Toot your flute

Apparently Tuesday this week was ‘toot your flute’ day. The day when you are supposed to blow your own trumpet.

If this is something you find hard to do, it might be time to put some effort in.

Unless you are able to let others know how skilled you are you run the risk of, at the very least, not being recognised for you achievements (not getting the promotion you deserve). At worst you could lose your job or not get the job you really should get and be passed over by others who are less skilled than you are.

So how do you ‘toot your flute’?

There is no need to boast

Many people are concerned that what they say might sound like boasting. There is no need to worry about that. You don’t have to say “I’m wonderful.” or “I’m great.” Mohamed Ali could get away with it, but the rest of us might feel a bit uncomfortable trumpeting our achievements in that way.

Stick to the facts

All you need to do is be factual. An easy way to have little ‘aside’ type comments to make at the right moment.

Practice these and be ready with them. For example:

• Yes, that was when I had just finished the project on XYZ.
• I remember that because it was very similar to what I did in sales last year.

Ask questions

The other way to do it is by asking questions. 

This is particularly useful when people make negative assumptions about your achievements or just don’t realise what your role was or what you achieved.

All you do here is ask questions like:

• What do you know about how this project was run?
• What is your understanding of the results that were achieved in this project?
• What makes you think it was John that was responsible for this?
• How do you know that Jane won that order?

And then follow it up with something like:
I think there may have been a misunderstanding here. I’m sure it was completely unintentional. I was the person who got the lead from XXX and got the agreement to double the order.

Be reasonable and forgiving. It always comes across much better than getting cross about the situation. And makes you look good, without making the other person feel defensive.

For more useful questions to help you in check out my booklet: “Questions Made Easy”.