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What comes naturally to you just may be your greatest differentiator
What comes naturally to you just may be your greatest differentiator.
Think about that for a moment.
Your greatest differentiator just might be what you are taking for granted.
Let’s be clear: It’s probably not about your technical prowess, even if that’s what you think you’re selling.
It may be the way you build relationships.
How you break down the complex and make it simple.
Your special talent for translating ideas into images.
Is Richard Branson’s true talent building companies or how he connects with people?
Is Malcolm Gladwell a staff reporter or a collector/writer of stories that intersect with intriguing research?
Is Twyla Tharp a choreographer or a translator of streetwise wisdom into movement?
If you’re overlooking the key to what makes you uniquely different from everyone else in your space, maybe it’s time to mine for the gold right in front of you:
Take a look at what you do every day.
The problems you solve, the ideas you generate, the art you create, the people you touch.
What do they have in common?
What comes so naturally (or so joyously) that it’s almost like breathing?
Think back to times in your life when you were jamming on all cylinders—when you experienced complete and utter flow.
What were you doing?
Who were you doing it with?
What did you create?
What do your people consistently depend on you to deliver?
What experiences are you known for?
(A word of caution: beware if your current circle relies on you for a talent you’d rather kick to the curb).
And yet it’s not enough for you to be clear on your greatest differentiator.
You’ve got to SHOW it—on and off-line—with the stories you tell, the actions you take and the visuals you put on display.
The clincher?
Bring your story—yes, your personal story—into your work in a way that highlights the one-of-a-kind talent you bring to your clients, your buyers, your team.
Make it real.
Make it sticky.
There’s no one like you.
And isn’t that what you want your sweet-spot clients to feel?
Yes! Definitely. This is such good advice and such a good foundation for building a consulting business! Everything revolves around this :)