"𝗜 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗹 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗮 𝗳𝗿𝗮𝘂𝗱 𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗺𝘆 𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀."

"𝗜 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗹 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗮 𝗳𝗿𝗮𝘂𝗱 𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗺𝘆 𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀."

Daria (𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘥) said this during our third coaching session. She'd already figured out that her skills belonged to her, not her company.

But now she faced a new challenge: Actually talking about them.

𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗲'𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴:

LinkedIn post draft: "I developed a process that saved 40% of project time."
Daria's edit: "My team and I were fortunate to work on a process that helped improve efficiency."

Interview preparation: "Tell me about your biggest accomplishment."
Daria's practice answer: "Well, I was lucky to be in the right place at the right time..."

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗰𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿.

Every achievement got watered down. Every success got credited to luck, timing, or other people.

During our session, I asked: "Daria, if your colleague John (𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘥) had built that same process, what would you tell him to say about it?"

"I'd tell him to talk about it! It was great work that took months of analysis and testing."

"And when you did it?"

"That's... different."

𝗡𝗼, 𝗶𝘁'𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁.

𝗪𝗲 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝘅𝘁 𝟯𝟬 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝘂𝘁𝗲𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝘄𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀.

Not with arrogance. With facts.

"I designed and implemented a process that reduced project delivery time by 40%."
"I grew my team from 3 to 15 people while maintaining quality standards."
"I successfully navigated the company through its largest crisis in a decade."

𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆, 𝗗𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗮 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝘆 𝘀𝗵𝗲'𝗱 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗸 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗮 𝗳𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗱'𝘀 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸.

With respect. With accuracy. With pride.

The opportunities start opening when we stop shrinking our story.

What's one thing you're shrinking in your story?

#change #executivecoaching #personalbrand