Does your workplace have an Elvis figure? Business ideas guru Chris Barez-Brown believes understanding your goals is vital for success at work. Here are his top tips.When Bono, the lead singer of U2, goes into any organisation as part of his well-publicised mission to eradicate debt in developing countries, the first question he asks is: "Who's Elvis around here?"
It's a great question. Elvis Presley was the original personal brand: sure of what he stood for, instantly recognisable, with a set of clearly defined talents. It made him shine. Bono is asking who stands out, breaks the rules, makes things happen - and probably loves every minute of it.
This matters to you even if your day job doesn't help the world's disadvantaged. We should all strive to be the person Bono is looking for. Decisions are made every day that influence the work you do, the breaks you get and the opportunities that give you a chance to get ahead. Whatever you want from your work - money, fame, lifestyle, excitement or the next big project - can come down to being at the top of the list in the minds of the people who give you those breaks.
If they believe you will create value, think differently and see opportunities, you'll get the nod. You need to be Elvis: stand out and stand for something distinctive; do iconic work, one big thing at a time; and make sure that you're part of the future.
1. Choose to stand out
Shining isn't compulsory. If anything, the opposite is true. Society certainly won't encourage you to shine; most employers will do their best to make you fit in, be small and unnoticed.
Business needs its worker ants, those who turn up every day and toe the line, head down, never challenging the status quo. Most managers will admit that it's harder to manage Elvises. The talented ones are too much for mediocre managers to bear, as they constantly strive to improve standards.
So there is plenty of space for you to carry on in this world without causing ripples, without being noticed, and no one will object if you do. But always remember that you have another option. You can be you. All of you. You can be that extraordinary human being that you have always known lies deep within you.
You can decide that it's time for the real you to cast off the shackles you have been using to define yourself, and shine in all that you do. You can stand tall, take a huge bite out of this life and savour the taste.
The choice is yours. Why aren't you making it? If you are scared, what are you scared of? What can really go wrong? If you are lazy, take a good look at the person you'll become if you don't change.
2. Know what you stand for
Things change because people care. There is no point trying to have a big impact on something that is meaningless to you. Why would you bother?
You also need to focus. Without it human beings don't function well: our brains are less efficient and our energy becomes dispersed. So choose carefully where to invest your time. Ask yourself: what's important to you, important enough to fight for, important enough to make a stand? What have you read that has created a real reaction in you?
What have been the real highs and lows of the last year, and why? What was it that created such resonance in you? Are you passionate about learning and growth, trying new things, diversity? Do you feel challenged by exciting stimulation, collaboration, or risk taking? Do you love the arts in business, or helping others discover their talents?
You can be motivated by anything that gives you energy and helps you make a mark on the world in a unique way. How can it be linked to what you do every day? Once it is, you will have the power of stampeding elephants and the belief that changes the big stuff. Make it happen.
3. Do 'iconic'
If your resources are limited and you are in an environment where everyone is clamouring for attention, just do the big stuff.
Find a project that's significant, so that when you nail it everyone will be talking about it. Aim to do something that will become the stuff of legend, a project that can be your legacy. When you come across such an opportunity, throw everything you have at it to guarantee its sparkly success. By doing so your profile will be super-enhanced, to a far greater degree than if you were to expend the same effort over 10 averagely interesting projects.
Once, at dinner with friends, I met a lovely guy who I can only think of as Bramble Man. He had invented the fantastic cocktail that is the Bramble. He lives for ever in my mind as the legend responsible for one of my favourite drinks. God bless the Bramble.
I recently saw a YouTube clip that explained how an American called Alec Brownstein used Google AdWords to get the attention of the creative directors he wanted to work for. When they googled their names, as all creative directors should, an ad with his name on it popped up saying: "Googling yourself is a lot of fun. Hiring me is fun too."
It cost him $6. He was offered two jobs and is now a senior copywriter at the Young & Republican advertising agency in New York. Simple, iconic action that made young Alec stand out from the crowd. And that's what doing iconic projects is all about; making a lasting impression that creates a halo around you.
4. One Big Thing
Every morning when you arrive at work, identify the One Big Thing that you need to achieve before you go home.
So often I see people sit down at their desk, turn on their computer and start reacting to the world and what the world wants. Many of them won't take their eyes from their screens until it's time to leave. They have spent the entire day out of control, working to other people's agendas.
What is your agenda? If you are clear on where you are going, you can be clear on what you have to do each day: the One Big Thing.
We all love to multitask and to play with all our toys in our sandboxes; busy feels important and effective. But it also dilutes our energy. It is impossible to have impact when your attention is divided among so many projects, conversations, and pleas for help.
A friend of mine told me about a guy he'd met in a Las Vegas casino who was betting big and obviously loving every minute. They got into conversation and it emerged that the high roller had made his money in publishing. He had written an algorithm that identified the most common search term on the internet that elicited the least information. The answer was "parrots".
He then went to a well-known zoo, found the parrot expert there and commissioned him to write a book on parrots. He published the first chapter free online and then made the rest of it downloadable for a fee. In the first month he made hundreds of thousands of dollars; in the first year millions. Parrot Man had One Big Thing and he went for it with all his energy. The purity of his idea and his single-minded focus has brought him huge rewards.
If you always know what your One Big Thing is, you have a much greater chance of success.
5. Big in the picture
Business needs a clear view of where it is going. You need to make that view relevant to you and to the people you work with. The best leaders I know are relentless communicators, who always tell stories about the things that are most important to the business at that time. These stories soon become a part of company legend and culture.
If you want to stand out from the crowd, make sure you know where things are going, and tell good stories to illustrate it. Populate your stories with people you want to make heroes of: the finance director who saved a million; the PA who saved her boss's bacon by spotting a flaw in his plan; the engineer who fiddled with an idea over many weekends that ended up being the next innovation.
Every time you tell that story you give your characters more energy and more chance to shine. In the same way, make sure there are some stories featuring you. Just as you tell stories about others, others will tell stories about you. And there is nothing better than being part of the business's projected future to make sure you stand out from the crowd.
To make these stories really effective, align them to your company's strategic goals. You have to tell a tale that is both simple and memorable, one that creates an emotional response and ends with a clear outcome that is all the richer for having you involved.
It works best if the stories aren't overtly self-promoting, but instead show you in a positive light in comparison with the values of the business. For example, if your business thrust is all about taking more risk, tell a story of how you did just that and got it wrong ... yet your boss remained supportive because you were trying to follow the business's commitment to a portfolio approach.
Tell stories, and paint a picture of the future - but make sure you're in it.
The wisdom of Elvis/famous quotes
"I don't regard money or position as important. But I can never forget the longing to be someone. I guess if you are poor, you always think bigger and want more than those who have everything when they are born."
-- Time magazine interview, 1965
"Some people tap their feet, some people snap their fingers, and some people sway back and forth. I just sorta do 'em all together, I guess."
-- On his way of moving on stage, 1956
"I learned very early in life that 'without a song, the day would never end; without a song, a man ain't got a friend; without a song, the road would never bend - without a song.' So I keep singing a song."
-- Quoting from the Perry Como song Without a Song, 1970
Don't criticise what you don't understand, son. You never walked in that man's shoes.
-- Adaptation of a well-known quotation
Chris Barez-Brown is the author of Shine: How To Survive And Thrive At Work (Penguin).
The Guardian
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