Can you afford to be modest?

The world is changing. A host of moral values are under tight scrutiny. For example, is honesty really the best policy? Is being aggressive a liability or an asset today? And, how beneficial is it to be modest?
We grew up in an environment where we were taught to be modest. “I never praise my kids” my mother often said. “I leave that to others.” But in today’s cut-throat atmosphere, leaving praising to others can often be a risky business. Modest people find out, sooner or later, that self-promotion is increasingly becoming an important skill, both in professional and personal spaces. Sometimes it is just that modesty is mistaken as a mark of lack of success. Accomplishment asks for advertisement. Quiet achievements can be underestimated, or even overlooked in the world of shouting neon signs. The sad part is that talent and skills are often found in people who hate to blow their own horn. A lot of such talent goes unnoticed.
There is however, another side of the coin. In case of exemplary success, modesty comes across as a sign of high morals. I once met a man who described himself only as a teacher. It was later that I discovered that he was a very highly respected scientist, and a professor at an Ivy League college. I regard him with much respect now. Had he gone on boasting about himself during our meeting, I’m sure it would have been quite a put-off for me. Humility is in fact, often found in people who have achieved astounding amounts of success. Maybe we can deduce that these are the people who can afford to be modest.
Can you afford to be modest? This is a question most of us will have to answer for ourselves. And then there are other issues to be considered: What is the right amount of self-promotion? What are the right times and places to show off your achievements? An interview, say, is a hardly a place to be modest. On the other hand, how long can friends tolerate ones’ bragging, however justified it might be?
Image management is indeed becoming a forceful part of career management today. If you are humble by nature, you should make sure that someone else is doing the talking on your behalf. It might be your CV in an interview scenario, or a team member on a joint sales call. Certificates, Medals, Cups are symbols of achievements that speak for you. They should always be placed prominently in a setting that is designed to impress. For today, Modesty has become a luxury that only the truly successful can enjoy.