11 Powerful Tips to Stand Out From The Crowd

How I wish I had someone teaching me these when I started my first job. To be the one to stand out in the crowd is far from being an overbearing personality or being the best-dressed in office. It is a way of thinking and behaving that will naturally supply you with abundant energy and positive vibes as you go about your duties.

Strangely, the universe also begins sending you green signals but brace yourselves! The journey may not be as smooth as it sounds. You will have to jump hoops and cross hurdles before you really attain mastery.

Let me share 11 such thoughts and behavior-patterns that have worked wonders for me, both professionally and personally:

These are the personal qualities that could make you stand out -

#1. Gallop Like A Horse!  

Get into the habit of documenting your to-dos for the day. Discipline yourself into bringing down every item from your list at the end of every business day, unless there is a genuine dependency on others.

When you write down your to-do list, assign a truthful, objective timeline for completion for each task and be enthusiastic about achieving it. It is disappointing to see the young workforce, or even experienced people, spontaneously coming up with ‘not possible to complete this by today’ even before exploring possibilities of completion.

After buying extra time, it adds to the frustration to see them while away time at the office. 15 years ago, I had my Aha! the moment about work-efficiency when my father casually told me,

“Ensure you strike-off every item from your today’s To-Do list before you leave office in the evening. If possible, see if you can tick some from tomorrow’s.”

Till date, those words somehow kick-start my mornings and keep me galloping those 9 hours I spend at work, whether from home or office.

#2. Dress-Up To Stand out from the Crowd!

You can dress up to have heads turning to look at you. But the difference is, whether it will be out of distraction or admiration, you have to choose.

One simple rule to guide you through this is to see yourself one-level up in the grade to pick your clothes and accessories.

So, if you are a fresh grad, imagine how you would dress up if you were a senior engineer/executive and how that would impact the way your juniors look at you.

If you are a Deputy Manager, imagine how you would dress up if you were heading the function. Our clothes impact our body-language and the way we think as much as how others perceive you.

#3. Understand Your Biorhythms

Some of us are pepped up in the mornings and slow down post-lunch; some others get energetic around early evening and stay so through the rest of the evening. So, prioritize your important activities according to it.

Similarly, women employees need to track their most productive days in a month and ensure to accomplish many important tasks before you begin to feel a low energy and lack of zeal.

When we are physically not in good shape, it can impact our confidence levels and chances are, we may not accept new assignments or roles during this time of the month.

Just be aware of this - where possible, buy time till you feel better – and then, give your decision. Most likely, you’ll feel charged up to accept and accomplish more!

#4. Self-Talk & Visualize

Often the self-talk we do in our heads is spontaneous and unimaginably powerful in influencing our behaviors.

Keep thinking, right from a very young age, that you were are to accomplish something very great in this life. Tell yourself that there are some very special things about you waiting to earn wings.

Visualize often, about yourself ruling the workplace or getting accolades. If you dance and sing well, visualize having given the best performance on stage and receiving a thunderous applause. Visualize lots of those small and big success moments. Then get up and chase to make those happen.

Neuroscience supports this process. In fact, most sportspersons do this often before they enter the arena. Use some visual tools too, such as, how much you accomplished at age 23, then at 26, at 30, 35, 40 and so on. Put every milestone in those charts - a promotion, a best-performer award, Star of the Cultural Show, savings in your bank account, the charity made, juniors mentored - anything that makes you feel you've progressed. Construct a 'Great Wall of You' and write down these achievements in bricks.

#5. Act As If You Own The Company

Not in the negative sense of bossing around people or throwing your weight around. It's the way you regard your work. But if you want to be the one to stand out in the crowd, you need to practice this.

You start seeing your role as extremely significant for the company. You feel the company's success depends so much on your performance. This works like a magic potion, whenever I have the temptation to casually bunk. This does not mean that you never avail leave to feel refreshed.

Push yourself hard and accomplish so much that you become an inspiration to others. Regardless of your grade or level in the hierarchy, never get into the mode of, "am just a ...". Within the realm and boundaries of your role, think and act like you own the company. You'll be amazed at your own results!

#6. Maintain Your Integrity

It is doing the right thing even when no one is watching you. For example, you are in HR and often hang out with colleagues from other departments (great!). It is quite natural for them to be asking you about someone’s salary, plans, decisions taken by the leadership, appraisal outcomes or lay-offs.

Even within the same department, chances are that you may oversee some classified information that your teammate doesn’t have access to. It is not uncommon to be nudged by colleagues to allow them to quickly glance over such information. This is where your test begins!

Set the boundary and act true to your work. Get creative or use humor to avoid blurting out the facts, just to feel accommodated by others. It is okay to be distanced by a few individuals or not called for outings rather than have your integrity traded off. You will feel proud of your own character in the long run and will definitely stand out as an example and role model for others.

#7. Be Trustworthy, Inside-Out

Utter the damn truth always! It is so very difficult, isn’t it? Take this, your boss asks you to send out the offer letter to a hired candidate before you leave for the day and you are in no mood to do that. You know it is a small task that can be finished as soon as you come in tomorrow, and so, you decide to tell that ‘harmless little lie’ that you have sent out the letter.

The next day, your boss walks in earlier than you to the office and hears the phone ring on your desk. He answers the call only to hear this candidate-in-context, ask for the very same offer letter!

That's the moment, an impression is sealed about you. All of us must have had these blooper moments but the point is, don’t ignore these as trivial accidents. These are powerful lessons. Likewise, when caught red-handed, just surrender for goodness sake. Saves that much time for all.

#8. Avoid Saying “I Don’t Know”

Try to avoid saying ‘I don’t know’ when work is assigned, it takes a true professional mind to find out the reasons for what am I doing? Why am I doing this? Who is this relevant to? What is the impact on my department and organization if I don’t do this? What other variables must I consider before doing this? How can I make this better?

Often, the millennial workforce of today is comfortable replying “I don’t know” about their own activities.

A classic example I often quote during my training series is from the Indian movie Singham. The scene where the hero’s dad asks him to inquire about something - the hero picks up the phone and elicits all possible information surrounding this one inquiry.

When the same task is given to the comedian...he just calls, enquires about this one point and hangs up! Saddening to note that the majority of our workforce has not found the need to expand their thinking. Put up on a post-it in front of you that “whatever you do today will be world-class!” and see this mantra driving your beliefs, thinking and energy levels. Move from ‘I completed what was assigned’ to ‘I exceeded the expectations’ and apply this to every single task you do. That’s going to make you a person who stands out from the crowd.

#9. Become Genuinely Useful, so that you will Stand out!

How often do we find someone who gives that 100% shot at work? Go to the nearby supermarket and the salesperson half-heartedly guides you to your product or even atrocious, the lazy fellow may say, “product out-of-stock” just to save himself off some work.

Recall any such moment from your life when you were made to feel helpless – at the store, hospital, bank, school, ex-employee or anywhere when you felt you didn’t get the value you deserved. So, in the job that you are in, always remember this Golden Rule,

“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”

This is the law of Moses and the prophets and is portrayed in different ways in every religion. It means, “Do to others as you would like them to do to you.” People easily fall into the trap of slipping on their own standards either because of laziness or they are angry about something in their workplace and use this behavior pattern as a revenge. Trust me, this is such a bad idea!

Every business day is an opportunity for you to build your skill muscle, whatever work you may be doing in life. It works silently, adding a layer of glue and glitter for every day of sincere work, translating into chunks of sparkling work experience! Set a daily target of being genuinely useful to all your stakeholders. The money will come trailing behind you, you will not have to run after it.

Susan Roane, eminent writer, and author emphasize that it is not your job title that adds value to your work - it is the usefulness or benefit that you bring about with your actions and behavior. Cultivate this attitude by becoming more and more aware of what you do not know, and equip yourself with necessary knowledge and skills.

#10. Look For Possibilities

All of us have one, two or more ‘ugliness’ about our own selves. Either we have had our families or friends ridiculing us or we have inflicted that upon ourselves. But think deeply whether you can make that, your USP. It is about becoming aware of something about yourself and either capitalizing on it or changing it or both to some extent.

If you are sensitive by nature, believe that there is a reason God has created you so. Choose a career that needs this quality as a core-competency (eg. Therapy/Counselling/Life Coaching, etc.) or start demonstrating this as a skill in your current job (eg. employee relations) and flourish.

Or if you are short-heighted and feel that to be a hurdle in your leadership role, frantically look for ways to climb up by building a staircase of unquestionable efficiency, knowledge, bold body-language, assertive and confident communication.

If you feel something is not okay with yourself, look for ways to MOVE! You are not a tree! You will be opening the doors to bigger possibilities in life. But just stop ruminating over being the way you are or you were before, or how bad things happened in the past.

#11. Listen To The Universe

Tune in to yourself and tune out to what the universe has to tell you. We all like to be in a safe, comfortable and predictable work situation. Nothing wrong with this. Keep sailing till you feel satiated. The universe works wonderfully if it has plans to displace you to a better station in life (a new region/new job role, etc.). So, how will you know you are satiated?

The time when the universe begins sowing seeds of discomfort, making you squirm in your seat - literally or figuratively. It may be a vital message sent to you which you may be casually dismissing. But, the universe has its way of uprooting you by making things utterly dissatisfying or terrible in the current situation (just ensure, you are not the one causing misery for your own yourself).

Follow this omen, don’t limit yourself, start thinking of your possibilities and begin moving in the direction these invisible hands are pushing you from behind. You will be surprised at how meaningful and empowering your career turns out to be. Importantly, the

kind of career path you will never regret whenever you look back. This could even make you stand out from the crowd in the long run.

You can get more such tips to grow in your Career, from the (Women-Only) Career Community on SHEROES.

This article is written by Arthy Shankar - an HR Business Partner, Executive and Life Coach, QMS Practitioner and an ISO Certified Internal Auditor.

*References to concepts:

i. Ann Betz’ - Our Brain during Coaching

ii. Stephen M R Covey’s – The Speed of Trust

iii. Dr. Robert Hicks’ – Process of Highly Effective Coaching