No doubt that bragging can rub people the wrong way. That is unless a leader has asked an employee to brag. Asking employees to 'brag' about their accomplishments has five benefits. 

1.     It reinforces to the employee the positive impact their behaviors and actions have on results.

2.     "Bragging" to a leader feels good. It gives the employee additional confidence. 

3.     The leader can praise, encourage, and thank the employee for something they didn't see or hear.

4.     It is an excellent opportunity to learn from your employees. 

5.     In groups, it creates a fast, easy teachable moment.

There is an art to developmental bragging. 

Ask for specific examples. Ask the employee, "Tell me what you did really well with a customer today." (Based on someone's position, you can replace the word customer with work or colleague.) You want them bragging about something that actually happened.  

Connect the brag to the employee's actions. At a clothing store, the employee might brag she got a customer who said she was 'just looking' into the dressing room. The leader could ask, "What did you do to get her into the dressing room?" This reinforces the actions. It also creates a learning opportunity for yourself. You can learn something that everyone on your team should be doing.  

Ask the employee to brag about the results. Focus on both the customer and the results. You can do an easy follow-up like, "How did the customer react, and what did they buy?" A non-sales follow-up would be, "How do you think the new vendor you brought on board will save us money?" 

Praise, encourage, and thank the employee. "Great job Sue! Keep that up, and you'll crush this month's sales goal. Thank you." Increase your impact by saying that in front of other employees when possible. 

Conduct group developmental bragging. Doing the above in groups is a fabulous opportunity for other employees to learn from the person bragging. It often turns into a sharing of other ideas and best practices. It also results in the bragger receiving additional praise and recognition from their colleagues.  

So let me ask, what would be the impact if you got your team bragging daily? Get your team bragging!!