I recently attended a lovely awards dinner for accomplished women, honoring some truly powerful women attorneys and leaders in their community. A distinguished local politician made an impromptu appearance to acknowledge and praise the awardees. And oh what praise it was… or was it?
This particular male public figure praised not only the awardees, but also all of the high level women on his staff. “What I love about them is that they work sooo hard and don’t even take any of the credit” Well… first you could hear a pin drop. We’re thinking… “No he didn’t… not in a room of 400 women?” Then you could hear the murmuring and buzzing throughout the room. The ugly and uncomfortable reality wafted through the room like the smell of burnt popcorn in the microwave. For some this was an insult, an unrecoverable gaffe. For others this statement should be a wake up call… Need I say more?
All good rainmakers are great at defining their worth, building relationships and offering solutions that satisfy the needs of others. It takes only five minutes to define what you do and how you bring value… when you are prepared, confident and practiced. What the local politico did not understand is that taking no credit is not a virtue.
The time for year-end numbers is quickly approaching… so let this be a lesson to you. Prepare to TAKE CREDIT for all that you do. It may be true that the team helped and maybe the circumstances were favorable… but all worthy rainmakers should know how to work hard and define their value.
Five-Minute Rainmaking Tip:
If you aren’t comfortable or fluent in the art of blowing your own horn, check out the book BRAG, by Peggy Klaus. It’s a great primer on the art of self-promotion.
If you don’t have a strategy for business development, create one that you can use to focus your actions and document your results. Your year-end numbers and future rainmaking potential are at stake!