Don't Downplay Your Accomplishments At The Workplace

If you value humility, self-promotion can seem awkward. But keeping quiet could cause you to be overlooked for career advancement.

This article first appeared in The Straits Time, the most-widely circulated newspaper in the country. You can find the article on their website here .

Isn't it ironic that one of the best ways to accelerate your career is to have people see and recognize your effort -- yet for many of us, when that happens, such as when we get praised by our team, our initial reaction is to deflect, and minimized the contribution?

We say things like, "Oh, it's not a big deal. It was easy," or " It's nothing," when in fact, it was a big deal, and it did take a lot of effort. Our curt response is even a surprise to our well-meaning colleagues.

That's how I communicated whenever someone would congratulate me for a job well done. For years, I wondered why I intuitively minimized my own work when I should have been using that recognition to unlock more opportunities.

Recently, LinkedIn released its annual list of Most In-Demand Skills for 2024, and "communication" was on top.

Communication is about collaborating with others, speaking up in meetings, giving feedback, and public speaking. It is also our ability to advocate for ourselves and talk about our work, which isn't an easy thing to do for many of us to do.

Some of the reasons why we may downplay our accomplishments can be due to our childhood. For example, being raised with "quiet culture" traits affect how we show up in the workplace today where there's often a "loud culture" expectation.

Quiet culture traits behaviors such as listening more than speaking, putting our head down, and being humble at work. However, in many workplaces, "loud culture" traits are what's recognized and even rewarded. Loud culture traits are speaking up quickly in meetings, seamlessly socializing internally and externally and talking about wins openly and confidently.

As a person who grew up in a fairly conservative home, quiet culture traits influenced how I acted and communicated with others. If something notable happened, I was taught to minimize the spotlight and to redirect the acknowledgment to be modest, humble, and to not boast.

It's not that I, and others like me, don't feel happy about our work or the praise we get. It's just that we find it hard to talk about our accomplishments and promote ourselves in front of others.

THE CULTURE SCALE

Quiet culture and loud culture traits are not mutually exclusive, however. Sometimes we can find ourselves talking about our work and the things we want with ease. For example, when we're in a casual setting around colleagues we're comfortable with, we can more easily share our frustrations and our triumphs. But, when we're in a more formal environment where there is greater power distance between us and the people there, we can feel stuck advocating for ourselves and our ideas.

In my years working as a communication consultant with people raised with quiet culture traits, I have discovered that there is a group of us who fluctuate between this quiet and loud paradox.

One of my clients, Helen Grayson, is a forensic scientist working at one of the busiest crime labs in the US. She said that while she resonates with quiet culture traits, talking about her wins is not that hard with her manager. When they grab coffee, walk to lunch, or even casually chat in the hallway, she can openly talk about her work, achievements, and even the creative ideas she has been brainstorming. However, for Grayson, her ability to articulate her abilities changed once she found herself sitting face-to-face in a meeting with her boss who was now interviewing her for a job promotion.

"It was difficult and unnatural for me to talk about my abilities so explicitly and directly without feeling like I was showing off or being boastful" she said. Grayson said she defaulted to her quiet culture traits, minimized her accomplishments, and spoke little of her technical abilities. She didn't even mention her leadership aspirations, which was why she wanted the promotion in the first place. Instead, she assumed the casual conversation she had with her manager, the sheer number of hours she spent in the lab every day, and the results she produced were evidence enough of how capable she was and could speak for themselves.

"I assumed because she knew me and she knew my work, that was all that mattered. However, I didn't get the job, because she was expecting me to talk about my skills and my abilities in a more confident way. I failed to mention my many achievements over the years," said Grayson. "This was the feedback I got after lost the position."

FINDING A CULTURAL BALANCE

To be clear, humility is an important virtue. Having humility builds character and it increases our emotional intelligence. It can also lead to better interpersonal relationships and enhanced group cohesion.

However, exhibiting extreme humility in the context of a loud culture workplace can diminish our own contributions and mute how capable others see us.

That adage of "too much of a good thing" can ring true here. Research has found that job candidates with high humility scores are less likely to engage in impression-management behavior during an interview, which can affect their ability and potential for being hired.

To find a cultural balance and strike the right tone of humility and self-promotion, we have to see that our struggle with communicating our accomplishments is more than being an introvert or extrovert.

It is reframing how we define humility, especially in the context of a loud culture workplace. Humility is not thinking less of ourselves - it's thinking about ourselves in the right context and offering undeniable value.

To reframe, we should ask ourselves: How can we exercise our cultural values in the cultural context we're now working in? If we know "loud" is expected, how can we be more strategic with what we say and how we say it so others notice? How can we leverage timing and showcase the benefit not just for ourselves, but for others?

For example, if we get a recent shout-out, how can we take that opportunity to pitch an idea because we know timing and being top of mind can increase our chances of getting that yes. Or, taking that positive client note and forwarding it to our boss with a quick "FYI" so they can see us as capable, effective, and proactive. Or, when someone asks us a question, how can we respond with confidence because we know we have the expertise.

Finding a cultural balance is trusting that humility is not about minimizing our contributions. It's about communicating with tact. It's leaning into what differentiates us and ensuring others know about it and the value it brings.

The key, though, is to take initiative because while we know we are doing good work, we have to ensure others keep it top of mind. No one can advocate for us better than we can advocate for ourselves. No matter what we have been taught, we can only build the kind of workplace success we want by showing up and speaking up with conviction.

Jessica Chen is a global communication consultant, speaker, and author of Smart, Not Loud: How to Get Noticed At Work For All The Right Reasons (publishing July 2024). She has also won an Emmy as a television journalist.