Don’t Sit Around and Wait to Be Noticed — Follow These 4 Ways to Be a Standout in Business

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Becoming a star in the business world isn’t complicated. A few simple strategies can put you in the spotlight.

ave you ever felt stuck at the same level for too long in your company? Do you feel your talents are wasted in your current position? Here are four ways to show the top brass what you’re made of and get the attention you need to move up in the business world.

 1. Show that you understand you are part of a team

The secret sauce of getting noticed and promoted is simple: see yourself as part of a team and always be ready to give the team what they need. This begins with showing up. From your first day on the job, people learn whether they can count on you. Once you’ve completed your training, take the initiative. Participate, volunteer and speak up. Raise your hand. Sign up.

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Does your company have after-hours socials or corporate events outside of work? Go or volunteer to help set up. If your company doesn’t promote social mixing, volunteer to head the committee. The more you are counted on and relied upon, the more your name will come up.

2. Be the first to do something

When building my brand, I intentionally looked for what I could be “first” at. Explorers look for ways to raise the bar, asking themselves, “What mountain hasn’t been scaled?” I soon realized a blind TV host hadn’t been done. So, I filmed a televised version of my radio show. There were logistics problems with my vision we had to solve. I can see contrasts, for example, light versus darkness, but not colors. We used three cameras on set, each with red lights I couldn’t see. The question became, “How will Nancy know which camera to look at?” We decided to use earpieces so the director could coach me to look in the right direction.

A YouTube viewer pointed out that I looked up instead of into the eyes of the viewing audience. I wasn’t hitting the mark. After researching available technology, I ordered a ring light, a white light surrounding the camera. Problem solved.

This hack didn’t solve the teleprompter problem. I had to introduce guests. I decided to do heartfelt, spontaneous introductions based on pre-production interviews. Besides nailing a first, I learned to conquer a fear I’d always had, destroying the notion that my vision loss would keep me out of television.

You might become the first person from your department to make a presentation to the executives. You could suggest ways to streamline a process that proves difficult for customers or employees in your organization — and impress the higher-ups.

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3. Learn how to talk about what you do

When I was in the real estate business, I attended a seminar where we learned to paint a picture and tell a story every time we were asked the basic question, “What do you do?” I have to admit I usually told people I sold real estate. The speaker challenged us to use language to illustrate the mission of our lives. His sample response was, “People come to me with dreams of having a house of their own; they’re usually dealing with financial stress or credit problems. I specialize in helping first-time homebuyers.”

One way to get noticed is to change your job title internally to match the service you provide or your personal mission while on the job. Your title might be “Expeditor,” but you could tell people, “I make sure everyone at headquarters has what they need.” It’s never too early or too late to prepare some brief but effective stories about yourself, revealing your passion and experience. You may think you don’t have these stories, but you do. When I opened my real estate business, I was losing my vision. I often arrived hours before a showing to memorize the house’s layout. I have funny stories about my clients hearing the bang of my head against a wall or the sound of me rolling down the stairs when I forgot about the sunken living room. Self-deprecation makes people feel comfortable. It’s also a great way to get noticed for the right reasons.

4. Have simple, memorable signature branding that works

Icons have iconic branding. It was a no-brainer for Michael Jordan to endorse a sub-brand of shoes. Air Jordans looked as though they would send anyone flying toward the basketball goal in style. Garth Brooks wore a large cowboy hat. Branding needs to be simple and easily recognizable. You can also have a jingle or mantra, something like Greyhound’s “Leave the driving to us” or “Nationwide is on your side.”

Use easy abbreviations (IBM, AT&T) that become iconic over time, create a story for each letter, or convey a message by spelling something with the letters, such as the company name of the voice accessibility technology I use. “JAWS” stands for “Job Access With Speech,” illustrating the software using its virtual jaws to speak to and for me.

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It’s never too late to create your brand or reinvent it. Remember to have fun with the process of syncing your messaging and style to make it your own.

Getting noticed requires being comfortable in your own skin, getting involved with your company, reflecting on your true mission, and showing you care about how business is done. It happens when you are willing to fill the gaps and take the initiative. When you make people feel comfortable, and you put the needs of others before your own, you will become a stand-out in business, moving forward with confidence toward ever-greater successes.

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Do you have an important success story, news, or opinion article to share with with us? Get in touch with us at publisher@thepodiummedia.com or ademolaakinbola@gmail.com Whatsapp +1 317 665 2180

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sanya-onayoade

Sanya Onayoade

Continental Editor, North America

SANYA ONAYOADE is a graduate of Mass Communication and a Master of Communication Arts degree holder from the University of Ibadan. He has attended local and international courses on Media, Branding, Public Relations and Corporate Governance in many institutions including the University of Pittsburgh; Reuters Foundation of Rhodes University, South Africa and Lagos Business School. He has worked in many newspaper houses including The Guardian and The Punch. He was the pioneer Corporate Affairs Manager of Odua Telecoms Ltd, and later Head of Business Development and Marketing of Nigerian Aviation Handling Company (NAHCO Plc).

He has led business teams to several countries in the US, Asia and Europe; and was part of an Aviation investment drive in West Africa. He has also driven media and brand consultancy for a few organizations such as the British Council, Industrial Training Fund, PKF Audit/Accounting Firm and Nigeria Stability and Reconciliation Programme. He is a Fellow of Freedom House, Washington DC, and also Fellow of Institute of Brand Management of Nigeria. Sanya is a member of Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR), Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON) and Project Management Institute (PMI). He is a 1998 Commonwealth Media Awards winner and the Author of A Decade Of Democracy.
Morak Babajide-Alabi

Morak Babajide-Alabi

Continental Editor, Europe

Morak Babajide-Alabi is a graduate of Mass Communication with a Master of Arts Degree in Journalism from Napier University, Edinburgh, United Kingdom. He is an experienced Social Media practitioner with a strong passion for connecting with customers of brands.

Morak works as part of a team currently building an e-commerce project for the Volkswagen Group UK. Before this, he worked on the social media accounts of SKODA, Audi, SEAT, CUPRA, Volkswagen Passenger Cars, and Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles. In this job, he brought his vast experience in journalism, marketing, and search engine optimisation to play to make sure the brands are well represented on social media. He monitored the performance of marketing campaigns and data analysis of all volumes of social media interaction for the brands.

In his private capacity, Morak is the Chief Operating Officer of Syllable Media Limited, an England-based marketing agency with head office in Leeds, West Yorkshire. The agency handles briefs such as creative writing, ghostwriting, website designs, and print and broadcast productions, with an emphasis on search engine optimisation. Syllable Media analyses, reviews, and works alongside clients to maximise returns on their businesses.

Morak is a writer, blogger, journalist, and social media “enthusiast”. He has several publications and projects to his credit with over 20 years of experience writing and editing for print and online media in Nigeria and the United Kingdom.

Morak is a dependable team player who succeeds in a high-pressure environment. He started his professional career with the flagship of Nigerian journalism – The Guardian Newspapers in 1992 where he honed his writing and editing skills before joining TELL Magazine. He has edited, reported for, and produced newspapers and magazines in Nigeria and the United Kingdom. Morak is involved in the development of information management tools for the healthcare sector in Africa. He is on the board of DeMiTAG HealthConcepts Limited, a company with branches in London, Lagos, and Abuja, to make healthcare information available at the fingertips of professionals. DeMiTAG HealthConcepts Limited achieved this by collaborating with notable informatics companies. It had partnered in the past with Avia Informatics Plc and i2i TeleSolutions Pvt.

Out of work, Morak loves walking and also volunteers on the board of a few UK Charity Organisations. He can be reached via http://www.syllablemedia.com
Ademola-Akinbola

Ademola Akinbola

Publisher/Editor-in-Chief

Brief Profile of Ademola Akinbola

Ademola AKINBOLA is an author, publisher, trainer, digital marketing strategist, and a brand development specialist with nearly three decades of experience in the areas of branding, communication, corporate reputation management, business development, organizational change management, and digital marketing.

He is the Founder and Head Steward at BrandStewards Limited, a brand and reputation management consultancy. He is also the Publisher of The Podium International Magazine, Ile-Oluji Times, and Who’s Who in Ile-Oluji.

He had a successful media practice at The Guardian, Punch and This Day.

He started his brand management career at Owena Bank as Media Relations Manager before joining Prudent Bank (now Polaris Bank) as the pioneer Head of Corporate Affairs.

The British Council appointed him as Head of Communication and Marketing to co-ordinate branding and reputation management activities at its Lagos, Abuja, Kano and Port Harcourt offices.

In 2007, he was recruited as the Head of Corporate Planning and Strategy for the Nigerian Aviation Handling company. He led on the branding, strategic planning and stakeholder management support function.

His job was later expanded and redesigned as Head of Corporate Communication and Business Development with the mandate to continue to execute the Board’s vision in the areas of Corporate Planning and Strategy, Branding and New Businesses.

In 2010, he voluntarily resigned from nacho aviance to focus on managing BrandStewards, a reputation and brand management firm he established in 2003. BrandStewards has successfully executed branding, re-branding and marketing communication projects for clients in the private and public sectors.

Ademola obtained a M.Sc. Degree in Digital Marketing & Web Analytics from Dublin Institute of Technology in 2016, and the Master of Communication Arts degree of the University of Ibadan in 1997. He had previously obtained a Higher National Diploma (with Upper Credit) in Mass Communication from Ogun State Polytechnic, Abeokuta.

He has published several articles and authored five management books.

He has benefitted from several domestic and international training programmes on Brand Management, Corporate Communications, Change Management and Organizational Strategy.
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