Dual-promotion: How to avoid bragging at work

There’s a fine line between selling yourself and bodaciously bragging about your strengths at work. One claim too many and others may view you as a credit-hog, while shifting the praise could leave you out of the spotlight at the expense of others. 

Bragging doesn’t have to be a dirty word, though. Done right, you can show off your capabilities while still showing gratitude for your colleagues. A relatively new term is picking up momentum within the business world for this exact approach: dual-promotion.

What is dual-promotion?

• Fresh research from the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology has coined the term ‘dual-promotion’ which is promoting peer achievements while singing your own praises
• The belief is that more favourable impressions are made when self-promotion is combined with other-promotion, projecting warmth, likeability and competence
• Examples include highlighting the input of peers on a group project or expressing gratitude and acknowledgement of team contributions when a promotion is received
• According to the research, a surprisingly low number of workers actually engage in dual-promotion: about one-in-eight 

What are the best ways to share accomplishments?

We’re going to stop using the term bragging here because, well, it’s not really bragging. When self-promoting, or dual-promoting, you’re highlighting work achievements. These are the things we should all be proud of but sometimes just feel guilty about because the spotlight can burn too bright when other workers are jealous.

But that’s not on you. If you’re putting in the hard work, you deserve the praise. This is how you can share those accomplishments without feeling like a braggart.

Offer detailed explanations

In the pursuit of humbleness, we can easily lose sight of the important facts. So it’s up to you to share details and insights into just how much work you’re doing, as well as your team. 

Say you’re leading a team that’s not only achieved a specific set of KPIs, but has set some new performance standards. It could be quite easy to respond to praise with something like “The team worked hard, I’m really proud of our achievements” and leave it at that.

But if you can bring together key elements of dual-promotion, you’re showcasing each and every individual involved. Talk about how you had to stay late to ensure certain tasks were finished, acknowledge those days when you were short-staffed so everyone had to step up and take on dual roles, or highlight the innovative ideas that led to time-saving efficiencies. Although those details might feel small to you, they are the things senior management loves, and they showcase your present and future potential. 

Keep good records

It’s one thing to talk about your achievements, but it’s another to record them and too often we forget to update or record our work wins. There are some really simple ways to do this.

• Consider keeping a role overview highlighting your responsibilities and tasks. This is a great way to show your current employer just how much work you have and how your role has changed over time
• Update your LinkedIn profile regularly, showcasing role or career changes. Most modern employers look to LinkedIn so it truly is a virtual resume. Your responsibilities should be relatively succinct, but detailed, and a good quality bio always helps
• Similarly, don’t forget your resume. Sure, you might not be looking for a new role, but it’s still important to update your responsibilities and achievements to reflect your most recent accomplishments

Praise others when sharing news

Sharing updates and broadcasting your own achievements can be difficult. Some people seem to do it naturally but others may feel a sense of reluctance. Balance is the key to success here. 

If you are making a public statement or a social media post, mention your team and colleagues who helped along the way. So start with “I’m proud to have accepted a new role as…” but be sure to include “I couldn’t have done it without…”. Gratitude is essential as it shows how much you care about others and that your progress isn’t at their expense. 

There will be times when you have to self-promote, though. This is when you highlight your own learnings. Acknowledge praise, enjoy it, and then talk about key learnings and how you want to use newfound knowledge to help others. Because even in our most individualistic achievements there is room for shared growth and you can always bring others into the fold.