A virtual firm serving Colorado, Kansas, & Missouri.

A virtual firm serving Colorado, Kansas, & Missouri.

Suit & Tie

The Guise of “Professionalism”

It’s easy for competitors to copy your skills, but hard for them to copy your authentic personality.

Paul Jarvis dedicates an entire chapter of his book (Company of One) to personality. He writes…

Personality – the authentic you that traditional business has taught you to suppress under the guise of ‘professionalism’ – can be your biggest edge over the competition…. [Large companies tend] to be the vanilla ice cream of their market – they project a personality that’s universally acceptable, but bland…. [Unfortunately,] being vanilla isn’t going to allow you or your work to stand out….

People can copy skills, expertise, and knowledge, which are all replicable with enough time and effort. What’s not replicable is who you truly are – your style, your personality, your sense of activism, and your unique way of finding creative solutions to complicated problems.

There are likely thousands, maybe millions, of people out there that can do whatever it is you do. But when you think about the people you enjoy working with the most, you probably enjoy the relationship because of the individuals involved more so than the work product they produce. That’s where personality can be your biggest selling point.

Don’t be “vanilla.” Stand out. For better or worse, people will either love you or hate you. But who cares. If you are finding success and happiness, then it doesn’t matter what they think.

(This article is general in nature and is not legal advice. Image: Adobe/Visual Generation)

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