Do you stand out in your job or are you that ‘beige’ person in the background just getting along?<\/p>\n
Many years ago I attended a presentation by one of the most entertaining and challenging speakers I have heard – his name is Richard Sauerman<\/a> and he writes for this blog<\/a>. Early in his presentation he put up a picture of filmmaker Michael Moore holding a sign that said “Abolish the Death Penalty” and then turned to the audience and said: “So what do you stand for and why should your clients or work care?”<\/em> For some it was pretty confronting because many of us didn’t have an answer. I know my answer was pretty inadequate at the time and I knew I had to do something about it.<\/p>\n Sure, I had been in my industry for a long time, I had years’ of experience<\/a> and I thought I knew my stuff but what did I really stand for? I didn’t have the answer. I do now but only because Richard’s question forced me to identity a space I could own.<\/p>\n Do yourself a favour, write down what you stand for and how it benefits you, your work, and your customers or clients. Look at it and ask yourself if it’s any different to what your friends and work colleagues would have written? If not you may need to change.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n In a previous article I talked about an acronym – LAB RAT<\/a>. It was fundamentally about how someone starting a new career or job can fast track their career. The B in the acronym stands for ‘B<\/strong>ecome an expert<\/a> in something' and it is very relevant to this post because if you want to stand out<\/a> it is probably the best way to do it.<\/p>\n The question is how are you going to move from ‘beige’ to your stand out colour? When you stand up to speak in a meeting or when you chat to your colleagues or boss – what will make them listen to your point of view? What credentials do you bring to the table that will force them to sit up and listen?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Whether you are an accountant, an advertising executive, a banker, a doctor, an engineer or whatever it is that you do, the trick is to find something that you can own and then dive deep on that topic. There’s no point in becoming an expert accountant (theoretically all accountants should be expert at what they do), instead you want to find something within accounting for which you become known.<\/p>\n For example, a young accountant at an auditing firm many start developing deep expertise on auditor independence or audit quality. A doctor may become an expert in pain relief; a banker may become an expert in banking technology and its interface with customers; an advertising executive may become an expert on the behavioral psychology of why people share things online and the psychological triggers for campaigns going viral.<\/p>\nThe steps to becoming sought after in your workplace<\/h2>\n