The case of the All Around Experty Expert

When applying for a job, going after a BIG contract or landing a new client there is some who think the the best approach is to sell yourself as an expert at all things.  I recently edited/revised/retooled a resume for someone that she had paid an "expert" to write for her.  At the top of the page, just underneath the "profile" statement was a list of "Sally's" areas of expertise.

There were SIXTEEN listed strengths/talents for Sally and about half of them were in fact not her strengths.  Take for example "marketing" which was listed as an area of expertise.  This is not only not an area of expertise for Sally I would venture to say it is one of her weaknesses.  Imagine then if she goes into interview for a position and the interviewer zeroes in on "marketing" and asks Sally to give her some examples of how she is such a great marketer.  I see things going downhill from there because that is not what Sally wants to talk about.  She wants to talk about the things she is actually gifted at: strategic thinking, problem solving, program development, coaching and mentoring.

These things, unlike marketing, are true strengths for Sally and where she wants to have someone focus their questioning in an interview.  Not on marketing, sales and networking--all great qualities but just not the qualities that Sally excels at (and yet they are listed on her resume at areas of expertise!)

Resist the urge to list all valuable qualities as strengths on your resume and be prepared to talk about how you compensate for your lack of in a certain area.  Let's stay with marketing.  Sally is not applying for positions where marketing would even be important but for the sake of fun let's just say that there is a marketing component to the position she is applying for.  How does Sally handle this in an interview situation?  Here is how:

"I do understand that about 10% of this position is marketing and that is not an area where I have a lot of experience.  Knowing that, I have to think up some ways to address this in the job and here is what I would do.  First I would find someone on our team who is great at marketing and loves doing it and I would ask her to help me with the 10% part of the position where marketing is needed.  I think over time I will get a sense of how to do this 10% myself and if it makes sense I would then do it myself.  It might make more sense though for her to do this 10% of my position in exchange for me trading out some of my expertise for an aspect of her job where she does not excel. It's a win/win for all of us and I think will make our team stronger."

See how Sally is stressing that only 10% of the job is marketing?

Strategically Sally is showing the interviewer that
a. she is very self aware and understands this is not her core strength
b. demonstrating how it is just a tiny aspect of the job
c. communicating that she has the ability to recognize talent in others and give them the opportunity to shine and
d. a team player.

That to me seems better than lying and pretending that you can do something that you really aren't that good at doing in the first place.  Imagine the disappointment of your boss when she realizes you are terrible at marketing!

I have always said that a great president is someone who recognizes his/her strengths and weaknesses and then surrounds his/herself with those who are strong where he/she is weak.

You can't be good at everything.  It just isn't possible.  Your resume should truly reflect what your strengths are and you should be prepared to talk about them.

Don't know your strengths?  I recommend then you check out Marcus Buckingham's phenomenal books "First Break all the Rules" and "Now Go Discover Your Strengths" and take the strengths finder test that comes with the book.

You can't get the job trying 
to be all things to all people.

We live in a very crowded and competitive marketplace and the name of the game is to DIFFERENTIATE YOURSELF from the rest of the crowd.  You can't do that if you are masquerading as someone who is an expert at everything.

I promise.

The case of the DIAGONAL twins: Does YOUR Story RESONATE?

Once Upon a Time....

When my daughter Maddie was about 4 years old, she came into my office where I was working diligently to tell me about her new friends. As it turns out these two friends were twins.  One of them was 4 years old and one of them was 5 years old.  I listened to her story with great interest and enjoyed the details of this new friendship through the eyes of this little person.  Eventually there was a pause in her telling of the story and I told her "Maddie I think twins have to be the same age as one another".  Without skipping a beat she looked at me and said "I know mom, but these are diagonal twins". Cue laugh track.

She loves that story.  So do I and over the years we have told and retold that story to friends and family and even just between the two of us.  It captures the innocence and joy of being a child and illustrates why shows like "kids say the darndest things" was such a big hit.

The value of a good story told cannot be measured.  It connects us to the teller of the story and creates emotional responses that in turn cause us to consider or reconsider the underlying issue told in the story.  Stop for a minute and think about how many stories you tell in one day and in turn how many stories are told to you.  I can guarantee you that a good deal, perhaps even 50% for some people, of our communication is done through the telling of a story.

Do you tap into the POWER of your story in ways that other people want to participate in whatever it is you are selling: your friendship, your business, your product, your service?  Because yes, stories do sell things. They sell ideas, points of view, they even sell the person telling the story.  In our personal life many of us are far more likely to tell and share stories with our family and friends.  Why not in business?  The business world prefers, even gives preference to facts, figures, statistics, charts, graphs, evidence.  Now, these things are in fact very important but should not be chosen in lieu of a good story. 

The combination of evidence + story is where persuasion happens.  

Knowing that, do you and your organization have control of "the story" of

WHO WE ARE

WHERE WE HAVE BEEN

WHERE WE ARE GOING

HOW WE ARE GOING TO GET THERE

WHY WE ARE GOING THERE

WHO IS GOING WITH US

?

To determine the answer, here are THREE questions you should be asking in your organization to determine the potency of your story:

1. Can everyone tell the story of the organization's beginnings from the top down? (do they know the mission statement for the organization is another potential question to see if your story has internal sticking power).

2. How does our story compare to that of our competition?  The power of a GREAT story is that it is unique.  If your story looks and sounds a whole lot like the story of your competition then you are in trouble buddy.  Better get some heads around the table and have a brainstorming session to find a story that will differentiate you from everyone else.

3. Does your story match up in all contexts: internally, marketing, who customers say you are, on your website?  A consistent story means branding and branding means name recognition. Name recognition means market share.

Never ever underestimate the power of STORY.  The worlds greatest brands--Coke, Nike, Apple--are the best storytellers around.  Become more academic about telling your story for a while until you perfect this all too important art form.

Need help?  That's what Bravo CC is around for--we teach people how to stand out in a CROWDED and COMPETITIVE Marketplace.  You can see our upcoming events including "Death By Presentation", a webinar AND "What's YOUR Plan BE? 2012" the workshop.  Dates and details can be found HERE

Finally, take a look at this Bravo CC Slideshare presentation on STORYTELLING.

The stories we_tell

View more presentations from Libby Spears

You kinda smell like coffee...why I am a small business owner

You kinda smell like coffee..musings from a small business owner

I think there was a point that my kids thought I was a barista at Starbucks.  I would come home and smell of coffee, really excellent and delicious coffee, but coffee none the less.  No Lancome did not come out with a new perfume eau de coffee.  My perfume was compliments of keeping office hours at the local Starbucks, or the Starbucks up the street, or the Starbucks down the road from the client appointment.  If you ask me "where is your office?" I will answer, straight faced and completely serious "whatever Starbucks I happen to land at that day"

God bless you Starbucks (note to self: ask accountant if I can tax deduct all those blessed cups of Joe).

There are many, many, many reasons I am a small business owner and it isn't just for my office hours at Starbucks.  They include (in no particular order)

1. I don't like to be told what to do.

2. I am bad with rules and the whole follow the rules expectation that comes when working for others.

3. If I want to go on my kid's field trip to the Dallas Acquarium I will and I don't have to ask (beg) for permission.

4. I don't believe in the 40 hour work week or the 50 hour work week or the 60 hour work week.  I believe in about a 30 hour work week--one where I work smarter not harder.

5. I want to be able to have big ideas and not have to get them blessed by the Pope, Tom, Dick, Harry and fourteen committees to run with it.

6. I like to bask in the glory from my success and take 100% responsibility for failures.

7. I like to take a long lunch sometimes. Or get a pedicure in the middle of a work day.  I can open my lap top and situate in my lap while my toes get purty.

8. I get to define who I want to work with and what I want to work on.  If I don't like someone I don't work with them.

9.  I don't want to sign a 167 page employee manual written in an 8 point font.

10. I want to drink coffee at Starbucks with my laptop in front of me on a regular basis (doing it right now in fact).

But don't get me wrong. SB is not without it's own limitations and frustrations.  Just as there are people you work with every day that test your resolve to maintain your calm, I too am challenged by people at SB as well.  Here are a few of those people:

1 The couple in their 50's who insist on making out whilst she sits in his lap in the leather chair and I am next to them and cannot command my peripheral vision to tune them out.

2. The idiot who thinks it is perfectly acceptable to SKYPE with someone on their computer in the middle of Starbucks.  Are you freaking kidding me?  No really--you are kidding me right?

3. Akin to #2--the person who has SUPER IMPORTANT WORLD CHANGING phone conversations in SB.  Look--SB is not the place to have these conversations.  And pssstttt....you aren't that important.

4. People who discuss delicate and conflict laden topics at their table not realizing (or perhaps they realize and don't care) that everyone can hear their business.  We don't want to know your business.  We don't care.  We have our own business to attend to.  Go away.

5. Teenagers.  Really no need for explanation on that one.  I just don't like teenagers.

There are trade offs in everything we do.  Being a small business owner can be a lonely journey.  I don't have the comfort of working with a group of people in close proximity on a common and shared purpose. Yes--I have created around me a group of like minded business people who share my same values and mission and we support one another but I don't have the benefit of working in an office with people day in and out.  These people become family--for better or worse--and I get the appeal of that.

So the next time we see one another, please don't sniff me to verify that I smell like coffee, just take my word for it.  And I promise--you will never see me making out with my husband in the leather chair next to you at Starbucks (unless of course you want us to).