120 min
Draft the update email, today. Use script 1. Facts from your wins log. Recipient: the person from your map whose blank costs the most.
Week 6 of 13Phase 2: Get seen and connected
Talk about your work without bragging
The read (3 minutes)
Here's the distinction that changes this whole subject: bragging is performing, an update is informing. "I'm amazing" is a performance. "The migration finished two days early and tickets dropped by a third" is information your manager needs and can repeat in rooms you're not in. Nobody calls the second one bragging, because it isn't about you. It's about the work.
The update email is the highest-return visibility move that exists for the time it takes. Three lines, sent on a schedule, to the person who most needs to repeat your value, often someone from the map you drew last week. The first time feels strange. After that it's what it actually is: part of doing the job well.
This week you write one and send it. The script does the heavy lifting; your wins log supplies the facts. And if the reply is short, or doesn't come, that's not a verdict. Silence is normal on informational email. You're building a record, not fishing for applause.
This week's moves
25 min
Send it. Pick a morning and send. Don't soften it back down before sending. Check it once against script 2.
310 min
Say one win out loud. Once this week, in a 1:1 or a hallway answer to "how's it going," use script 3 instead of "busy, you know."
Script bank
Word for word, ready to use. Edit any script to make it yours, then copy it.
1.The update email
Subject: "Quick update on [project]." Body: "Wanted to keep you in the loop on [project]. [Result, with a number or a concrete outcome]. Next up: [what's next]. Anything you'd want me to adjust?" Four sentences, no apology for sending it.
2.The result line that isn't bragging
Thing + number + who noticed. "[Thing] is done. [Result or number]. [Name] flagged that it [impact]." No number? Use the before-and-after: "It used to take X. It now takes Y."
3.The spoken win
"Small win worth mentioning: [result]. The part I'm glad about is [why it matters to the team]." Then stop. Don't take it back with "but it was nothing."
4.The private-praise bridge
When praise arrives in private: "Thank you, that helps to hear. Would you be open to mentioning it to [name]? It's relevant to [the target], and it carries more coming from you."
Friday debrief prompts
Your Friday email carries the reply template. These are the prompts inside it.
- What did you send, and to whom?
- What came back? (Silence counts as an answer. Write "silence" if so, and how it sat with you.)
- What will you change in the next one?
Re-entry note
Missed week 5? Send the update anyway, to the most obvious person. You can draw the map this weekend; the sent email is the win.