Many professionals find it challenging to take credit for their contributions and accomplishments.
Maybe you’re humble. Maybe you don’t want to appear overly ambitious or be perceived as arrogant. Maybe it just feels uncomfortable, like bragging or seeking attention.
Being able to thoughtfully articulate your wins, however, is vital to career progression. It demonstrates your capabilities and potential for advancement. It can also lead to greater visibility among stakeholders who influence your organization’s talent pipeline and decide what growth opportunities will go to whom.
And if you’re interviewing, it’s particularly important to showcase your skills and experience in an engaging way, while tying your performance directly to the positive impact you’ve made.
If you find yourself struggling to state your accomplishments, consider using a storytelling approach. Here’s a basic 5-step framework to help you outline your key messages.
- BACKGROUND. Identify 3-4 short headlines that depict the key circumstances and context to set up your story. Example:
In March when our business unit restructured, I was asked to take a newly created role leading a challenging subset of our widget manufacturing facilities. Our recovery from Covid Supply Chain challenges was dragging on beyond what was reasonable and we experienced several lost-time injuries that pointed to lapses in safety protocols. Production output targets were being met, but at a higher cost than planned for. It was clear this was a turn-around situation to get the operations on track with company standards and back to high performance.
- START WITH YOU. Explain your role, charter, vision, or idea … whatever is most appropriate for the conversation or audience. Tell them how you communicated with and enrolled others. Paint a high-level picture of your strategy and approach. Example:
I started by gathering the big picture alongside the details. I met with the plant management teams, key points of contact from other critical functions and partners, and our shop floor teams. I invited their perspectives, experiences and ideas and it wasn’t long before themes surfaced. Numbers always tell a story and our data (plug in whatever is relevant) supported my theories. With a few solutions in mind, I brought the plant management teams together and shared my findings and walked them through my recommendations. I wanted to drive participation and ownership, so I had them work in sub-groups on ideation. As you can imagine, there was A LOT of discussion! It took some time, but we aligned on three key strategies … X, Y, Z (headline these).
- RECOGNIZE KEY CONTRIBUTORS. Real leaders share the spotlight. Identify the main characters of your story and how they played an important role in this success. Stick to 2-4 people who were essential to the effort. Give clear credit where credit is due. Example:
There are a lot of people at each facility and across the organization who contributed to this effort, but if I had to tell you about three, it would be Pat, Ginny and Kevin. They were instrumental in fleshing out and executing this plan. They were the difference makers and I want to recognize their leadership. (Time permitting, prepare 2-3 specifics about each person’s contributions and talents; If tight on time, provide a powerful headline).
- OUTCOMES & ACCOMPLISHMENTS. Identify the results produced and use clear and meaningful metrics when possible. Example:
And here’s where we are now (insert 3-5 key outcomes with metrics that demonstrate the success of your and your teams’ efforts).
NOTE: Be sure to include achievements like cross-functional collaboration, improved communications, identifying future leaders, recognizing and surfacing mistakes early, creating a psychologically safe culture, and so on. These types of transformations are just as valuable as hitting operational targets.
- WHAT’S NEXT? Share any relevant info about the path ahead, plans to sustain success or new opportunities that have surfaced as a result of this work. If that’s not relevant, then invite questions. Example:
There are lessons learned from this process that we’ve identified and have been asked to carry over to some other functions and a few plants outside of our business unit. Our plant managers and staff are driving that effort.
And I see some opportunities to partner with HR to develop onboarding and training programs that can help us upskill early talent and prepare mid-level manufacturing talent for team lead and management roles, so we’re going to explore that starting next quarter. Any questions?
One final thought, like book-ends, consider closing your story with a statement that returns the focus to your personal leadership. Example:
It was a little nerve wracking when I stepped into this role because the challenges were significant and the expectations were high. But I’m thrilled that I was given the opportunity to lead this group and these people. I loved setting the vision and working with such committed associates to execute our strategy. We’ve got a lot of talent on this team and plenty of ideas for how to keep growing and improving, so the chapter ahead is going to be energizing!
Once you’ve outlined your story, practice it out loud with someone you trust to give you honest and constructive feedback. I know … you’re cringing at the thought. Feels like role playing and nobody likes that. But hearing your own story told in your own voice will help you make the right edits and smooth out your delivery.
Storytelling is an engaging way to convey your contributions and accomplishments, while sharing the spotlight with others and building rapport with your audience. If you think about the leaders who inspire you the most, chances are they’re pretty good storytellers.
Give it a try and let me know what you take away from this approach.