Be Different or be dead

November 2, 2015

Why a great education isn’t enough to make you successful

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Why a great education isn’t enough to make you successful.

Success is more than what you know; what you learn at school.

So many people when asked what they want to do after they graduate say something like “I would like a job in marketing where I can apply what I learned in school.”

It is natural to want to make use of the knowledge gained in your area of expertise. You spend many years learning many subjects that cover your chosen academic path and want to try them out in the real world.

I’ve said it before and it bears repeating:

What you learn at school is merely the table stakes for a successful career; it guarantees nothing.

That said, without some type of formal learning background and you are unlikely to be able to enter the race.

There are many highly educated people out there who can’t get a job in the profession or company they desire (I ran into a woman serving in the Marriott Copenhagen lounge who had both a Law and Masters of International Affairs degree; not uncommon.)

To be successful you can’t rely on your academic pedigree; you have to do more than simply ‘apply your knowledge’.

You have to leverage what you know to position yourself for career opportunities.

So If you have an MBA you will want to position yourself not as an academic MBA’er but as someone who is able to help take the organization where it needs to go.
Your academic credentials allow you to have insights on business problems. You are a business problem solver first; MBA degree-holder second.

Lead with what unique stuff you can deliver to an organization; not with what you’ve achieved at school - your pedigree.

Learn what your organization needs to meet its strategic goals; work on objectives and tactics that line up with the desired future and give 110% of yourself to execution every day you show up.

In answer to the question on what someone wants to do after they graduate, I would like to hear:

“After I graduate I intend to be the only marketing manager in the company I choose to work for that is viewed by others as a senior employee within 24 months.”

Declare your end game.

Pledge to be unique.

Trust that what you know will help get you there but won’t guarantee it.

Cheers,
Roy
Check out my BE DiFFERENT or be dead Book Series

• Posted 11.2.15 at 04:56 am by Roy Osing
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August 10, 2015

Why a divergent stands out from the crowd and is awesome

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Why a divergent stands out from the crowd and is great.

What are you: a faction member or a divergent?

Factions are groups of sameness.

Crowds controlled by a set of rules; expected to think and behave in a calculated way.

A member of a faction is commanded to conform to a predetermined set of societal rules.

They are crafted from a common blueprint; stamped with the same tattoo.

A Divergent, on the other hand, is an independent thinker that can’t be controlled.

They create their own box to play in.

They are feared by faction leaders because their actions can’t be predicted and they have a disregard for any value set and rule system they can’t identify with.

We need more Divergent’s.

We need people who challenge; who question; who like to be CoNTRARIAN; who are disgusted with the status quo; who are ok with putting it all on the line.

I wonder what a faction of Divergent’s would look like?

Cheers,
Roy
Check out my BE DiFFERENT or be dead Book Series

• Posted 8.10.15 at 04:35 am by Roy Osing
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May 11, 2015

3 proven ways to catapult your career out of the herd

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3 proven ways to catapult your career out of the herd.

People with a successful career find a way to separate themselves from others.

Simplify your career planning efforts by using these 3 tactics.

▪️Develop your 24-month career plan: the position(s) you want to have; the organization(s) you would like to target; the influencers in each organization you need to develop a relationship with.

“In 24 months I intend to be Director of Sales with ABC Company” will provide the focus you need to get you going. You will soon know if it the right objective; modify as you learn on the go.

▪️Create your personal ONLY statement; your competitive value proposition that sets you apart from others.
Stop talking about your credentials; start talking about what you do that no one else does.

“I am the only one out there that has the combination of sales and operations experience required to take the sales function to a different level in ANY organization.”

This will earn you the right to have a conversation about how you stand-out from the herd not fit into it.

▪️Gather mentors who can help you achieve your game plan goals. You can’t do it alone.
You need a platform of advice that is relevant to your 24-month plan. Read voraciously to discover friends who can help you with the content they create.

If you covet a marketing position, read and engage with Seth Godin and add him to your resume’.

These 3 actions work. I used them.

Give them a try.

Cheers,
Roy
Check out my BE DiFFERENT or be dead Book Series

• Posted 5.11.15 at 04:12 am by Roy Osing
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October 27, 2014

Why busy-ness is used by people as a bloody excuse

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Why is busy-ness used by people as a bloody excuse?

We finish our meal at a restaurant and would like our table cleared of the left-over rubbish and debris.

We wait and wait and wait.

Servers fly by, careful to avoid eye contact with us.

Their response when I finally asked for help: “I would have cleared your table earlier but I was too busy.”

This is a common problem. People today are ‘too busy’ to do the right thing; captivated in their moment rather than focussing on what is right

Too busy to keep a promise, meet that friend for lunch, take the extra time needed to care for a customer or to say thank you to someone who has done you a favour.

Too busy is the rationalization for avoiding what should be attended to.

It also serves the thrill some people get from ‘activity-mania’; they love to chase stuff. They aren’t focussed.

But it’s the easy way out.

Whenever you hear yourself thinking or talking too busy, STOP!

Be ruled by the right thing not busy-ness.

Cheers,
Roy
Check out my BE DiFFERENT or be dead Book Series

• Posted 10.27.14 at 04:30 am by Roy Osing
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