Stand Out

San Francisco

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SFO  

 
One hundred eight years ago, a terrible natural disaster descended upon San Francisco. The April 16, 1906 earthquake and resulting fire devastated the City and Bay Area. But, this is a resilient place that learned how to stand out from all other places in North America. I am working here now in San Francisco on the 17th floor of a building that stands on landfill and no, I am not afraid.

If you follow my posts here bearing the stand out tag, you already know that I relocated to Las Vegas, Nevada from the Washington, DC area during the dead of summer 2012. What was I thinking?

I asked myself that question as I melted under the unnatural feeling of daytime highs hitting one hundred eighteen degrees. Yeah, sure, the summers are damn hot in Las Vegas. But, everyone knows that.

I had to leave the Washington, DC area to move on with my life. There were many things I loved while living in Las Vegas for over a year. I just had to accept that my job meant relocating to San Francisco. And, what do you know? Although the weather is never hot in San Francisco compared to Las Vegas, in real life a person cannot pick a place to live and work based on the local weather.

Being someone who wants to stand out in life, I jumped at the career opportunity to work in San Francisco and left Las Vegas in the rearview mirror. Well, that’s a metaphor because actually I flew on United Airlines.

The most important lesson I have learned in my life is to seek change, explore new ventures, and don’t regret what you leave behind. Now I am in San Francisco, which is arguably the most beautiful city in North America. There is so much to love here.

This also is a very happening place where the economy is so good that people here choose to pay more than most other Americans for just about everything. Did you know that for $4 you can get toast in San Francisco? Bread and butter toast. Like for breakfast. Not some trendy alcoholic beverage!

Oh yeah, and then there’s that rather annoying legacy of earthquakes. Can’t do anything about that any more than I could change the terrible weather in Las Vegas in summertime.

So, to stand out, I urge you to go where you need to go when you need to move on in your life. No matter what. If you don’t want to stand out, stay where you are. That’s my advice based on my life’s lessons. I hope you will explore my other commentaries on this subject here that are tagged with stand out.

Two Cities

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Once you make the decision to follow your internal guidance or your heart or your karma, there is no turning back. So, you think you can stand out? Yes, you can, but it may be more difficult than you can imagine.

Those who follow my column on Ned’s Job of the Week website already have seen my commentaries on making transitions in life and career. My most recent column on this subject was on June 29, my birthday. In that post, I wrote about what has morphed into an ongoing transition in my life and career. I chronicled my August 2012 relocation from Washington, DC to Las Vegas, Nevada. I never imagined that I would continue in transition in July 2013, but that is exactly what has happened. The lesson here is that transitions in life can be a regular journey for a person.

I was recruited to work as a communication consultant in San Francisco. What does one who is a resident of Las Vegas, Nevada do if they want to accept such a terrific position in San Francisco? The answer is found in these three simple words: frequent flier miles.

Yes, I fly 400 miles one-way to get to and from work each week in San Francisco. I also live in hotels part of each week. In my experience, flying and staying in hotels has always been associated with vacation. Now, however, I have joined the ranks of steadfast business travelers who know the realities of regular travel by air and weekly accommodations in hotels.

Living in two cities is a major challenge, of course. I would not recommend this to you unless you genuinely are a highly adaptable person. There will always be unexpected twists and turns that sneak up on you and complicate an already difficult way to live. In San Francisco, for instance, I am having to deal with a strike at the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) system that makes local commuting one of the worst traffic experiences one could ever hope to find in the United States. Then there is the issue of going between daytime highs of only 65 degrees in San Francisco to daytime highs of over 100 degrees in Las Vegas. You get the idea here.

I love working with my colleagues in San Francisco and I am very happy that I accepted this consulting offer. I would not trade my life with anyone else. Maybe in the near future, I will need to relocate for work to California from Nevada. You can be sure I will write about my experiences here to help you with your own efforts to stand out professionally.

Meanwhile, Here are some of my most helpful posts that I hope you will check out:

  • One of the most significant parts of my online column here on Ned’s Job of the Week website is my series on how you can create and maintain your personal brand. This series of columns began in July 2012 and is worth checking out if you haven’t already done so. The entire series is available all in one place online for you to see.
  • I am especially proud of my commentary regarding staying current with technology to help professionals of any age or experience level remain relevant in today’s rapidly changing world.
  • My controversial comments about retirement will make you think carefully about your plans for what happens after you transition from the world of full-time employment.

Birthday Commentary

Woody Goulart photographed by Sam Glass, Jr.
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A few months ago I updated my commentary entitled “Should I Stay or Should I Go” — a title from that song from the 1980s by the English punk rock group The Clash. Here is update on the occasion of my birthday, June 29, about how to stand out.

It is good to reflect upon your life at least once a year. Doing so on your birthday makes good sense in my humble opinion.

As I reflect on this day, I realize how far I have come in my life. Literally and figuratively. I relocated from Phoenix, Arizona in 1995 to take a Washington, DC executive speechwriting career job. I am one of those people who loves living in the Desert Southwest, but the career employment opportunity in DC had to become my main priority.

Relocating from the desert to DC was one of those famous Life Changing Experiences, to say the least. I believe that there is very little that DC shares in common with life in the western deserts of the United States. For me, living in the desert developed a deep and enduring bond between myself and the physical environment. The simplest way to explain this is to say that I created a spiritual connection with the earth while living in the desert.

After the Great Recession hit in 2007, although I could continue to make a living in the DC market, I started feeling as though my life path needed to take me back to the Desert Southwest. My answer to the “Should I Stay or Should I Go” question was to stay in DC. During August 2012, however, I answered “Should I Go” with a clear “yes!” and I chose to relocate to Las Vegas, Nevada.

At this point in time, I have lived in Las Vegas almost one full year. This week in Las Vegas, we are experiencing record high temperatures. When the hot winds hit your face, you learn to take it or you will keep wondering why anyone would choose to live here in the Mojave Desert.

Las Vegas is internationally famous for being a place where you can escape for fun and relaxation. That is as true today as it has been since 1906 when the railroad came to Las Vegas and enabled casinos and hotels to exist here as viable businesses.

But, living in Las Vegas permanently as a local is a whole different experience compared to visiting Las Vegas for just a few days of fun and relaxation as a visitor. From experience, I would suggest that if you choose to relocate to Las Vegas as I did, choose also like I did to relocate here during any month when the temperatures are at their highest. Why? If you relocate to Las Vegas when the weather is cool, doing so will create a very false sense of reality for you regarding how punishing the physical environment can be here in the Mojave Desert. When you experience a high temperature of 120, you will know rather quickly if you are going to be able to survive living here.

Life as a local in Las Vegas has many advantages that cannot be matched or exceeded anywhere else in the United States. Among these advantages are a highly favorable tax environment, a clear and consistent welcoming and encouragement by municipal and state governments towards entrepreneurs, low-cost entertainment of the highest quality, low-cost dining out opportunities of the highest quality, and, overall genuine friendliness of the locals. Vacationing here and attending conventions here is a terrific experience, too.

Infamously, many people move to Las Vegas and then leave within about 30 days. The reasons for their exodus are numerous and personal. You can find part of an answer why many never make it past 30 days here if you consider some of the disadvantages (excluding the famous daily 90+ temperatures during many months of every year) of life as a local in Las Vegas.

Other than the threat of heat-related physical injuries, there can be flash flooding caused by rare thunderstorms. I experienced two successive flash flooding incidents during 2012 and 2013. On the plus side, there are not likely going to be tornadoes or hurricanes here, however, like elsewhere in the United States. Nor are you going to suffer under several feet of snow.

Throughout the Las Vegas Valley there persists the old-fashioned 1960s emphasis upon single passenger vehicles. This unavoidable reality directly results in routine traffic congestion and extraordinarily inconvenient and frustrating parking. Alternatives to this outmoded single passenger vehicle way of transportation are beginning to establish a foothold here in Las Vegas. Pun intended.

Some locals you may encounter in the Las Vegas Valley choose to play by their own rules of public behavior that exist outside the typical bounds of polite society. I cannot go into detail about this without sharing anecdotes that easily would earn an “R” rating.

At the same time, this is a welcoming place. I quickly became involved on the board of directors of the Las Vegas chapter of the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC). I am a serious advocate for everyone who is in the communications fields to join your local IABC chapter and get as actively involved as you possibly can. IABC is a fantastic networking opportunity for communications people. Everyone I have met within IABC Las Vegas have been genuine and welcoming towards me.

In conclusion, only you can answer your own “Should I Stay or Should I Go” question. If you are like me, you may discover after weighing all the factors that choosing to stay where you are is not the best for your career. But, know that choosing to go is very difficult. You should expect emotional and financial challenges.

But, if you are like me, you may discover that augmenting your personal brand requires you to move your life and your career to some other place than where you are right now. I’m convinced that one’s personal brand may need such a reboot or restart from time to time. I urge you to face this kind of life change bravely and with determination all the while knowing that there will be experiences in this journey that are not fun. I’m confident that you, like me, will emerge at the new location a stronger person than you were before your move.

Kubrick Warned Us, But We Did Not Believe Him

stanley kubrick
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stanley kubrickAmerican film director Stanley Kubrick (1928-1999) created unforgettable and challenging ideas in his storytelling such as the recurring theme that technology is a curse for mankind rather than a blessing. Kubrick warned us, be we did not believe him. Just 14 years after Kubrick passed, technology is taking away jobs that we humans will likely never regain. This is not science fiction. This is real.

A sobering article entitled “After Your Job Is Gone” is a must-read for everyone who is employed right now. The central point of the article is that computerized automation already has made many Americans unable to keep jobs that they have held for years. This is not a future prediction This is now.

What would you do if technology destroyed your relevance as a worker? For us avid science fiction fans, such a question is as old as I, Robot, the classic speculative science fiction story from 1950 written by Isaac Asimov. Of course, many Americans tend to ignore science fiction as mere entertainment. That is, of course, a big mistake.

The most practical response you and I can have to technology destroying more jobs than it creates is to work in technology businesses. You will not be able to beat technology. So, you will have to join technology if you want to adapt and survive. This crucial need to adapt and survive is already especially challenging for people who have the false belief that technology is only for young people.

I will repeat here today what I posted earlier this year at this website:

When you live in the 21st century, you need to embrace and use the tools of the 21st century or you will become as relevant as dinosaurs. If you scoff at this, you are choosing to be a scoffing dinosaur.

How many birthdays you have had doesn’t matter one bit. Whether you like using computers or smart phones doesn’t matter either.

If you are in a career search in the wake of the Great Recession, you want to stand out. You definitely do not want to be a scoffing dinosaur. The choice is very simple and it is your choice alone: Relevant. Irrelevant.

You must embrace and use the tools of the 21st century if you are in a career search in the wake of the Great Recession or you will likely not succeed in your career search.

Create Your Own Reality

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Throughout Western culture in literature, song, movies and other artifacts there is a common meaning to be found: Each person has the capability of creating their own reality. Tapping into this ancient wisdom can save your life and reinvent who you are.

A very recent echoing of this wisdom came from Jeff Immelt, Chairman and CEO at GE. Read his simple, yet profound message to a graduating class of college students to see what I mean.

Immelt’s core message is powerful and merits requoting here: “We can’t wait for the economy to stabilize. We can’t wait for a time when there is more certainty. It used to be that you only had to manage momentum. Today, you have to create your own future.”

I’m not sure how I came to be someone who embraces that kind of viewpoint about life. I just do embrace it. Wholeheartedly.

I have been reinventing who I am for many years. Long before I ever heard of the word reinvention, I was doing it in my own life.

That is partly why I write commentaries here on this website. My goal is to share with you what I have discovered to be true. I hope your life can benefit from the lessons I have learned.

Fake versus Real

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American society in 2013 seems to have difficulties separating what is fake from what is real. Just look at the number of those so-called reality shows on television and you will know exactly what I mean. How any one us can hope to stand out from others is deeply affected by this American cultural context.

Since my youth I’ve heard the phrase, “fake it ’til you make it.” To me, the phrase always seemed to be sarcastic and more than just a little shallow. I used to wonder why anyone would want to be fake given the choice to be real. Then I became an adult.

My favorite quote of all time springs from my own lifelong search to tell the difference between fake people and real people. Julius Henry Marx lived from 1890 to 1977 and is best remembered by his nickname, Groucho. He was an American writer and comic with a profound ability to turn deeply intellectual thoughts into everyday language and make people laugh in the process. My favorite quote of all time comes from him: The secret to life is honesty and fair dealing. If you can fake that, you’ve got it made.

The ability to find humor in the struggle to separate what is fake from what is real is crucial to your being successful in shaping your own personal brand so that you stand out in positive ways from others. I firmly believe this.

I recommend that this weekend you should rent a movie called O Lucky Man to explore the humor in how people work so hard to stand out. This film stars Malcom McDowell, a talented actor whose face and voice you will recognize instantly because he has appeared in so many films over the years. McDowell was just 30 when he starred in O Lucky Man as a struggling young man trying to stand out from others and become successful in a professional career. This film is a comedy whose main purpose is to make you laugh so that the filmmakers can sneak in persuasive messages in the story to compel you to think about the differences between fake people and real people.

At this point in my life, I have somehow managed to live and work in Hollywood, Washington, DC, and Las Vegas. Being in these three famous American cities severely confuses anyone who hopes to tell the difference between fake people and real people. If you spend any time in any of these places, you will come to understand this simple truth: Hollywood and Las Vegas encourage make-believe for purposes of show business. Washington, DC encourages make-believe for purposes of political power.

Each of us must arrive at our own answers as to whether we are being dishonest if we ever fake it to stand out from others. There probably are moral considerations here, but I dare not tell you what you should consider to be moral. You must find your own way. You would be wise, however, to keep in mind that what is fake versus real often is in the eye of the beholder like truth and beauty.

Achieving Courage and Competence

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Even if we do not live and work in Boston, we all were impacted this past week by life-changing events that happened there. Many lessons can be learned from what happened to help us stand out from everyone else.

Because I lived and worked in the Boston media market years ago, I will always feel a deep connection to Boston and to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Like many other Americans, this week I was horrified to watch the media coverage of the Boston Marathon bombings and the subsequent hunt for the men who chose to kill and injure innocents on Patriot’s Day.

It is easy to think that there are no lessons to be learned from what happened this past week in Boston in the context of trying to stand out in your professional life and with your personal brand. If you think that, you are wrong.

Readers of my online column on Ned Lundquist’s Job of the Week website know by now that to stand out is to choose to be unique in positive ways while deliberately working smart towards separating yourself in meaningful ways from your professional competitors.

I saw a commentary on CBS News about two traits that were vividly demonstrated in Boston this past week in response to the Boston Marathon bombings. I want to share that commentary with you because of my humble opinion that the two traits mentioned on CBS News can be applied to any one of us who wants to stand out from our professional competitors.

The two traits and competence and courage. I agree with the commentator that these traits are rare today. But, to have competence and courage is a choice. There’s still time in your life to achieve both of these crucial traits if you expect to stand out. Achieving these traits won’t happen by accident. You must be deliberate. You must choose to have these traits actively and with forethought.

Enough context setting; now I encourage you to follow this link to the CBS News commentary to learn more.

Go Offline to Stand Out

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One secret for those who want to stand out while conducting a search for a career job is to go offline. This may seem like highly ironic advice because it appears in an online column providing tips and advice about how to stand out in your career search.

No irony is intended here. The reality is that yes, you can succeed in standing out while conducting a search for a career job or any job if you just step away from your computer.

If you read something in the Wall Street Journal, you want to believe it, right? That publication is a central source for business information in the United States today. So, why not trust it?

Read this WSJ article to learn what it means for your search for a career job when 80% of the jobs are not publicly advertised.

This post also appears on Ned Lundquist’s Job of the Week website.

Paying for Career Advancement

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Those who want to stand out from competitors in career advancement sometimes choose to pay others thinking that doing so will be a wise financial investment. Unfortunately, just because you pay for something does not mean you get value from it, especially when it comes to career advancement.

I read a consumer law blog post this week about an investigation into one of the online companies that I paid to help me with my career advancement. The post concerned possible fraud and deception. These are words that you do not ever want to see associated with an online company that you have paid to help you with your career advancement. Just saying.

So, perhaps I was taken advantage of. Perhaps not. I don’t have enough information yet to make this determination.

But, there is a major lesson I want to share with you: Please be extremely careful before you pay anybody to help you with career advancement–especially online companies that you have only encountered on your computer screen or hand-held device. In my opinion, you really should only choose to pay someone who has been recommended to you by someone that you can trust.

My recommendation (as someone that you can trust) is to only go with career advancement companies (online or brick and mortar) that get you at least three job interviews. You can try out career advancement companies and pay them for a very short period of time. However, if you do not get at least three job interviews that you can attribute directly to the particular career advancement company, you need to drop that company quickly. Don’t spend another dime with any career advancement company that fails to get you at least three job interviews.

I have written several times here in this blog that I pay for the services of LinkedIn.com and they happen to be a career advancement company that has gotten me more than three job interviews. I would never make a recommendation to you unless I had tested it out in real life for myself.

There are many, many other career advancement companies out there. My humble opinion is that it is better to be super cautious and not pay for career advancement online with most companies. You may be risking your money on something that may be worth very little in return.

This post also appears on Ned Lundquist’s Job of the Week website.

Choose Who You Are

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It may seem illogical, but people can take specific actions to define themselves, especially when trying to stand out from others. Make sure that what you are like on the outside is a deliberate choice on your part. There is no reason at all for anyone to allow what he or she is like on the outside to be left to chance or accident.

Helping yourself to be deliberate specifically involves using a certain amount of psychology. Don’t worry, this is something you can do on your own. You don’t necessarily need prescription drugs or medical specialists. The psychology works best if you ask yourself some difficult questions to test whether what you look like on the outside is deliberate or accidental:

Are you going out in public today with clothing that you deliberately chose with rips and tears in the fabric?

Did you choose to embed that shiny metal ring through your nostrils?

Are you walking out into the world today having made the deliberate choice not to wash your hair?

Did you choose to allow your breath to smell like you ate rotting meat an hour ago?

There is a point to these absurdly ridiculous questions: Every element about your outward appearance comes down to a choice on your part. And, whether you chose it or not, people are going to perceive that you made the choice. Read more.

This post also appears on Ned Lundquist’s Job of the Week website.