The One Word That Can Catapult Your Career

Do your colleagues have a choice word for you? If not, here's why you want them to…

I was at a conference and a friend who runs a startup introduced me to one of his friends, who was looking for a new opportunity. “I’d like you to meet Joe,” he said. “He’s great.”

I’m sure Joe is talented. I’m sure Joe is skilled. I’m sure Joe is, in fact, great.

But I only remember Joe because of something that happened a few minutes later. Another friend introduced me to one of his product managers. “This is Michelle,” he said. “She’s relentless.”

In the dictionary, “great” means remarkable in degree or effectiveness. “Great” is a wonderful word, especially when used to describe someone… but like “awesome” and “outstanding,” “great” is used so often to describe people that it has lost much of its meaning. When just about everyone is great… no one is great. Great is no longer impactful or memorable.

When described as “great, however remarkable in degree or effectiveness he may be, Joe seems like – however unfairly – just one of many. He doesn't standout.

But “relentless” – who can forget relentless? Hear the word and you instantly think of someone so determined, so persevering, so persistent and tenacious that nothing, absolutely nothing, can stand in her way.

A “great” product manager you might forget. A “relentless” product manager you remember for a long, long time.

Authentic Positioning Matters – Especially for Individuals

Many companies, as Al Ries describes in his classic marketing book Positioning, try to own a single word or phrase in the minds of customers. For Mercedes it’s “luxury.” For Volvo it's “safety”. At my company HubSpot it’s “inbound”.

The goal of positioning is to create an immediate and direct connection in the minds of consumers; that’s what branding is all about.

Individuals need to think about positioning, too. Where Tony Hsieh is concerned, that word is “culture.” Where Eric Ries is concerned it’s “lean.”

So imagine you ask a colleague or a boss or a customer for to pick one word that describes you and they aren’t allowed to use words like awesome, fantastic, great, terrific, etc. They have to pick a specific, non-generic word. What word would they choose?

The word they choose – for better or worse and, where you’re concerned, intentional or unintentional – is your positioning in the minds of the people you work with. That’s how they see you. That’s how they think of you.

That is how they remember you.

What is Your Most Important Word?

The cool thing is, you get to choose how people view you. As long as your actions constantly and consistently match your positioning, as long as you are intentional in thought and action, you can determine the immediate and direct connection people make when they see, hear, or think about you.
What one word best describes you? Better yet, what one word do you want to describe you?

Here are a few possibilities – in the right circumstances these are all wonderful qualities:

· Insightful
· Shrewd
· Ferocious (hopefully in a good way)
· Unflinching
· Indomitable
· Irreverent
· Scrupulous
· Relatable
· Determined

So, back to the original question: What is the one word that can transform your career? As you've probably guessed — it's different for everyone. But, if you can find yours, it can have a profound impact on your person brand, and hence your career.

A short, powerful exercise…

Make a list of the adjectives you want people to repeat after they meet you, talk to you, see or read about you... what do you want other people to think of when they think of you?

Make your list. Then boil it down to the one word you want to encapsulate you – and, in effect, your personal brand. (If you don’t, other people will definitely decide it for you.)

Decide how you want to be defined.

Now, share your one word in the comments below. If you can't quite get it down to just one word, that's OK (I'm an easy going guy) — pick 2 or 3 words. But, leave them in the comments. We're not going to hold you to it, but the simple act of writing them down and sharing them is super-helpful. And, it will help others come up with their words.

I'll kick things with the words I'd like people to associate with me: bold & creative.

Read, think, GO!

Article written by Dharmesh Shah and originally posted on his Linkedin.com blog here



10 Ways To Be Sensationally Successful At Your New Job

(Article written by Dharmesh Shah and originally posted on Linkedin.com here)

You just got a shiny new job, at a great company. Congrats! Your first day at a new job can either be the first day of the rest of your life… or the first of a series of endless “Groundhog Day” experiences, where every day feels the same and your new job quickly seems just like the old job.

To make sure that doesn't happen, here are ten things to do differently and help you stand-out:

1. Behave as if you’re still being interviewed.

Once you’re hired it’s natural to feel a sense of accomplishment. It’s easy to assume you belong.

After all, they hired you, right? You’re awesome! And the company is brilliant for having recognized your awesomeness. High five!

Not so fast. Sure, you got hired, and in fact you may be awesome, but you haven’t actually done anything for your new company yet. All you've really shown is that you can get the great new gig.

Now you need to prove you deserve it.

Think of your first thirty to ninety days as an extended interview. Show up every day thinking you need to prove you deserved to be hired. You'll work harder, work smarter, won’t take anything for granted… and in short order you will prove you belong.

2. See your manager as a person you help, not a person who tells you what to do.

Yes, in theory, your manager gets to tell you what to do. In practice, that's probably not why she hired you.

Here’s a better approach: Your manager has things she needs to get done. See your job as helping her get those things done. The more you help her achieve her goals and targets the more highly you will be valued.

Plus you’ll find it’s a lot easier to work hard when you feel you’re helping someone instead of obeying them. And you’ll enjoy your work more too – it’s a lot more fun and an infinitely more rewarding to help than to comply.

3. Build relationships based on performance, not conversation.

Great companies with great cultures welcome new employees to the fold. Other employees go out of their way to meet and get to know you.

That’s awesome, but work still involves work, not just conversation. Be nice, be friendly, be yourself – but always remember that the best working relationships are based on respect and trust, and respect and trust are based on actions and performance, not just on words.

Prove yourself. Pitch in. Help out. Follow through. Meet every commitment. Earn the respect and trust of others and you will build truly great professional relationships.

And you’ll build some great friendships, too.

4. Go the extra mile early – and often.

Early on you probably don’t have all the skills you need. You probably don’t have all the experience. You probably don’t have all the contacts and connections.

But you can have the willingness to work extremely hard.

Work hard and everyone around you will forgive a certain lack of skill and experience. They’ll know you’re trying – and sometimes, at least for a while, that’s all that matters.

5. Spot the high performers and mimic them.

Every organization is different, which means the key attributes of top performers in those organizations are different, too.

Maybe the top performers work more – or different – hours. Maybe relationship building is more important than transactional selling. Maybe flexibility is more important than methodology.

Pick out the top performers and study them. Figure out what makes them tick. How they approach problems. How they make decisions. There’s no need to reinvent the high performance wheel; save that for when you are a top performer and want to go an even higher level.

6. Think three moves ahead.

Great chess players think many moves ahead. The current move builds a base for future moves.

You can do the same at work. Think about where a task might lead you. Think about how you can leverage your current responsibilities. Think about what skills you can learn, visibility you can gain, connections you can build… every task, every project, and every job can lead to a number of great possibilities.

Think of your current duties as one piece in a puzzle, a puzzle that you get to put together and ultimately build.

7. Find a way to stand out.

We have remarkable employees at HubSpot. We feel they have a super-power that makes them stand out in some way. Maybe they’re remarkably smart, or remarkably creative, or remarkably resourceful, or remarkably successful... each of our employees stands out in some special and unique way.

Work hard to be known for something specific. Be known for responding more quickly or following up first or always offering to help before you’re asked. Be the leader known for turning around struggling employees or creating the biggest pool of promotable talent or building bridges between different departments.

Pick a worthwhile mission – one that truly benefits the company and other employees – and work to excel at that mission. Then you’ll stand out in the best possible way.

8. Create your own project.

Succeeding and even excelling at the projects you’re assigned is expected. Excelling at a project you create yourself is exceptional.

The key is to take personal risk with a new project (while making sure the company and your colleagues shoulder most of the risk).

For example, we had a member of our sales team believe passionately in building a partner channel. It wasn't an area that anyone on the exec team was particularly excited about. But, he did it anyway. He did it on his own time, working late, trying different things… and ultimately figured it out. He is now running one of the fastest growing and productive teams in the company. He has also helped create the model for how experiments are run and managed at HubSpot.

I know what you’re thinking: “Wait. He did it on his own time?” Yes, he did. He decided to prove himself. If he had failed, there was little cost to the company so really there was nothing to lose.

But for him – and the company – there was a lot to possibly be gained.

You don’t have to wait to be asked. You don’t have to wait to be assigned. Pick a side project where, if you fail, there’s no harm and no foul, and take your shot. You never know how it will turn out… and what it will do for your career.

9. Find people to help.

You’re new. People are supposed to help you, right?

Right. And wrong.

You can start helping people now. If you see someone struggling and you don’t know what to do, say, “I’m new so you may have to tell me what to do… but I would love to help you.” If you’re in a meeting and someone else was assigned a seemingly overwhelming project, stop by later and ask if you can help. Even if you’re not taken up on it, the offer will likely be appreciated.

Or volunteer to help in an area you’d like to know more about. Work in sales? You could volunteer to help your marketing team create a new piece of content. Work in marketing? You could help your engineering team do some user testing on a new product.

Just make sure you don’t become the guy who helps others but doesn't get his own stuff done.

No one likes that guy.

10. Never forget why you were hired.

Yes, you want to learn and grow. Yes, you want to build a career. Yes, you want to feel happy and fulfilled.

And yes, you were hired to help advance the goals and mission of the company.

It’s possible to fulfill your goals and the company’s goals. Make sure you do. That way you and the company win – and isn't that what the employer/employee relationship should be all about?