Don’t be just another penguin

You’ve seen the nature shows. Dozens, perhaps hundreds, of penguins that all look alike and sound alike, randomly scattered about the ice floe.

Which one is Harold?

Nobody can tell which one is Harold, or Marge, or Jackie. Because each one is just another penguin in the quacking crowd.

Looking out at the ice floe, it’s hard to distinguish one from another (except, to paraphrase the famous idea from Seth Godin, in the case of a purple penguin).

So it is in our crowded, distracting world. Companies sound alike. People sound alike. Messages sound alike. We’re all surrounded 24/7 by a tsunami of quacking in the marketplace. You might be Harold Q. McKinsey, the smartest financier on the planet, but to me, you’re just another suit, until you show me otherwise by standing out from the crowd.

How to stand out?

I had an uncle who worked among the bureaucratic masses in Washington, DC, at some forgotten agency doing some unmemorable job. A wisecracking acquaintance summed up his identity as “just another grey-suited DC drone.”

Ouch. That’s a terrible case of Just Another Syndrome.

Our challenge is this: In a noisy world filled with so much competition, we have to earn attention and memory space by differentiating. That’s true of company branding, and it’s just as true of personal branding.

I have worked with hundreds - probably getting close to a thousand by now - of professionals on articulating their personal brand. Whether one-on-one or in group workshops, my method is the same: find the unique differentiators; attach the relevant stories; and summarize a lead message in clear, vivid words (what I call a “memory dart” - like an elevator pitch, but much better!)

Find your keywords

Just as I do with companies, the first step for individual professionals is to settle on 3-4 keywords that epitomize your identity. The things that everybody tends to say are your strongest suit - your DNA-level superpowers. I am an idea-analyzer, a creative synthesizer, and a simplifier. That’s what makes me an effective consultant and author (and why, for many years, I suffered under imposter syndrome trying to be a salesperson).

Collect your stories

We all have unique stories that demonstrate our value. I encourage everyone to create a simple (less than 60 seconds) origin/evolution story that illustrates how you got to where you now are, and a couple of success stories that underline how your superpower has shown itself in the past. If you sit down with me over coffee (or join me in a workshop), you’ll probably hear how my college encounter with calculus and physics provided quite a shift in my life direction (turns out I love complex ideas more than complex math, so my dream of going into Astronomy died a swift freshman-year death).

Develop your memory darts

These are simple, one-sentence phrases (or word pictures, or analogies) that can immediately turn the light on in the hearer’s mind. Just as companies cannot differentiate by talking about 15 things, so we as individuals need to highlight our lead capabilities and strengths. I am the King of Clarity. I actually do several things in that role, but I just want people to remember one lead message: Steve is the clarity guy.

Test-drive and refine

As you begin to assemble your differentiating words and phrases it is extremely helpful to bounce ideas off of others. They may actually have a clearer view of your unique value, because we can’t read the label of the jar we’re in.

Result: clarity and confidence

I’ve seen it profoundly in my own life, and in the experience of others - gaining a grasp of your personal brand (I actually prefer the term “professional value statement”) leads to a much higher degree of confidence in job performance, networking, and job-seeking. Why? Because you’re no longer just another penguin, in your mind or in the minds of others. You are unique and you now have the words to explain it.

All of these principles are more fully explained in my two books, Clarity Wins and The Point.

Of all the training/developmental workshops I do for organizations, personal branding is one of my favorites, because of the immediate and enduring impact it can have on individuals. If you’re looking for a speaker/trainer/facilitator who will help your people get to the point with clarity, contact me.