In this decade of disruption there’s a great blanding of the marketplace, so if you want to get ahead you need to be visible—you need to be a flamingo.
Currently we see many businesses and people all competing on ‘same’: same products, services and offerings.
They look and act the same, market themselves the same, and often the only differentiator ends up being price.
In our effort to fit in, we’re at risk of only being able to compete on price. Becoming too vanilla and looking just like everyone else, we become invisible, lost, and plain old boring.
We need to stand out, stop conforming and become a flamingo.
Owning our individual spotlight is key to success today and tomorrow.
Steve Jobs once said, ‘Apple really beats to a different drummer. I used to say that Apple should be the Sony of this business, but in reality, I think Apple should be the Apple of this business’.
High five to that, Mr Jobs!
The problem is that too many of us are either hiding, or choosing to blend in, versus standing out.
We’re not willing to ‘expose’ our ability or expertise out of fear: fear of failure, fear of rejection, fear of being ‘different’.
I appreciate that standing out is easier said than done. That the sheer concept of being 100 per cent who you are is tricky.
I mean, let’s be honest.
We all start out with the best intentions, don’t we? Remember the dreams you had for yourself as you were growing up, or when you finally graduated and stepped out in the world?
Remember when you decided what type of leader or business owner you would be? Remember the things you used to do that would make you laugh so much your face would start hurting?
Being ourselves is beaten out of us: in the playground by the schoolyard bully, in the workplace by the queen bees and the wannabees, on the back of 360 performance reviews that focus on our weaknesses or what we haven’t done.
Or maybe you can still remember how you felt after receiving the negative feedback someone once gave you.
And, it would be remiss of me to not mention ‘tall poppy syndrome’ – Australian slang for the tendency to criticise highly successful people and ‘cut them down’.
This term is so ingrained in our unconscious that too many of us are afraid to share our success, to talk about what we’re bringing to the table, to highlight our strengths and to promote ourselves.
Here’s the thing though: You’ll be unable to consistently inspire others or create the impact you desire until you can take ownership of who you are and the work you’re doing.
Your business, your team and your family need you to be the best version of yourself so they can be the best versions of themselves too.
There’s no impact in generic
Becoming a flamingo starts with you reconnecting and reclaiming who you are in your entirety and owning who you ultimately what to become.
Ask yourself:
- What makes you different and unique?
- What really makes you, you?
- Is it your experience to date? The number of companies and industries you’ve worked in? Maybe it’s the fact you’re a trained fashion designer and now working in IT development or that you’ve lived and worked all over the world.
Your experience is your uniqueness.
Think about it.
Get clear and be that flamingo.
Fly your flag! Your increased visibility will:
- build your reputation as an authority in your area of expertise
- enhance your thinking, as there’s nothing that crafts a message more than having to share it
- cement your profile as someone who is willing to give and share their thoughts, musings and ideas
- create a need in others to include you in their work.
There’s no impact in generic.
Be a flamingo in a flock of pigeons – stand out as who you are, own your story, live by your values and share your expertise so that we get to know you and how you can help us.
