Episode 51: It’s OK to Self-Advocate

Author: Mike Urgo 

Stop me if you’ve seen these on your feed:

“Today, I’m incredibly excited to share that I’ve officially been hired at…”

“Pleased to announce I have passed the exam for the Certified… (insert acronym here).”

“I am extremely humbled to share that I have been nominated for…”

I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t guilty of posts just like the ones above. Is that a bad thing? The sarcastic troll in me wants to say yes. The truth is, we live in a world where there’s a constant barrage of posts (especially on LinkedIn) of people sharing their accomplishments or life updates. If you’re like me, it can start to feel braggadocious (I had to look this up to see if it was a real word. Turns out, it is).

So where is the line between self‑advocacy and bragging? How do you quiet that voice in your head saying things like:

“This is so cringy.” “I don’t care about their new certification, so why should I post about mine?” “I know so many people who don’t have jobs — I don’t want to shove my successes in their face.”

If you’re thinking about things this way, you’re already on your way to avoiding that line. Before I go further, I do think this ties into imposter syndrome, which I talked about in Episode 21. In addition to those thoughts, I’m continuing to improve myself by tuning out the hater voice in my head. No matter what you post — or don’t post — there will always be people who judge, nit‑pick, or try to bring you down. You can’t move through life worried about those people. Ultimately, you could lose out on opportunities or experiences because of fear.

More importantly, focus on these three things when advocating for yourself:

1. 1. 1. Intention & Purpose
      2. Execution & Tone
      3. Coachability

1. Intention & Purpose

This is the “what.” What are you trying to accomplish? Are you working toward a promotion? Are you compensated based on certain achievements? Do your customers want to know that you’re maintaining up‑to‑date training and certifications?

All of those are more than valid reasons to advocate for yourself.

What about when you’re simply proud of something you accomplished? You don’t need a specific reason to shout yourself out — but this is where tone and execution matter.

This is where the pendulum has swung too far. You see posts that start with how “humbling” the experience was.

Let’s be honest: you spoke at a convention in front of fifty people (tongue in cheek). As my kids say: it’s not that deep.

A lot of that tone comes from the haters in our head creating false narratives that feed imposter syndrome:

“No one cares about this.” “Yeah, you spoke… but there were only ten people in the room.” “Didn’t you just post about a certification last month?”

2. Execution & Tone

The goal may be to highlight an accomplishment, but the post doesn’t have to be just about you.

Take a certification or professional development milestone. Instead of only announcing the achievement, consider which version resonates more:

1. “I am humbled and honored to share that I just passed the Technology Company A exam and am now a Platinum Practitioner.”

OR

2. “Sharing with my network that I am now a Platinum Practitioner for Technology Company A. For anyone in my industry considering this course, I found it informative and helpful in making a greater impact on my customers and internal team members. If you want to hear more about my experience, I’d be glad to share.”

There’s no exact science, but you can see how repeating version #1 every time you accomplish something becomes stale. Not even bragging — just noise.

We’re all stewards of our own brand, and two examples come to mind:

Advertising: Brands need to market to their audience. But the volume and tone of advertising can help or hurt. Same with self‑advocacy. If you call your boss every day to tell them how awesome you were, it loses impact — and may even backfire.

Recruiting (from my college hockey coaching days): At a showcase with hundreds of athletes, some never talk to coaches. That hurts them — if I don’t see them play, I might miss a great recruit. I appreciated when athletes came up and said:

“Hey, my number is 57 on the red team this weekend. I’m interested in your school and would love to hear what you think.”

That’s advocating for yourself.

On the flip side, it was super annoying when athletes or parents stopped me every time to ask if I saw Johnny’s shot last period or how hard he was backchecking. At some point, it becomes too much — and shows a lack of self‑awareness.

3. Coachability

When advocating for yourself — especially in conversations — you may receive feedback. Maybe you thought you crushed a call and wanted to make sure your boss knew. I’ve had scenarios where leadership responded with:

“Yeah Mike, great meeting — but next time be sure we take the time to…”

These aren’t negative moments. They’re positive ones. You’ve shown you can advocate for yourself and that you’re open to learning, growing, and receiving constructive feedback.

In Closing

Don’t be afraid to advocate for yourself and highlight the things you’ve been working on personally and professionally. But when you do, keep your purpose and intent in mind, use a tone that connects with your audience, and when feedback comes your way, don’t take it as a knock — take it as an opportunity to keep improving and doing more.