In our society, we’ve institutionalized an acceptable form of boasting. We call it “bragging rights.” We give people permission to brag about real accomplishments. Not surprisingly, bragging rights are most often used with sports achievements. But today, we often see it on social media sites, like LinkedIn. People have begun using their “bragging rights” as a form of personal advertising. Here’s an example of a personal ad a business analyst from Australia (at the height of the recent recession) ran on LinkedIn to successfully acquire a new job.
Creative? Yes.
Successful? Yes.
Bragging? Yes.
Another bragging story … Senator Barbara Boxer, during a committee hearing, asked a Brigadier General to stop calling her ma’am and start calling her Senator, saying “I worked so hard to get that title.” Sen. Boxer clearly felt it was important to use her bragging rights to establish her personal brand of leadership.
Bragging Rights
It’s not hubris, overconfidence, arrogance or lack of humility. It’s authentic self-promotion. Every Healthy Leader has the drive to succeed. In “Grounded: how leaders stay rooted in an uncertain world,” our CEO Bob Rosen shares the story of Kay Koplovitz, Founder of USA Networks. Kay’s lessons on healthy leadership: stand up for what you believe, understand yourself and how others see you and balance the passion for winning with being meaningfully centered in your life. In other words, get comfortable bragging, in a balanced and authentic way.
Some Bragging of Our Own
As you know from our last newsletter, “Grounded” was released on October 28th. In the past two weeks, it has jumped on the New York Times Best Seller’s list! We want to say thank you, the Healthy Leader community, for your support and help in making this happen.
Also, our CEO, Bob Rosen, has become a “What’s Hot” hit on Google+. In a few short weeks, he has acquired about 20,000 followers and is engaging younger leaders in new and meaningful ways with our Hangouts on Air. If you’re not following Bob on Google+, go now and do it! You can also get to know more about Bob on his new website.
