You have an outstanding resume. You land multiple interviews. And yet somehow, the offers just don’t come through. You’re celebrated as the subject matter expert, but when a new job opens up at work, you’re not even considered. You’re not alone. This scenario plays out day after day amongst highly talented professionals, and causes them to question their capability and lose their confidence.
This isn’t a skills problem, this is a pitch problem. Society teaches us to present information first and ourselves second. Even if you learn the finer points of moving forward proposals or initiatives, you’re still not recognized as the person who is next in line for a promotion. The challenge becomes being so good at our jobs that people want to keep us in these critical roles. While we can fall into the abyss of being a victim of circumstances, I seek to provide you with some tips to help you take control of your career.
Mind Map Your Personal Pitch in 5 minutes
We need to get out of the box that people put us in. You may be a Compliance Manager, a Senior Customer Service Representative or a Senior Director of Operations and people know what those roles are. You are judged on your deliverables against a job description and often without points for creativity. What I propose is for you to go outside the boundaries of a job description and answer a few simple questions about what makes you different. This will help you to position yourself to get a better result in terms of career advancement.
Write down words & phrases that come to mind:
- What am I known for in terms of my technical skills?
- What other skills do I have that I’m really good at?
- What do I do better than everyone else?
- What have other people said about me in passing that I’m good at?
- What am I really good at outside of work and celebrated for it?
Next, circle things that are related to each other to see relationships that showcase your uniqueness.
For those items where there are unique qualities, are there other industries or jobs that celebrate these skills, but maybe use different words to describe them?
Here’s an example for me:
Problem Solver, Cut Through the Chaos, Crisis Management, Speaking, Listening, Facilitating Conversation, Soothing Voice, Organizer
I happen to love music and think of an Orchestra & Symphony as ways of bringing different groups together and blending them into something that is beautiful & productive – so I think of this as building relationships amongst disjointed sounds or activity.
I could now consider myself as:
- The Conductor of Crisis Mitigation
- The Orchestrator of a Problem Solving Culture
- The Drummer of Project Management
I know these might feel uncomfortable at first, but think about it; what if you come out and say: “I’m the Conductor of Crisis Mitigation. I drop into situations and can quickly assess the landscape and bring a crisis into control while maintaining customer relationships.” Enrich this pitch with your experience and you will stand out in a noisy field of other experts!
Sound easy? Give it a try! However, I find these mind mapping activities are sometimes best when bouncing ideas off of someone else. You need to give yourself the freedom of free flowing thinking as you explore these questions for yourself. Finding your personal pitch can be the difference between being simply the expert and having the stand out persona that people talk about.
I offer a 30 minute complimentary consultation to discuss your unique situation because I simply want to help you and others struggle less. I want everyone who is aware they need to try something new to struggle less and achieve their career goals.
For more information about The Drop In C-Suite Academy (CS) dedicated to the aspiring C-Suite leader, simply register to get on the waitlist, email me or connect with me for a quick chat. I can’t wait to help you be successful and reach your goals!
For more resources, you can listen to The Drop In CEO Podcast or check out my book The CEO’s Compass will help you get on track in days not months.
Resources
Good Reads
This week, I’m filling my suitcase with books that have been on my shelf that I’ve been meaning to read. I’ve been so busy creating content that it’s hard to take in new content. While on vacation, I plan to fill my mind with new thoughts and hope to share them with you when I return.
Good Music
I’ve been feeling a little overwhelmed, a touch sad as well as exhilarated for vacation coming up. This music embraces all of these emotions, but ultimately brings you to a place of hope that everything will be just fine. All of these emotions are what makes the human element exciting. I do hope you enjoy this piece.
Good Advice
While my post is about standing out; please know don’t go it alone. We are better because of leveraging the community of supporters and guides to help us to reach our fullest potential. My guest on this week’s podcast had these words of wisdom to share:
“We idolize the individual as the unit of being, right? …but if we think of ourselves as social organizations we would think more collaboratively and inclusively.”
–Mark Monchek
P.S. If you love the podcast, please write a review. Not sure how? We’ve created a quick tutorial to make it easy.