When I was a little girl, I was taught not to brag or show off. Polite people were humble and deferred compliments. These admonitions followed me into adulthood. Speaking with friends, I wasn’t the only one who was taught humility is a laudable trait. How frustrating it can be when someone else takes credit for our work and ideas! Or, what about trying to deliver those nerve wracking “elevator speeches” to describe your capabilities; how many times have you said the wrong thing to the right person?
Many articles have been written about how to promote you without coming across as a braggart. Promoting my professional persona continues to be one my greatest challenges. My excitement can get the best of me as I head off on tangents or go into too much detail. Recently, I read two articles that resonated with me. The focal points were:
1) Self-promotion vs Self-adulation
2) Who Knows What You Know
The first defines self-adulation as a description of past accomplishments. Self-promotion is a discussion that shares your ideas and goals. The suggestion is not to talk about what you have done, but what you want to make happen. Positive energies excite people. By focusing on actions and ideas, you are offering people the opportunity to engage and converse.
Whether you are speaking with people within your organization or networking outside of your organization, you must remember the 3Cs: confidence, crispness, and clarity. People will take notice and pay attention if you can maintain this focus. First, exhibit confidence: speak up and enunciate clearly. Do not defer to false modesty. If it is a team effort, share this information and make sure to include yourself as part of the team. Second, crispness refers to succinct, easy-to-understand descriptions. Many projects tend toward complexity. Practice describing your work or the challenge at hand as simply as possible, with as few words as possible. If people need to know the details, they will ask. The third “C” clarity is meant to help you focus on the people with whom you are speaking. Why should they care about what you saying? Focus your description on clarifying your vision for the person to whom you are speaking. Your manager’s manager may require a different explanation than a new team member.
The second article focuses on self-promotion as a means for people to learn about you, the value you bring to the table, and directions you hope to pursue. As you prepare your descriptive statements, think about how you and your efforts fit into the larger strategic picture. What was important about the project? How did it help your business unit or the organization’s bottom line? How has the project expanded your perspective? Do you have knowledge that will be helpful to others that you can share? Are there areas you would like to explore?
People may only recognize your talents within the narrow window of a specific work task. It is your responsibility to help them learn the strengths and professional capabilities that you can deliver as it relates to the project under discussion. Be prepared for people to ask you questions and possibly disagree with some of your opinions. Being able to respond thoughtfully and generously to even the most antagonistic query will demonstrate your professional acuity.
Am I Successful Yet? 
I, too, was taught that modesty is a very important virtue. I think you’re right; there is a fine line between modesty and professional martyrdom. Modesty is a virtue and being immodest can be a personal and professional achilles heel. But I will have to re-think the connotation of self-promotion to begin to look at it as promoting my ideas and goals, not promoting me in an arrogant way. Great post!