The #IAmRemarkable Initiative by Google

A small glimpse into the #IamRemarkable Workshop organised by Google.

For those not familiar with the #IamRemarkable Campaign, this is an initiative by Google to empower minorities or other historically marginalised communities in workplaces. The relevance of such an initiative stems from the fact that people belonging to these communities, especially women, generally feel reluctant to share their achievements or progress, either due to impostor syndrome or because of the modesty norms associated with promoting oneself.

I came across this initiative while surfing through LinkedIn. I felt this would be a beneficial campaign since I struggle with impostor syndrome more than I would like to admit. I checked out the #IamRemarkable website & signed up for the same. The application process is fairly quick, filling out the usual basic information. However, at the time, all the workshops were filled up and I signed up for an email to alert me if any workshops open up soon.

I think I received an email a week or two later and signed up for a workshop on the 10th of August, 2020. Each session has a facilitator, and for the workshop I attended, it was Poornima Katyal from Google. There were around 20 of us for the workshop, from around the globe.

The session started off with the facilitator giving us an introduction to the barriers women & other minorities face in workplaces, and how the modesty norms surrounding self-promotion hamper their growth. And the part about modesty norms really hit home for me because I have always been believed in narratives like,

Do your work silently and sincerely, the results will come to you.

Your work will speak for you.

Talk is cheap, show me the code.

But that day, during the workshop, participants inclusive of women with several years of work experience in both technical & other fields, spoke about how this could hamper your growth. While accomplishments may speak for themselves, this need not be true always. In short, owning your achievements and speaking about them, does add value to your career trajectory and gives you the advantage to craft your own narrative.

One important quote that was mentioned during the workshop that really stayed with me was,

It’s not bragging if it is based on facts.

Another important aspect that was mentioned was the need to differentiate between ‘I’ and ‘We’. Knowing when to use which pronoun, could really help you in owning your individual achievements in a team project. But, it’s crucial to be able to navigate between these pronouns, in accordance with the situation.

One suggestion that came up during the workshop was to maintain a journal that lists all your accomplishments, however trivial it may seem at the time. Why? Because it’s very common to forget achievements or contributions to a project, after a while. Maintaining such a sheet/journal and updating it weekly, helps you keep track of your progress and achievements, and this could turn out to be useful in future when you are applying for a new role or a new job.

Now about the most exciting part of the workshop. Each one of us was asked to write two reasons, both personal and professional, to cite why we are remarkable. And you had to begin each statement with the phrase,

“I am remarkable because…”

And then we had to read these out loud. Once each person finishes reading their reasons for being remarkable, all the other participants would clap, (in our case, we decided to do jazz hands instead of clapping, well because it’s online!)

This was a very wholesome experience — writing these reasons, feeling validated and also being the source of encouragement to others who’re reading out their reasons for being remarkable.

I initially struggled to write down the reasons for why I am remarkable, but then again, this stems down to impostor syndrome, the feeling that my achievements aren’t that great, it’s probably just luck or fraud. But, it’s not expected to be an overnight change. Practising this, in your circles, workplaces and with other people you care about, can really help boost your confidence as well as theirs.

I would recommend everyone reading this to try and attend one session of the #IAmRemarkable workshop, and be a part of this insightful and wholesome experience. There’s no barrier to join, it’s not exclusive to women either. In fact, after attending one session, you can sign up to be an #IAmRemarkable facilitator. A facilitator is expected to organise sessions like these in their circles or workplaces and monitor the progress of the participants through a survey.

So, if you’re struggling with impostor syndrome or just having trouble with self-promotion, I would definitely recommend attending this workshop. While it’s not fair to expect your mindset to change overnight, this workshop is guaranteed to give you a great start!