How To Differentiate Yourself In the Marketplace

According to Toni Newman, a catalyst for strategic innovation, improving your business incrementally year after year is no longer good enough to excel.  Incremental improvements have now become status quo and you need to work on continuous improvement just to stay in the game of business.  So what is necessary to thrive today in the business world?  In a nutshell….being different.

Would this same logic apply to employees who are struggling to advance their careers?  I believe so.  As a baby boomer, I grew up knowing that if I performed my job well, had a great attitude and worked harder than anyone else, I would see success.  This is still true today but it may not be enough.

So, if these great work attributes have become status quo, then what can a person do to get noticed in a positive way? Toni Newman recommends being strategic and not being different for the sake of being different.  By being strategic you ask yourself what do you want your boss, co-workers and customers to think and feel and know about you?

  • Share your passion- Toni Newman signs her Twitter messages with “Will work for chocolate”.  This is a great humorous way to get noticed and have people engage in conversation with her.  Now, will your employer allow you to add a tagline to your email signature?  I believe so if it is not offensive.  For instance, I know of one employee who loves the Pittsburgh Steelers and would add a tag line to his email, “Go Steelers”.
  • Make your appearance standout.  One worker wanted to stand out by the way he dressed.  He chose to wear a different pocket handkerchief each week to show his flair and get noticed.  A female could have a signature necklace, pin or earrings that can become a conversation piece with others.
  • Change your voicemail message- what if part of your strategy to stand out is to be known for your expertise and so you want to share that expertise. Why not use your voicemail message as an opportunity to share with others the work you are doing or your department is doing?  You will need to change this message frequently to stay fresh.
  • Create a memorable business card-I realize that your company may have a policy about consistency in business cards but could you add a tag line to your card that would help you stand out?  Could your card be made of a different material or a different size than your standard card?

Question for You:

Do you play it safe and hope that you will be noticed on your hard work alone?  Do you want others to take notice about your abilities so that you have greater opportunities at work?

Answer for You:

You need to find a way to stand out amongst your peers who are working just as smart and hard as you are.  What is different about you? Ask your close friends and co-workers what makes you different and use this knowledge to create a strategy that gets you noticed.

 

What To Do If Someone Gives You The Silent Treatment At Work

There are many ways of showing anger in the workplace. From raising your voice and swinging your fist, the more aggressive forms, to going behind someone’s back that you are angry with, or worse yet, the manipulative silent treatment. I have to say, that I have a history of using this technique when upset with my spouse, children, friends and yes, even co-workers.

Let me give you an example. Someone does something or says something you don’t like, you choose to get quiet and withhold conversation so as to gain perspective but to also punish the other person. Ah yes, the ultimate form of manipulation. It is one of the most damaging ways to handle conflict because it leaves the other person helpless. So how do you work with someone who chooses this way of handling conflict? I suggest the following:

• Approach the person being silent and ask if they are upset with you and what may have caused it. If they remain silent, you have may try again, but it is now up to them to decide to share what has happened.

• Listen intently for understanding before you give your perspective • Once you have listened and paraphrased back, share your side, and if need be, apologize for the misunderstanding

• If there is mutual accountability for the misunderstanding try for a compromise or win/win

• Ask that the person giving you the silent treatment to try a different approach the next time they are upset with you. Ask them to tell you right away when they are upset, give them time to cool down but they must agree to discuss it soon afterwards

What if you are the one giving the silent treatment as your preferred method for handling conflict? Understand that you probably learned this manipulative style growing up. The wonderful thing about gaining wisdom is that you can choose a different style! If you find yourself hurt by someone at work, allow yourself a good twenty four hours to cool off before taking action, but the important part is to take action. Approach the person who has hurt you with a short explanation of what happened and how you wished it had been handled. Sometimes it helps to write your feelings down so you can better articulate them. There is always the chance that this may escalate but you have taken the high road by sharing your feelings and how you would prefer to be treated in the future. While confronting conflict is never easy, if the relationship is important, it is worth your time to find a more effective way of handling the situation.

2 Ways To Show Gratitude At Work This Week!

In Patrick Lencioni’s book, The Three Signs of a Miserable Job, he states that employees must not feel anonymous where they work.  In other words, they must be noticed and appreciated for what they do.   What better time than this Thanksgiving week to show that gratitude?  One way that Patrick recommends leaders do this is by telling their employees the impact they have on them as a leader. Showing this appreciation is often best done face to face but the phone will work as well.  Let me give a few examples of what I mean…

 “Amanda, I want you to know that your role as the front office coordinator makes my job easier because you schedule appointments and screen my phone calls so I can stay focused on my most critical tasks.”  I want to thank you for doing such a great job at this and making my job easier.

With this message you are doing two things.  One is telling them how relevant their work is to you personally and the other is showing your appreciation for them and the work they do.

Here is another example:

“Lance, I want you to know that getting these financial reports to me in a timely manner really helps me make better decisions in both the short and long term for our department.  I want to thank you for doing such a great job at this and making my job easier.”

To make it easier for you to do this just fill in the blanks for you own dialogue:

“(Name of person) I want you to know that when you do (describe their most helpful work) it makes my job easier by (describe the benefit to you).  I want to thank you for doing such a great job at this and having such an impact on me and my work.”

Now, I promised two ways to show gratitude at work this week and the second tip is to go to your boss and let them know how appreciative you are of them as your boss and the work they do.  I bet you are thinking I am crazy here!!!  What if you don’t like your boss?  I believe there is one aspect of your boss that you can show appreciation for and also to be appreciative of a job since there are currently 23,000,000 people still out of work.  So what would this look and sound like?

“Mary, I want to thank you for the extra help you gave me last week on that customer satisfaction survey that I had trouble with.  Also, I want to thank you for the opportunity to work in a job that I enjoy.”

That is it!  It does not need to be any more complicated than that.  Let me give you a fill in the blank statement to get you started:

“(Name of boss) I want to thank you for providing (what have they done over the last few months or years that makes your job easier).  Also, I want to thank you for the opportunity to work in a job that I enjoy.”

Being a boss can be a lonely job and they really need and appreciate any praise coming their way….really!

Question for You:

Do you find it easy to notice what is going wrong with your employees or boss?  Do you find it awkward to sincerely say “thank you” in a specific way?

Action for You:

This week take stock of all that you have in your personal and professional life.  Are there people that have contributed to your success?  Let them know during a week that is meant to reflect on all that you have and are thankful for…..  By the way, these scripts work great with spouses, significant others and children at homeJ