You need to showcase yourself if you want your manager to take notice.
Standing out at work requires working to make sure workers know you’re working, and working well. This can require investing in other’s success, or turning their failures into successes, so that the aforementioned work to make your work noticed by fellow workers works out for your benefit.
To summarize, to succeed and stand out at work you must first stand out from the crowd. Here are six proven methodologies:
Be the one with a purpose.
Demonstrating competence, confidence, and decisiveness makes you look like you know what you’re doing. This requires always projecting confidence at work. Ask yourself, when you take your third trip of the morning to the bathroom to play a round of scrabble on your phone, do you walk confidently? Studies have shown that stomping around the office with emphasized footfalls makes you appear more confident and noticed by those you work with. Next time you hit the head, be sure to stomp over there so everyone takes notice.
Be known for something specific.
Simply doing your job won’t help you stand out, but being known as the one who leads in the “memorable” department puts you in front when it comes to bonus and promotion time.
Does anyone at your office play a harmonica? An alp horn? It should be you! Have a parrot that’s so stressed it’s pulling out it’s wing feathers? Bring it to work! Brand yourself into your co-worker’s brain by flaunting your eccentric passions for all to see. Pick a worthwhile eccentricity, then excel at that mission. People will notice.
Create your own side project.
Excelling at an assigned project is expected but excelling at a self initiated side project helps you stand out. Why not fix that offline printer? How about creating a collage of inspirational images to mount above the urinal? Are your co-workers stressed? Be proactive and come in before work and install a jacuzzi in the break room. Then fill it with bubble bath foam and adorn with flavored massage oils. Get creative!
Put your muscle where your mouth is.
Everyone likes to talk about problems, but you can be the one to fix them. As Mr. T said, “Enough of the Jibber Jabber! Let’s climb the company ladder!” Don’t let the absence of a problem in a situation dissuade you, you can still inject yourself into a situation to create a problem that you can then solve. When you spark a problem that you can then point out and solve, your stock value rises. (Note: Don’t create problems you can’t solve. This is less effective.)
Show a little of your personal side.
Personal interests help other people to identify and remember you. Don’t be that guy who only talks about work at the company lunch. Talk about your other interests or topical subjects of interest, like the weather outside. Other good unique topics to discuss are hobbies, pets, medications you’re taking, rectal disorders, ongoing divorce drama, promiscuous mishaps in public spaces, and recent experiences negotiating with bail bondsmen.
Work harder than everyone else.
When it comes down to it, nothing – nothing – is a substitute for hard work. Look around: How many people are working as hard as they can? Is anyone panting? Is anyone sweating? Whose muscles are failing? Who appears to be near death? I’m sure the answer is – very few. The single best way to stand out is to out-work everyone else. You need to be the one sweating, panting, and near physical collapse when it comes to the end of the workday. You’re going to stand out, because you’ll be the only one trying.
