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Have you ever been given a compliment only to hear yourself responding by minimizing your accomplishment in some way or another? You have? Cool, me too. But I want to stop. And I want you to stop too.
The reasonable and acceptable response when someone compliments you is to say, “thank you.” Of course it can feel uncomfortable to receive a compliment and so that “thank you” may be accompanied with a blushing of your cheeks, a retracting of your eye contact.
For some of us, the discomfort of being complimented manifests in us reducing the significance of what we’ve done, saying, “Oh it wasn’t that big of a deal.” Or worse, it manifests in us shifting the conversation to something else that you don’t do well. It’s a way that we move the attention from us being wonderful to us being flawed—as though a single compliment is really risking us getting big heads. We make others feel that we are approachable—that we are people they can connect with—instead of people who are gifted with immense talent or skill.
So the next time someone tells you that you made some very good points in yesterday’s meeting, resist the urge to tell them how you meant to make several other points, or how you thought your points didn’t really get received as you intended. Instead just say, “thank you.” And then sit with that (maybe awkward) moment of silence until there is something else to talk about. Remember, you deserve the compliment. Don’t push it away.