How to praise yourself at work - and how NOT to - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog

How to praise yourself at work - and how NOT to - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog Is it OK to praise yourself at work? Could?you tell a coworker?something like Hey, let me tell you what I just did it was AWESOME! Is it OK to?send an email to the rest of your team to proudly share ?that you found a creative solution to a tough problem? Can you take a little?time in a project meeting to tell others about that task?you just completed on time and under budget? Most people are reluctant to do that. They dont want to seem arrogant or boastful or like they have a big head.?But if you ask me, its perfectly OK to be proud of the good work you do AND to share that pride with others. Just as an example, If Ive given a speech that I felt went REALLY well (which happens all the time?these days) I share that with my coworkers. I tell them what happened and what it was that worked so well. However, self-praise can become really annoying if you do it wrong :) Here are 8 tips?for praising yourself at work: 1:?Only praise yourself when youve earned it Just like any other praise, self-praise must be earned. You must?have done something awesome before you praise yourself, otherwise its completely meaningless. 2:?Share the praise If you praise yourself for something youve done together with others, then you must include them in the praise. In that case you dont say Im awesome, you say Were awesome. 3:?Dont always only praise yourself Its no good if you always only praise yourself and never recognize others. Its required of all of us self-praisers that were especially?good at acknowledging the cool things others do. 4:?Admit your mistakes too If youre good at praising yourself when you rock, you should be the first to admit when you suck, apologize for your mistakes and be willing to learn from them and improve. People who can only see the good they do and completely overlook?their own flaws ?invite nothing but scorn and contempt. In fact, why not celebrate your mistakes? 5:?Praise yourself with genuine enthusiasm When you praise yourself, do it with an honest infectious enthusiasm. Its OK to be proud of yourself. Its OK to have a smile on your face, a spring in your step and pride in your voice when you share your accomplishments. In fact, it will be received more positively by others than if you do it with false humility. 6: Moderation in all things It goes without saying that anything can be overdone including self-praise. Dont overdo it. 7:?Practice, practice, practice Practice makes perfect. Its banal but true. Try it, see what works and then improve from there. 8:?Be ready to face skepticism Praise is sorely lacking from many workplace including self-praise. This may lead to skepticism and resistance from others if you start doing?it. If this happens, consider carefully if the criticism is because youve gone too far in which case you should listen to it or if its simply that people are not used to it in which case you should continue doing it. Why you should praise yourself We can see four?major advantages of self-praise. First, when you share your successes, others can learn?from?your best practices and maybe apply them themselves. Secondly, genuine enthusiasm is infectious. When you share something that made you happy, others?become a little happier too. Thirdly, you can inspire others to also share their victories, so the whole team becomes better at sharing what works, to the benefit of all. And finally, if you are good at praising yourself, youre not as dependent on receiving praise from others. As Spencer Tracy put it: It is up to us to give ourselves recognition. If we wait for it to come from others, we feel resentful when it doesn?t, and when it does, we may well reject it. And if all else fails, theres always the self-praise machine that an employee at one of our clients built: Your take What do you think? Do you ever praise yourself at work? How do you do it? What are good ways or bad ways to do it? Write a comment, wed love to hear your take. Related posts Praise makes us happier and more productive at work. Heres how to do it. You manager probably thinks criticism is better than praise. He?s wrong. Here?s why. The top 5 ways NOT to praise people at work. How Richard Branson praises Virgin employees. Thanks for visiting my blog. If you're new here, you should check out this list of my 10 most popular articles. And if you want more great tips and ideas you should check out our newsletter about happiness at work. It's great and it's free :-)Share this:LinkedInFacebookTwitterRedditPinterest Related