Two interesting articles came out this week about how we – and by ‘we’ I mean we women – allegedly stunt our careers or hold ourselves back when we fail to shout about our achievements.

There is a story in the Harvard Business Review, called Four Ways Women Stunt Their Careers Unintentionally, about a woman being passed over for promotion because she hadn’t told her boss what she’d achieved.

Then the Financial Times ran a blog article about a workshop designed to help women speak up and be more willing to go in for self promotion – which entails overcoming their fear of ‘bragging’.

I’m not going to quibble with the statistics, and it’s clear that women executives are still outnumbered. However, I do have two beefs with these articles – and articles like them.

The first is that by going with statistics we forget the large numbers of people who are not part of that trend. For example, I know plenty of women who are tireless self-promoters, and lots of men who are self-effacing and reluctant to push themselves forward.

The second is the underlying assumption that modesty is bad, self-promotion is good, and that it’s a failing to quietly do a good job and let your achievements speak for themselves. This assumption seems to say that, as ever, to pursue a successful career women need to be more like men – the stereotypically ambitious, confident man, that is. 

Rather than dividing this issue between the sexes, I’d prefer to approach it as individuals. Sometimes I’m very confident and happy to proclaim my qualities to the world, and other times I will just cruise along quietly and allow others to have the floor – not because I’m a woman, but because I believe in creating a good balance.

So if you even the playing field and take yourself as an individual, how do you do when it comes to self-promotion? Do you believe you can’t do enough of it and dedicate time every day to shouting about your accomplishments? Or are you the type to blend in, stay quiet and be modest about what you’re doing. And is it actually working for you, or do you need to make some changes?

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this issue - please leave a comment below and tell us what you think.