y.

I could go on, but you get it. The point is, quantifying results can mean revenue, but it can also mean time, people, efficiency, etc... Take some time to really think through this and you'll likely come up with something.

I had an amazing guest, Claire Davis, speak with my community this week, and she shared a great tip: If you're finding it impossible to quantify what you've done, add the word 'despite' to convey the importance.

Eg. Successfully completed key company project XYZ despite a limited budget and people constraints.

Adding 'despite' allows you to share the challenging environment, which will help convey the importance of your win.

If quantifying things doesn't come naturally, don't worry. With some practice, it gets much easier. I used to struggle with quantifying my wins or requests, but the more I forced myself to do this, the easier it became.

So there you have it—hopefully, with these tips, your year-end review or updating your resume won't feel so scary!

Until next time, friends... ????

Katy

PS. If you want to learn how to get into my inner circle so you can get access to guests like Claire and learn the tips and frameworks you need to be VP-ready, book a call with me here .