How to Stand Out
How to build your personal brand by letting your personality out at work.
My friend David Wood just wrote a book, Get Paid for Who You Are. It teaches people to take their unique skills and talents and build a business around it. That sounds like a fine idea! The more I thought about it, the more I realized that more and more, we all get paid for who we are, not just what we do.
How to Stand Out
In school, they said good grades would lead to a great college, and then, to a great job. My command of computer science was supposed to skyrocket me to the pinnacle of money and power. Then I hit the real world. It seemed lots of people could program. Who knew? Sure, I created a machine intelligence that could solve poverty, feed the world, and fix climate change. But no one cared. They just wanted a new instant messaging client. Sigh. A lifetime developing skill didn’t set me apart.
These days, you need more. You’re competent? How nice. That means you’re a pleasantly interchangeable cog who can be replaced by a competent person in another country who is willing to work longer hours for less pay.
Use Your Personality to Stand Out
For years, I wore a suit and used words like “value chain.” (And no, not the kind you buy for 40% off from the Walmart jewelry counter.) No one took me seriously. I tried to act like a serious businessperson. But deep down, I just didn’t care how many basis points would cause our projected ROI to win the World Series.
A couple years later, I started a podcast about business. It was very businesslike, and a stunning success. Of course, by “stunning,” I mean “dismal,” and by “success,” I mean “failure.” So I started the https://getitdone.quickanddirtytips.com/, mainly as an excuse to be myself, have fun, and give some good advice in the meantime. It hit #1 in iTunes Business a month later. Hmm…
People like personality! After years of hiding my personality and style, fearing it would be inappropriate in business, I let myself peek out of my shell and Wooph! My alien abduction fantasies become an asset and source of perspective… rather than a matter for the Human Resources director to worry about.
My personal style will even come forth in my book. It’ll be informative and funny. Why? Because I’d go nuts otherwise. I really think it’s more interesting to read about zombies than paper clips. (Unless the paper clips are being used to hold together zombies.)
Use Your Personality to Stand Out at Work
Now that skills are a dime a dozen, what sets you apart from everyone else is … you. People form bonds with you, not your skill set. Yet most of us wait for the weekend to be ourselves. We live based on what we think people expect. Of course, they’re doing the same thing, imagining that we expect them to fit a mold.
If you want to stand out as exceptional, sure, develop your skills. Then enhance them by finding ways to add your personality into the mix. Do you have unique knowledge? Do you know the name for every muscle in the foreleg of the Zambian Water Cricket? Cool. Put it on a poster in your cubicle. Bring it up in conversation. “Melvin, your new pompadour looks just like the mandible on a Zambion Water Cricket.” He’ll be impressed. If you know the local nightlife, start recommending fun ideas for friends and colleagues who have out-of-town visitors; become an unofficial office concierge. Make that part of how you show up!
Standing Out Can Help You Succeed
Your hobbies may make you unique. I once had a career coaching client who was a Zoroastrian Priest. How cool is that? It’s a conversation starter, and I still remember him years later. My friend Steve threw parties and arranged outings to meet people. Four hundred gatherings, total! He got pretty good at it and realized he could throw business parties, too. One hundred fifty business parties later, he is known throughout his industry and getting paid by his company to do what he loves: throw parties! My new friend Brad does improvisational interactive theater on the weekends. If that’s you, tell people! It makes you interesting. Then brainstorm how you can use it to stand out. Maybe by creating an interactive experience at the next customer’s conference that introduces your product in a fun, novel way.
Pay Attention to the Impression You Make
Sometimes your uniqueness comes out in your personal style and voice. I skip instead of running. I say “Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy” and otherwise act like a 9-year old. Sometimes I notice my own behavior and think, “Other people don’t do that, do they? I wonder if they think I’m flaky … Oh, look! There goes a squirrel!” Of course, you need to pay attention to the impression you make. Melvin sometimes sniffs beneath his armpit to double-check his deodorant’s performance. Personal style? Yes. Memorable? Yes. Something he can build on professionally? Yup. He can do quality control for a deodorant company. But that little quirk won’t get him invited to nice dinner parties any time soon.
You may have distinctive dress or appearance. Orit Gadiesh is the Chairperson of management consulting firm Bain & Company. She has purple hair. I remember she has purple hair. My friend David always wears a dapper suit and bow tie. If you’re going to stand out with how you look or dress, make sure you’re utterly professional in every other respect, so people don’t write you off as a misfit. Then once you’re internationally famous, you can relax your constraints and people will just think you’re trend-setting.
How to Start Standing Out
Grab a piece of paper and list some unique attributes: knowledge, skills, style, hobbies, and appearance. For each thing you write, brainstorm two ideas for how you could try bringing that into your work in a way that will help you stand out while bringing more of yourself to work.
Now if you’ll excuse me, it’s a beautiful day outside and I’m going to go skip. Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy!
Work Less, Do More, and have a Great Life!
RESOURCES:
- Visit the Get Paid for Who You Are official website – David Wood’s web site
- Listen to the Get-It-Done Guy’s podcast episode with David Wood – Interview with David Wood
Happy Employee image courtesy of Shutterstock
About the Author
Stever Robbins was the host of the podcast Get-it-Done Guy from 2007 to 2019. He is a graduate of W. Edward Deming’s Total Quality Management training program and a Certified Master Trainer Elite of NLP. He holds an MBA from the Harvard Business School and a BS in Computer Sciences from MIT.Â
