The Secret to Your Slight Edge
3 min read
Updated: Jul 5, 2021
You know that person who when they walk in the room you feel their energy?
When they present, they have you at hello?
When they write that email, you open it with anticipation that it will deliver something smart, insightful and with wit?
They leave a mark each and every time. That mark that says ‘average is over.’ As the future of business continues to evolve, how are you evolving your personal professional brand to keep up with the pace of evolution? No matter what your profession, the Secret to Your Slight Edge means defining, knowing and bringing your value and your brand to leave a mark, every time.
Jeff Bezo’s has famously said “your personal brand is what people say when you leave a room.” The brand of YOU is how you communicate with your teams, your clients and your companies to ensure a connection that leaves them knowing exactly what you stand for, who you are, what they can expect from you in the future. Fast Company called it the CEO of Me Inc.
Today more than ever to break out in this virtual and hybrid world, you need to play big and bring your best asset: your brand . According to Seth Godin, the definition of a brand is “the set of expectations, memories, stories and relationships that, taken together, account for a consumer’s decision to choose one product or service (or person) over another.”
Expectations you set and overdeliver.
Memories you create that are positive, rich and valuable.
Stories you tell that are remembered.
Relationships you build that are deep and trusted.
In this highly competitive world — now under more pressure from the hybrid workplace you must distinguish yourself from all the other very smart people walking around in your industry and life.
If you want to be exceptional which is a marker for success today, your Secret to the Slight Edge needs to be prescriptive. Don’t get me wrong – this is about authenticity NOT doing something for show. It’s your signature that when left is a reminder of you. It’s not made up. It is what you are made up of.
Developing your brand requires becoming relentlessly focused on what you do that adds value, that you’re proud of, and most important, that you can shamelessly take credit for. Begin by identifying the qualities or characteristics that make you distinctive. Ask yourself ‘what do I do that adds remarkable, measurable, distinguished, distinctive value?’
This isn’t about a job description, but what you uniquely bring to that job. Delivering is expected. Expected is average. Average is over. Ask yourself: What do I do that I am most proud of? What have I accomplished that I can unabashedly brag about? When I go the extra mile, I do this__________.
Here’s the tough part: you gotta do it each and every day . When you clearly know your brand value it should manifest in everything you do. The Secret to Your Slight Edge needs to be written down and clearly articulated as a reminder when you go off the path or when you are interviewing or selling yourself or your company.
Two sentences that when read aloud would so closely represent you that anyone close to you hearing it would automatically know it was you. You are unique. That makes your personal brand one-of-a-kind.
You are distinctive. You are extraordinary. You bring value. Your value currency is……? In this evolving time, be the one people celebrate when you leave the room. If you need help discovering and sharing your slight edge , let’s get to work.