Stop Using These 16 Terms to Describe Yourself
Picture this. You meet someone new.
"What do you do?" she asks.
"I'm an architect," you
say.
"Oh, really?" she answers.
"Have you designed any buildings I've seen?"
"Possibly," you reply.
"We did the new student center at the university..."
"Oh wow," she says.
"That's a beautiful building..."
Without trying -- without blowing
your own horn -- you've made a great impression.
Now picture this. You meet someone
new. "What do you do?" he asks.
"I'm a passionate, innovative,
dynamic provider of architectural services with a collaborative approach to
creating and delivering outstanding world-class client and user
experiences."
All righty then.
Do you describe yourself differently
– on your website, promotional materials, or especially on social media – than
you do in person? Do you use cheesy clichés and overblown superlatives and
breathless adjectives?
Do you write things about yourself
you would never have the nerve to actually say?
Here are some words that are great
when other people use them to describe you – but you should never use to
describe yourself:
1. "Innovative." Most companies claim to be innovative. Most people claim to
be innovative. Most are, however, not. (I'm definitely not.) That's okay,
because innovation isn't a requirement for success.
If you are innovative, don't say it.
Prove it. Describe the products you've developed. Describe the processes you've
modified.
Give us something real so your
innovation is unspoken but evident... which is always the best kind of evident
to be.
2. "World-class." Usain Bolt: world-class sprinter, Olympic medals to prove
it. Lionel Messi: world-class soccer (I know, football) player, four
Ballon d'Or trophies to prove it.
But what is a world-class
professional or company? Who defines world-class? In your case, probably just
you.
3. "Authority." Like Margaret Thatcher said, "Power is like being a
lady; if you have to say you are, you aren't." Show your expertise
instead.
"Presented at TEDxEast "
or "Predicted 50 out of 50 states in 2012 election" (Hi Nate!)
indicates a level of authority. Unless you can prove it, "social media
marketing authority" might simply mean you spend way too much time
worrying about your Klout score.
4. "Results oriented." Really? Some people actually focus on doing what they are
paid to do? We had no idea.
5. "Global provider." The majority of businesses can sell goods or services
worldwide; the ones that can't are fairly obvious.
Only use "global provider"
if that capability is not assumed or obvious; otherwise you just sound like a
small company trying to appear big.
6. "Motivated." Never take credit for things you are supposed to do – or
supposed to be.
7. "Creative." See particular words often enough and they no longer make an
impact. "Creative" is one of them.
"Creative" is just one
example. Others include extensive, effective, proven, influential, team
player... some of those terms may truly describe you, but since they are also
being used to describe everyone they've lost their impact.
8. "Dynamic." If you are "vigorously active and forceful," um,
stay away.
9. "Guru." People who try to be clever for the sake of being clever are
anything but. Don't be a self-proclaimed
ninja, sage, connoisseur, guerilla, wonk, egghead... it's awesome when your
customers affectionately describe you that way.
Refer to yourself that way and it's
obvious you're trying way too hard to impress other people – or yourself.
10. "Curator." Museums have curators. Libraries have curators. Tweeting
links to stuff you find interesting doesn't make you a curator... or an
authority or a guru.
11. "Passionate." I know many people disagree, but if you say you're
incredibly passionate about, oh, incorporating elegant design aesthetics into
everyday objects, to me you sound over the top.
The same is true if you're
passionate about developing long-term customer solutions. Try the words focus,
concentration, or specialization instead.
Or try "love," as in,
"I love incorporating an elegant design aesthetic in everyday
objects." For whatever reason, that works for me. Passion doesn't. (But
maybe that's just me.)
12. "Unique." Fingerprints are unique. Snowflakes are unique. You
are unique – but your business probably isn't. That’s fine, because customers
don't care about unique; they care about "better."
Show you're better than the
competition and in the minds of your customers you will be unique.
13. "Incredibly..." Check out some random bios and you'll find plenty of
further-modified descriptors: "Incredibly passionate,"
"profoundly insightful," "extremely captivating..." isn't
it enough to be insightful or captivating? Do you have to be profoundly
insightful?
If you must use over-the-top
adjectives, spare us the further modification. Trust that we already get it.
14. "Serial entrepreneur." A few people start multiple, successful, long-term
businesses. They are successful serial entrepreneurs.
The rest of us start one business
that fails or does okay, try something else, try something else, and keep on
rinsing and repeating until we find a formula that works. Those people are
entrepreneurs. Be proud if you're "just" an entrepreneur. You should
be.
15. "Strategist." I sometimes help manufacturing plants improve productivity
and quality. There are strategies I use to identify areas for improvement but
I'm in no way a strategist. Strategists look at the present, envision something
new, and develop approaches to make their vision a reality.
I don't create something new; I
apply my experience and a few proven methodologies to make improvements.
Very few people are strategists.
Most "strategists" are actually coaches, specialists, or consultants
who use what they know to help others. 99% of the time that's what customers
need – they don't need or even want a strategist.
16. "Collaborative." You won't just decide what's right for me and force me to
buy it?
If your process is designed to take
my input and feedback, tell me how that works. Describe the process. Don't
claim we'll work together -- describe how we'll work together.
Jeff Haden
http://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20130117141235-20017018-stop-using-these-16-terms-to-describe-yourself
No comments:
Post a Comment