How to Use Bragging

Eavesdropping originally meant standing under the eaves and secretly listening to conversations inside the house. Today it means to secretly listen.

It’s foolish to eavesdrop because you’ll hear things you shouldn’t hear. But imagine eavesdropping on your team members at the end of the day. They’re talking about you.

What would you hear if you heard people bragging about you? What do you wish you would hear?

Brag-worthy actions:

If you heard your team members bragging about you to each other, what would you hear them saying? What if they bragged to people outside work?

Don’t imagine what you hope they will say. Focus on things you believe they would actually say.

Imagine you performed poorly, what will you team members say about you? What behaviors and attitudes would they notice?

What would you love your team members to say about you based on your overall performance as a leader or team member?

Application:

How will you do brag-worthy things today? Don’t settle for things like meeting goals. Think about character traits. Imagine ways of interacting with people.

Bragging in one-on-ones:

When you lead one-on-ones ask, “If I heard your family bragging about you, what would you love me to hear?”

Note: When you move conversations to the family context, you often end up with better responses.

A person might respond, “I would love them to say I’m kind.” Or “I know how to get things done.”

Ask the second question. “Which of your behaviors prompted them to brag? Be specific.”

Challenge: “What could you do today that would cause your team to brag about you in the way you just described?” The goal is to come up with three behaviors.

After developing three brag-worthy behaviors say, “How/when will you put these behaviors into action?”