To be or not to be outstanding

If you are or aspire to be outstanding, know that it’s a double-edged sword.

It can come with perks, promotions and accolades that recognize and reward.?

But it can also come at a price.

Because the flip side of outstanding is standing out.

And if you are outstanding at what you do or how you be, you will stand out from everyone else.?

That again doesn’t sound like such a bad thing. In this age of celebrity, millions are striving to stand out in some way.

But standing out also means you’re not like everyone else. You don’t fit into the norm. To be outstanding, you have to be above average.

If you’re operating within an existing system, such as a corporate hierarchy, that can be very rewarding. Those who perform at a higher calibre than others generally rise to the top.

But if what you’re outstanding at doesn’t fit into the existing system, well, then you’re just different.

And being different means at some level you are challenging the status quo. While all those around you are supporting what is, you are creating what isn’t yet.

Over the longer term, that can be rewarding too.

But in the short term, it is literally challenging. You’re exerting some level of force to create the new. And you will undoubtedly get push back.

I’ll say it again: igniting change is not for the faint of heart.?

So why do it?

Well, it comes down to intolerance really.?

If you see what is, and you cannot accept that “that’s just the way it is”, your intolerance is the spark for change.

That’s how it was for me 20 years ago. In running my crisis communications business, I saw all too well the damage done when someone representing an organization said the wrong thing or failed to say the right thing. There could be a tsunami of damage to reputations and operations.

At the same time, I would hear speakers truly believe they were engaging their listeners when in fact everyone in the room was pretty much tuned out.?

The state of speaking, particularly by leaders, was intolerable to me. They didn’t know what they didn’t know, and it was hurting both them and their audiences.

So I set off on a quest to research what goes into speaking effectively as a leader, and created a diagnostic to measure it.

At this point in my career, I had happily been acting as “one of the backroom boys” (that very expression says a lot, doesn’t it?). I was behind the scenes, strategizing and advising leaders on what to say to whom. I loved the work, and I liked being relatively invisible.?

But when I launched my diagnostic that didn’t serve well.

I vividly remember sitting in a large boardroom atop Times Square in New York. Around the table were 15 people, all senior partners in major communications firms and all American except me. We went round the table sharing what we each measured in communication. All were measuring media results, with one just beginning to measure trust. I was the only one measuring a leader’s effectiveness at speaking.?

I couldn’t fathom why they didn’t see the critical importance of a leader’s effectiveness. They didn’t get it.?

At some level, I thought that because I could see it, it was evident to others too.?

That’s an assumption a lot of people make. I see it every day in the communications I assess.

Because of that assumption, I believed it was just a matter of time before the big players would begin to measure a leader’s communication effectiveness. So I quietly built business for my new diagnostic. I didn’t want to stand out for fear of it being overtaken by the big American players.

I’m over that now. But I paid a hefty price for not being willing to stand out. I thought I was just ahead of my time, but the irony is there’s still no one out there measuring how a leader speaks. They don’t see what I see.

Thankfully, my clients do. And they tell me I stand out from the other coaches they hire because of my diagnostic and body of knowledge.

I’ve learned that it’s not enough to be outstanding at what you do. You also have to be willing to stand out.

So here’s my counsel:

Look at what makes you outstanding. Acknowledge it. Admire it. And own it.

Then step up. Speak up. And together let's ignite meaningful change.

Are you having the highest impact when you speak?

There's a distinct way in which leadership is heard and responded to, and we have a seminal body of knowledge that reveals how. Speaking effectively as a leader goes way beyond good presentation skills. And it can be measured.

The Illumifier diagnostic assesses a verbal communication such as a town hall, meeting or presentation on 150 essentials of effective leadership.?

It reveals your ability to express leadership, identifying precisely where you already excel and where you don't (yet). You'll know exactly what is diminishing your leadership impact and how to resolve it,

If you want to know for sure that you're expressing the kind of leadership that engages, aligns and mobiles those who can help you achieve your initiatives, you'll find details of The Illumifier diagnostic on Illumify's website here.

The leader's journey continues

in the new episode of The Illumify Game Changer Podcast ?

It’s a collection of big conversations chronicling one person's journey from “not a leader” to a leader with a big vision willing and able to ignite it.

It's the Illumify Method I impart to my executive clients. And now to anyone who listens.

In this episode, inner wisdom emerges, as does the truth.

You can listen on our website or your favourite podcast player.?

About Me

Marianne Gobeil is Founder and CEO of Illumify Inc., and an internationally recognized expert on expressing high impact leadership. She's a trusted adviser to C-suite executives and other leaders around the world, and passionate about helping leaders ignite meaningful change.

Learn more at www.illumifyinc.com and www.illumifyinstitute.com

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