One of the more curious things which seem to happen when entrepreneurs talk about themselves is that some of them either express grandeur or meekness. Neither serves them well.
Grandeur and over confidence is off-putting, creates blind spots in detecting external and internal threats and opportunities. Luckily grandeur is not only easy to spot but also something which gets pointed out regularly and readily.
The bigger problem (in my eyes) is meekness — these are entrepreneurs who, for some reason, don’t like to “toot their own horn.” They don’t like talking about themselves, talk up their achievements and often don’t acknowledge their successes as something they did and which stands out.
The problem with this should be obvious: Investors notoriously invest into stellar teams. Employees want to work for winning teams. Partners want to align with successful players in the market.
What is one to do if you find yourself in this position?
A trick I read a while ago (and since then practiced many, many times) is to write your own “bio” and “brag bites.” It might feel uncomfortable (as many of us don’t seem to particularly like to talk about ourselves) — but it’s an incredibly powerful exercise. Once you’ve written your bio — give it to a couple of people who know you and ask them for their feedback. Based on their feedback you might want to rewrite it and do it again.
Get to a version which your friends and acquaintances agree to represent you in all your beauty and glory (and which likely make you feel a bit queasy) and then try it on. Use it to talk about yourself. Use parts of it as “brag bites” to weave into conversations. Repeat this until it feels natural.
We need you to fully own who you are — it’s the only way you can do what you set out to do.