Earlier in this Series
Introduction: What Do the Most Successful People Have in Common?
What the Successful People Have in Common, Part 1: Breaking Rules
In the previous article we discuss some qualities seen in some of the most successful people. The first quality we talked about in detail was their propensity to break rules set by society and conventional wisdom. My friend BJ was used as an example regarding his self-praising attitude, in other ways, He Blows His Own Horns.
For those of us who were raised in cultures that spurn people who praise themselves, BJ may be the typical over-complacent type of guy. His enemies would be more than his friends.
What Blowing Your Own Horns is not.
The idea of blowing your own horns may sound like a call to pomposity and snobbishness, but that is not what I’m talking about here. It does not refer to the guy next door who thinks he’s knows more than anybody under the sun and is right 100% of the time. It does not apply to the person who is too conceited to ask for advice or seek help when he or she needs to.
So what is it to Blow Your Own Horn?
To blow your own horn simply means be your own advocate. Put your best stuff on the table and don’t leave it to psychics to figure it out. In fact, there are so many competing talents in today’s world that nobody will spend on ounce of energy trying to decipher who you are and what you got to offer.
If you think I’m teaching some crazy self-centered doctrine, it is because like me, you might have been brought up to believe otherwise. It’s not a foreign principle; actually, that’s exactly what you do when you’re writing your resume. The main idea of resume writing is to put your best foot forward. You don’t leave anything out to guesswork, unless you think you’re not worth something or you don’t want the job.
How to You Blow Your Own Horn and Still be Loved
As I said earlier, tooting your own horn can make you enemies, very easily, I promise you; but you can avoid that by doing it the right way. Is it tricky? You bet. Is it worldly? Not at all.Who said a well written resume will make you enemies? In the same way, you can showcase the best in you through any other way without making enemies.
To do this, follow this rule:
It’s not about you; it’s about the other person. Take a clue from how you write your resume. In resume writing, the emphasis is not the fact that you have a Masters Degree in Deontology or a PhD in Swahili. The focus is on how your experiences and skills can help the employer make money, cut costs, and improve brand name recognition, etc. In the same way, while talking about what you have inside you, let the focus be on what you can help the other person, the other group, or the other institution achieve. You’re not going to make a single enemy but rather more friends, when you’re not the center of the world.
Take Home Message
Be your Own Advocate. Use every means available to you to let the best in you be known. It’s not sin and it’s not pride. It’s how they do it.
