You Don't Stand Out If You Blend In.

So you want to be a leader in your profession, industry, or job. Then you have to become proficient at your trade. Once you’ve mastered it, then it is more important to lead in a different direction. To lead you have to be out front, and some of you don’t want to hear it, but it will not happen now nor will it happen this week! You have to make a conscious effort daily to learn and improve. That means you accept your share of NO’s and failures. You overcome them and keep driving forward.

So whatever knowledge and skills are associated with your profession. You give 100% to master it, and that’s when you become average. You cant stop there. When you have obtained the knowledge you need to be lethal; you have to give it another 100% to take your profession where it hasn’t gone before. The only way you can do that is knowing where your profession has been. Once you're out front, it won't be long until others catch on and follow you. 

Think about it.

I’m going to use real estate as an example because I’m familiar with it. Just like I’m also going to use an Army reference. If you are being taught as part of your initial training, the way to get leads is to call expired listings the day they expire, then call FSBOs and try to get listings that way. OR my all-time favorite one from real estate investor gurus.

Pay me $5k for a six-week course that teaches the 300-400 beginners in your hometown how to invest in real estate. Put up a bandit sign that says we buy houses and slap your number on there. Then send out a yellow letter as soon as someone receives a notice of trustee sale. Drive through neighborhoods looking for abandoned houses and hassle their owners. Call a CPA, attorney, and real estate agent that specialize in real estate investing to recruit them on your team. The list goes on.

If you are an entrepreneur trying to figure out how things are done by reading the same books and articles, watching and listening to the same videos and podcast as others. You get hyped up then go to a convention with thousands of others like-minded individuals….I hope you're catching on by now…..

If you received the same training or information thousands of others with similar goals to you received, have access to, or are being told to do.

How are you going to be any different?

You don’t stand out if you blend in.

 I equate success to the position of the commanding officer on the battlefield. The commander is in front leading his company. He is the eyes, ears, and brain of the unit. The direction he chooses, everyone else follows in unison, and the commander is always five steps ahead. 

Behind the commander march the Soldiers in a rectangular formation. They represent the arms and legs of the unit. They are a large mass that has received the same training as the soldier standing beside him or her. However, they are relatively new, not experienced enough, or choose not to oversee others yet. They do whatever their leader is doing.

Then in the back row are the sergeants. They represent the backbone of the unit by ensuring the Soldiers are following the commander and obeying his orders. They drive the unit forward and shoot anyone that tries to retreat. I want you to remember that. “They shoot anyone that tries to retreat.” They are highly skilled, proficient, and hardened from years of experience. The driving force behind the success of the unit but not the leader.

Here is what I'm getting at.

1. Unless your Gary V., Elon Musk, or Steve Jobs. You don’t create success in one day, a week, or a month. Even they had their fair share of NO’s and failures before you knew who they were.

2. You have to become proficient. If you don’t know how and why everyone in your industry is doing something, then you will never know how to effectively carve your own path. You will fail.

3. Resources are finite, and you are competing for the same share as everyone else. The commanding officer may hold 51% of that share while the formation has to fight for the remaining 49%. Get what I’m trying to say? As you continue to learn, grow and improve, you will start to understand what works and that which does not.

4. Everyone that has been successful cannot repeat this enough. Don’t-give-up. The moment you turn to retreat you are dead.

You have a greater chance of surviving by facing the enemy every day than being killed off because you decided to quit.

So, you don’t stand out if you blend in.

Set a goal, and stick to it. Don’t get discouraged because you do not see the success you expected. Give it 100%. Take your share of NO’s and failures. Dust yourself off, modify your actions. Try something new and see where that takes you. Learn and grow.

The commanding officer is always out front and by the time the mass majority of everyone else figures out what and how he or she is successful. Everyone else starts doing the same. Carve your path forward. Be the leader so you can stand out.

So here is my challenge to you. Take a look at everything you are doing. If you are new, find your commanding officer and figure out how he or she got to where they are today. Give it 100%. If you have been at it for a while and have mastered your craft, figure out how you can be different.

Remember, you don’t stand out if you blend in.

About Author:

T. Justin Webb is a Captain in the United States Army having successfully commanded two units he serves as the operations officer in the Department of Military History at the Command and General Staff College, Ft Leavenworth, KS. He is licensed real estate agent in Texas and Missouri. You can visit his company and website at webbdustries.com