One of the big challenges that we face, as professionals and as individuals, is getting our stories/pleas/complaints/pitches heard.  I honestly believe that my clients are fascinating, worthy of exposure and attention, and I believe deeply in my own ability to deliver results for them.  The thing we share in common is that it’s a cluttered world out there, and corporate types have a very limited attention span.  I’ve believed for a long, long while that the first step towards success is simply getting to the top of someone’s pile – whether that’s an HR person, a hiring manager, some decision maker you’re pitching, or even some sexy thing you’ve got your eye on.  It’s really basic, and perhaps comes across as really obvious, but in my mind, that method of differentiation is often overlooked.

today's context-free metaphor: be ready to demonstrate excellence.

Two great examples of people doing unusual things to get to the top of the pile:
1) I’m no NASCAR fan – I really only keep tabs on it so that I can keep track of people I know in the sport, but there’s a driver called Carl Edwards who deserves a lot of credit for the sheer force of willpower with which he started his career.  Having seen plenty of drivers do the walk of shame through the paddock, practically begging anyone to let them drive a race car, my perspective is that those who are willing to submit to more embarrassment are more likely to succeed.  Carl Edwards famously took out print ads in NASCAR trade papers with a schmaltzy photo of himself and the tagline, “If you’re looking for a race car driver, you’re looking for me,” or “Put me in your race car this weekend, have helmet will travel.”  He handed out THOUSANDS of business cards with the same information on it, and eventually, he got his shot.  The rest is history, and now he gets to do his (rather annoying, to me) backflips off of his car when he wins races.  Dude’s a showman, but kudos to him for having the sack to put himself out there like that.

2) I read this article in today’s San Francisco Chronicle about a Giants pitcher named Ryan Sadowski.  Basically, he’s another no-name pitcher who’s finally got his break in the bigs after getting no love in college, and attracting very little scouting attention.  He’s having a nice little debut in his rookie season, but what he did to garner attention for himself really astounds me.  He literally had his mother call the scouting department of all 30 major-league teams, get the number of the local pitching scout, and say “I’m Ryan Sadowski’s mother. Please phone my son. He can pitch and he’d like a chance to show you.”

Now that is some next-level shit.

There’s a lesson to be learned from Carl Edwards and Ryan Sadowski – if you want to stand out amongst a very crowded field, you have to do something creative and be willing to take risks and look like a fool.  The Big Important Lesson, however, is that once you’ve got someone’s attention, be ready to demonstrate excellence and exercise strategic patience.  For my client Patrick Long, for instance, we’ve been constantly dripping on the same organization now for more than a year, trying to put together a wide-ranging partnership.  Though we started the process on top of the pile – a personal introduction got us there – there’s been plenty of times we’ve NOT been on the top of the list.  As a result, we’ve had to continue to find reasons to share good news and developments, to keep the momentum going.  I’m happy to say all indications are that we’ll sew the deal up soon, but it’s really been a learning experience for me and the other folks involved.

So, if you’re in a pickle with your business, or are stuck not making progress, figure out a way to do the equivalent of having your Mom call to advocate for you.  It’s a good lesson for us all, easier said than done, but most assuredly rewarding.  It’s a very healthy trait – both as a person and as a professional – to have to take some strong medicine and acquire some forced humility sometimes.