“Be So Good They Can’t Ignore You”
Mic drop. You can stop reading now.
Just kidding. I wish I came up with that poetic statement. It’s actually career advice from the genius comedian / actor / musician Steve Martin.
Do you ever come across a quote and are just blown away by how profound it is?
Like it’s so real to you that you want to tell someone about it or write it down so you remember?
I love being moved by words when listening to podcast interviews or reading books. There’s something so special about the feeling you get when you hear or read something that speaks to your core. Like you were meant to have experienced those words at an exact point in time so they could help you make sense of life better. It’s those kinds of moments that make me want to become a professional writer even more, so I can share truth through words that connect with people on a deeper level.
While I love experiencing memorable sound bites / quotes, I’m not convinced I’m maximizing their impact. Maybe I’ll share some of them on social media or in my email newsletter, but I haven’t gotten into the habit of collecting them in one place where I can review them regularly. Or consistently repeating them to people I know so they stick with me even more. It’s not that one has to do either of these things, but I want to become the type of writer who infuses them into his content and the type of person who can share them in real life with other people who might benefit from them.
In fact, that’s exactly what happened to me recently with Steve Martin’s “Be so good they can’t ignore you.” I found myself giving this exact advice to a coworker who asked me how to better get on the radar of more senior colleagues. They thought it was something I was good at due to my career growth, but it honestly caught me a little off guard. I’m typically not the type of person to PR my efforts to make more of a name for myself in the workplace. Don’t get me wrong. I see the potential upside in that strategy, but it’s not as aligned with my more introverted personality.
My gut reaction to my coworker’s question was that I didn’t really have any secret sauce when it came to strategically informing more senior people about my work. However, upon quick reflection of what I thought contributed to my success at VaynerMedia, I found myself advising them the Steve Martin line, “Be so good they can’t ignore you.”
In other words, go all in on crushing your responsibilities and let the quality of your work do the talking. Don’t be as concerned about office politics and how you’re going to generate attention. Just DOMINATE.
While this advice is easy to understand, it warrants further examination. In order to properly take it to heart, you have to dissect exactly what it means to you. Ask yourself the following:
1. WHAT DOES “SO GOOD” MEAN TO ME?
Everyone has different levels of ambition and goals. How you measure yourself against them depends on how you define success.
When I think about being “so good,” I consider things like the following:
- Speed and precision for my tasks
- Making my boss look good
- Empowering the employee(s) I manage to level up
- Establishing strong bonds with my other team members, clients, and partners
- Being informed about industry trends
- Taking responsibilities off other people’s plates
- Over-delivering
- Making internal recommendations on how to improve things
- Showing how much I care
- Being on top of my work at all times
- Positive attitude and hard work
- Getting promoted quicker than others
Understand what quality work looks like to you and have that be your guiding light.
2. WHY DO I WANT TO BE “SO GOOD?”
Know your motivation. What are you trying to prove to yourself? Maybe simply “good” is enough for you.
It’s worth noting that this question assumes you’re already doing the thing you want to become good at. While I hope you are, you may not be. Definitely don’t become “so good” at the wrong thing. It might be time for you to have an honest conversation with yourself and reevaluate your day job.
3. HOW DO I BECOME “SO GOOD?”
It’s easier said than done, isn’t it? For those of you who only have a few years of work experience, you probably have some idea of how to get better at what you do. Still, I’d encourage you to talk to the people you view as rising stars and try to reverse engineer how they did it. You’re putting yourself at a disadvantage if you’re trying to do it all by yourself.
4. WHO IS MY “THEY?” AND WHAT DO “THEY” CARE ABOUT?
Know your audience. Whose attention do you want? Is it a specific individual? Your larger team? The whole company?
Figure out whom exactly you’re trying to impress and think about what their goals are. How can your efforts best help their agenda? What traits do they look for in the people who are in the more senior positions you seek?
5. WHY DO I WANT THEIR ATTENTION?
We all want recognition to validate our efforts. I get that. But maybe you’re trying to get the attention of the wrong party for the wrong reason. For example, you want X person’s attention because you’re jealous that someone else is getting it. Is that the best reason to get that person’s attention?
Know your true why, and get to work. The attention will come.
Are there are any important quotes or pieces of advice that you always carry with you / share with others? I’d love to hear about it.
