Stop showing off!

The slight burn of shame that comes with hearing these words stings for a child.

So the child learns to stop showing off.

And the child, entering adulthood, takes this with her into the world and tends to stay quiet. She doesn't speak out about what she knows. She doesn't show others her ideas, what she's working on, what she's created.

She doesn't show off.

And she watches in frustration as those around her show off quite a lot actually. They show off in meetings and presentations. They show off what they know, even when they're not asked to.

And they get promoted.

And she feels hard done by and undervalued and sad because she knows she could do that job. That if she were promoted she'd be brilliant at it.

Yet she can't quite bring herself to show off.

It dawns on her that it's not enough to be good at her job, to give hours of herself every day doing excellent things that have real impact.

She realises she has to speak up.

So she starts contributing more in meetings (even when she's not asked to). She puts herself forward for presentations. She talks about what she knows in public.

She sees the value of her contribution reflected back in feedback.

Her confidence grows.

She starts to get noticed. More people seem to know who she is, inside and outside the business. Her manager starts to put her forward for greater and interesting things. People come to her for mentorship. Her team respect her as a source of knowledge and support.

Her growth skyrockets.

Her manager calls a meeting. It's to discuss a senior role that's being created in the team. It's almost like it was made for her.

She gets the job.