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Too many people believe that if they keep their heads down and work hard, they’ll be recognized on the merits of their work. But that’s simply not true anymore. “Safe” jobs disappear daily, and the clamor of everyday life drowns out ordinary contributions. To make a name for yourself, to create true job security, and to make a difference in the world, you have to share your unique perspective and inspire others to take action. But in a noisy world where it seems everything’s been said—and shouted from the rooftops—how can your ideas stand out?
Fortunately, you don’t have to be a genius or a worldwide superstar to make an impact. Drawing on interviews with more than fifty thought leaders in fields ranging from business to genomics to urban planning, Dorie Clark shows how these masters achieved success and how anyone—with hard work—can do the same. Whether it’s learning to ask the right questions, developing and building on an expert niche, or combining disparate fields to get a new perspective, Clark outlines ways to develop the ideas that set you apart.
Of course, having a breakthrough insight is only half the battle. If you really want to share your ideas, you have to find a way to build an audience, communicate your message, and inspire others to embrace your vision. Starting small is fine; Clark provides a step-by-step guide to help you leverage your existing networks, attract new people to your cause, and, ultimately, build a community around your ideas.
Featuring vivid examples based on interviews with influencers such as Seth Godin, David Allen, and Daniel Pink, Clark shows you how to break through and ensure that your ideas get noticed. Becoming a thought leader in your company or in your profession is the ultimate career insurance. But—even more important—it’s also a chance to change the world for the better. Whatever your cause, perspective, or point of view, the world can’t afford for the best ideas to remain buried inside you. Whether it’s how to improve the educational system or how to make your company more efficient, your ideas matter. The world needs your insights, and it’s time to be bold.
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherPortfolio
- Publication dateApril 21, 2015
- File size832 KB
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Editorial Reviews
Review
–Library Journal
"[Stand Out] provides an almost painless way to uncover and build your 'brand.’”
–Booklist
“It’s easy to admire a thought leader; it’s much harder to become one. Stand Out illuminates
the path. With compelling advice from many of the world’s top influencers, as well as her own impressive journey, Dorie Clark has written a highly accessible book that’s both informative and motivating.”
—Adam Grant, Wharton professor of psychology and author of Give and Take
“This is the book for you if you are starting any kind of personal, professional, or societal movement. Clark has penned a breakthrough process for taking your big idea from infancy to maturity. Read this book and your revolution will be officially in motion. Highly recommended.”
—Michael Port, author of Book Yourself Solid
“In today’s crowded marketplace, having a great résumé or business idea is not enough to be successful. In Stand Out, Dorie Clark clearly and powerfully teaches you how to become a recognized expert in your field, leading to more opportunities, income, and impact in the world.”
—Pamela Slim, author of Body of Work
“This isn’t another book about marketing. It’s a book about how to develop an idea and a voice powerful enough to deserve a powerful following and real influence. It’s about how to stand out in the ways that matter.”
—Ryan Holiday, author of The Obstacle Is the Way and Growth Hacker Marketing
“Dorie Clark has developed an engaging resource to differentiate yourself in today’s marketplace. From finding your niche, or big idea, to building your audience, Clark effortlessly guides you through the process to inspire others.”
—Keith Ferrazzi, author of Never Eat Alone and Who’s Got Your Back
“Dorie Clark is a thought leader in how to be a thought leader. She’s an expert in how to be an expert. Her book offers clear tips on how to stand out, whether you’re a blogger, a rocket designer, or a laundry machine reviewer.”
—A. J. Jacobs, author of The Know-It-All
From the Inside Flap
Fortunately, you don't have to be a genius or a worldwide superstar to make an impact. Drawing on interviews with more than fifty thought leaders in fields ranging from business to genomics to urban planning, Dorie Clark shows how these masters achieved success and how anyone--with hard work--can do the same. Whether it's learning to ask the right questions, developing and building on an expert niche, or combining disparate fields to get a new perspective, Clark outlines ways to develop the ideas that set you apart.
Of course, having a breakthrough insight is only half the battle. If you really want to share your ideas, you have to find a way to build an audience, communicate your message, and inspire others to embrace your vision. Starting small is fine; Clark provides a step-by-step guide to help you leverage your existing networks, attract new people to your cause, and, ultimately, build a community around your ideas.
Featuring vivid examples based on interviews with influencers such as Seth Godin, David Allen, and Daniel Pink, Clark shows you how to break through and ensure your ideas get noticed. Becoming a thought leader, in your company or in your profession, is the ultimate career insurance. But--even more important--it's also a chance to change the world for the better. Whatever your cause, perspective, or point of view, the world can't afford for the best ideas to remain buried inside you. Whether it's how to improve the educational system or how to make your company more efficient, your ideas matter. The world needs your insights, and it's time to be bold.
From the Back Cover
"It's easy to admire a thought leader; it's much harder to become one. Stand Out illuminates the path. With compelling advice from many of the world's top influencers, as well as her own impressive journey, Dorie Clark has written a highly accessible book that's both informative and motivating." --Adam Grant, Wharton professor and author of Give and Take
"This is the book for you if you are starting any kind of personal, professional, or societal movement. Clark has penned a breakthrough process for taking your big idea from infancy to maturity. Read this book and your revolution will be officially in motion. Highly recommended." --Michael Port, author of Book Yourself Solid
"In today's crowded marketplace, having a great résumé or business idea is not enough to be successful. In Stand Out, Dorie Clark clearly and powerfully teaches you how to become a recognized expert in your field, leading to more opportunities, income, and impact in the world."--Pamela Slim, author of Body of Work
"This isn't another book about marketing. It's a book about how to develop an idea and a voice powerful enough to deserve a powerful following and real influence. It's about how to stand out in the ways that matter." --Ryan Holiday, author of The Obstacle Is the Way and Growth Hacker Marketing
"Dorie Clark has developed an engaging resource to differentiate yourself in today's marketplace. The focus is a shift away from anticipating merits for hard work toward proactively creating your own space within your company or in the community to become an acknowledged expert in your field. From finding your niche, or big idea, to building your audience, Clark effortlessly guides you through the process to inspire others." --Keith Ferrazzi, author of Never Eat Alone and Who's Got Your Back
"Dorie Clark is a thought leader in how to be a thought leader. She's an expert in how to be an expert. Her book offers clear tips on how to stand out, whether you're a blogger, a rocket designer or a laundry machine reviewer." --AJ Jacobs, author of Drop Dead Healthy and The Year of Living Biblically
About the Author
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Introduction
You have something to say to the world. You have a contribution to make. Each of us has ideas that can reshape the world, in large ways or small. It might be developing a new business process, creating a new literary movement, or finding a new way to deliver humanitarian aid. It could be changing how the world looks at a political cause, or how students are taught, or how the corporate world should handle work-life balance. Whatever your issue, if you really want to make an impact, it’s important for your voice to be heard.
Yet too many of us shrink back when it comes to finding and sharing our ideas with the world. We assume the leading experts must have some unique talent or insight. We assume that our own ideas may not measure up. We assume that working hard and keeping our heads down will be enough to move our careers forward. But none of those things is true. Most recognized experts achieved success not because of some special genius, but because they learned how to put disparate elements together and present ideas in a new and meaningful way. That’s a skill anyone—with hard work—can practice and learn. And more and more, it’s essential. In today’s competitive economy, it’s not enough to simply do your job well. Developing a reputation as an expert in your field attracts people who want to hire you, do business with you and your company, and spread your ideas. It’s the ultimate form of career insurance.
It’s overstating the case to claim that there’s a surefire formula for becoming a recognized authority in your field. But are there patterns? A common set of principles that almost every respected leader follows, consciously or unconsciously? Without a doubt. With hard work and smarts, almost any professional could become a thought leader in his or her company or field. Few ever try—and that’s your competitive advantage. If you’re willing to take the risk of sharing yourself and your ideas with the world, you’re far ahead of the majority, who stay silent.
You were meant to make an impact. Now is the time to start.
BECOMING A RECOGNIZED EXPERT
Let’s get clear on definitions. In this book, I’ll be talking about how to become a recognized expert—a thought leader—in your field. First, if you are a thought leader, you’re known for your ideas. If you have celebrity without intellectual content backing it up, you might as well be a reality TV star. Kim Kardashian, whatever her other virtues, is not a thought leader. Second, you must have followers in order to be a thought leader. Being an expert is great, but it’s not sufficient—it merely implies you know what you’re doing. Thought leaders strive to make an impact, and that requires them to get outside the ivory tower and ensure that their message is accessible and actionable. It’s also important to note that you don’t need to be the world’s leading authority on a subject; you can be a thought leader in your company or in your community as well.
Recently there’s been some cultural blowback about the concept of “thought leadership” itself (a term coined in 1994 by Joel Kurtzman, then the editor in chief of Strategy + Business magazine, regarding thinkers whose ideas “merited attention”1). In a Harvard Business Review article, Sarah Green pushed back on the notion, asking, “Don’t we have enough ambitious workers leaning in so far that they’re toppling out of their desk chairs? Enough ‘thought leaders’ selling dubious credentials and platitudinous advice? Do our workplaces really need more ladder-climbing, cheese-moving self-promoters?”2
The underlying assumption seems to be that aspiring to the creation of new and important ideas is somehow sleazy, or a form of strategic puffery. Admittedly, some advice on thought leadership is vapid and banal, just as some advice on marketing, or strategy, or finance can be. But sharing your ideas with the world—when done right—is a far more meaningful act. Often, it looks like bravery.
When Diane Mulcahy was hired by the $2 billion Kauffman Foundation to manage its private equity and venture capital portfolio, she realized something was wrong. The foundation had invested in more than one hundred VC funds over two decades, but as a former venture capitalist, she realized the returns were far less than they theoretically should have been. Figuring out what was going wrong was important for the foundation’s finances, but also for its mission. If venture capital was broken, the Kauffman Foundation—which focuses intensively on supporting entrepreneurship—needed to understand why.
Mulcahy began investigating, and the numbers weren’t pretty. “Venture capital has had poor returns for over a decade, and the analysis we did on our own portfolio showed VC returns had not beaten the public markets, which is a terrible thing to have to say,” she recalls. “Venture capital promises to beat the public indexes by a fairly high margin—that’s the only reason you’d invest in a private partnership that ties up your money for a decade and charges high fees. It was a very big deal to come out and say, with a lot of data to back it up, that venture capital doesn’t deliver on its promises.”
Mulcahy’s report didn’t name names or criticize specific VC firms. But it laid bare Kauffman’s own investment portfolio, a striking move in an industry that’s generally opaque. She took on the sacred cows of the industry, highlighting the overly generous terms VC firms negotiate for themselves. “VCs go around talking about what great investors they are,” she says, “but in actuality, they’re paid on fees regardless of how good an investor they are.” Indeed, VCs running a $1 billion fund make $20 million a year from fees, even before a single investment is made.
She started facing resistance even before the report was published. “I had at least a handful of people say to me during interviews, ‘Diane, why are you doing this? You’ll never work in this industry again.’ Some people said it in a genuinely personal, caring way, and others said it in a mildly threatening way. There was a sense that if you’re going to write things like this, reports that are provocative and go against the accepted narrative, your career in this industry is over.”
Once the report was released, the firestorm intensified. Her report was widely discussed by industry blogs and in the news media, but it didn’t make Kauffman, or Mulcahy, popular in some quarters. Some asked why they were “killing venture capital” or trying to “make it harder for entrepreneurs to make money.” Others questioned whether Kauffman’s poor returns were the result of flaws in the venture capital system, or just its own bad investment decisions.
Mulcahy, who subsequently wrote about her findings in Harvard Business Review, believes the report started a productive conversation in the industry, but she warns potential thought leaders that shaping the dialogue in your field can be a fraught process. “I received a great piece of advice from somebody on my investment committee,” Mulcahy recalls. “‘This is going to be emotional,’” he told her, “‘and you need to be prepared for that, and for the possibility that this could get personal.’ That was a real eye-opener, and he was right: people in the industry reacted emotionally.”
When you’re a true thought leader, it’s not about advancing you—it’s about advancing your ideas. Because of her extensive knowledge of venture capital, Mulcahy understood that Kauffman’s returns might indicate an underlying problem with the industry. In saying the emperor has no clothes, she faced an enormous amount of personal and professional risk, but she followed the data where it led. To help other foundations and investors, and to spark a dialogue about how venture capital is done, she shared her research publicly.
Sometimes the process of change can be frustratingly slow. “Don’t look for immediate change,” advises Mulcahy. Following her report, there are nascent signs that the industry is beginning to shift—VC pitch decks now often list the report’s recommendations, and describe how the fund meets them. The premier consultancy in the venture capital field is now starting to track VC performance against the public markets, a Kauffman recommendation. “But let me be clear—they didn’t attribute that change to us,” Mulcahy says. “People have a lot of entrenched interests, and a lot of inertia, and things take time to change.” But eventually, with patience and persistence, they do.
STANDING OUT IS NO LONGER OPTIONAL
Mulcahy’s decision to move ahead with the report may seem risky, but sometimes it’s riskier not to act. In a world where income inequality is at its highest levels since 1928,3 the benefits of standing out and being the best—no matter your field—are rapidly increasing. We’ve shifted much more toward a winner-take-all economy.4 During the rebound following the Great Recession, a full 95 percent of all income gains went to the top 1 percent.5 In a world where you can now watch simulcasts of the Metropolitan Opera (instead of buying tickets to regional opera performances) or “study with” superstar professors in MOOCs (instead of settling for the instructor nearby), there’s less room for average performers. You can’t get away with being the best option at hand; in a global economy, you need to be recognized as the best—period.
Meanwhile, “safe” jobs, predicated on staying quiet and doing what’s expected of you, are fast disappearing. There’s a lingering cultural belief that if you just work hard enough, you’ll be lauded as an authority if your work merits it. Unfortunately, that’s a recipe for professional disaster. People are overwhelmed by the clamor of their direct reports, Facebook friends, and Twitter followers; they just aren’t paying that much attention to you. As the average job tenure decreases, you can’t rely on your reputation as a hard worker; your new boss and colleagues have no clue. You need to be willing to share yourself and your ideas if you expect to advance.
Building a strong professional reputation is the best way to protect, and advance, your career. When you’re recognized by others as an authority in your field, clients and employers want to work with you, specifically—and if you do lose your job, you’re equipped to bounce back. That’s what happened to a friend of Des Dearlove, cofounder of Thinkers50, a biennial ranking of the world’s top business leaders. Dearlove’s friend was nearly fifty when he got laid off from his longtime employer. But he’d laid the groundwork for a successful landing. He’d volunteered for international conferences, chaired committees, and built relationships with people across his field.
“The shock of being ‘made redundant’ quickly morphed into the shock of getting offers from all over the world,” recalls Dearlove. “They said to him, ‘Why don’t you set up the UK office of this or that?’ Finally, his old company offered him a new job and he said, ‘You know what? I’ve got much better offers now.’ He was an international thought leader in his own industry, and that worked fantastically for him in terms of employability and his personal brand. He had standing and status and a reputation that went beyond the brand of his organization.” Whether you work inside a corporation or as an entrepreneur, today’s challenge is the same: how to add so much value to others that they fight to have you on their team.
To succeed in today’s economy, you don’t have to be a worldwide superstar, but you do have to be deliberate about identifying the place where you want to make a contribution and starting to share your ideas. The competition is fierce, but if you even begin to develop thought leadership, you’ll dramatically outpace your competitors, most of whom never even try.
THE WORLD NEEDS YOU
The ultimate reason to invest in developing and spreading your ideas is—as Steve Jobs put it—the imperative to “put a dent in the universe.” Why do you go to work each day? What do you hope to accomplish? What do you want to be known for at the end of your career, and your life? Anyone can go into an office and sit at a computer for eight or ten hours a day. But some people know they’re made for more than that. They have ideas—perhaps still inchoate—that can improve their company, or even the world. They realize they won’t feel complete until they’ve made a contribution they can point to: something that’s different, and better, because they made a mark.
Whatever your cause, or perspective, or point of view, we can’t afford for the best ideas to remain buried inside you. The world needs your insights. Whether it’s reducing crime or predicting election results or improving a manufacturing process or stopping spam e-mails, there are an infinite number of ways to make a contribution. We don’t have to settle for following orders and keeping to the work we’re expected to do. Our value isn’t as robots, executing tasks. It’s as thinkers, who make connections and spark new insights and change the world by seeing things in new ways.
How are you going to make a contribution? Thought leadership is about a lot more than just making money (though, as we’ll discuss, finding a way to sustain yourself is essential). It’s not about selling books, or going on the lecture circuit, or schmoozing at elite conferences. It’s about solving real problems and making a difference in a way that creates value for yourself and others. True thought leadership is a gift. It’s a willingness to be brave, open up, and share yourself. It’s a willingness to risk having your ideas shot down, because you genuinely believe they can help others. It’s a willingness to trust that your generosity will benefit the world.
MAKING THOUGHT LEADERSHIP HAPPEN
If you want to become recognized as the best in your industry, you’ll have to fight for it, but the promise of this book is that your goal is possible.
Early in my consulting career, I tried to get booked as a speaker at a local chamber of commerce. I sent them an introductory letter, a sample DVD of one of my talks, and a packet of information, and dutifully called to follow up. They claimed never to have received it, so I sent it again. In response to my second call, they once again insisted they’d never received it—apparently the party line—and then hit me with the truth. “Why should we book you, anyway?” the director asked. “We have an infinite number of consultants who are dying to speak to our members.”
To him, I was a commodity—no different from any other interchangeable speaker they could put behind the podium. I knew I was better than that, but he didn’t. I vowed that I was going to find a way to differentiate myself, to make my ideas known, and to ensure that clients and event organizers would seek me out, specifically.
I’ve spent the past decade sharpening my ideas and attempting to broaden my reach, so I can share them with others. Today, thankfully, I get paid to give talks, and no longer have to grovel to be allowed to do it for free. I teach at business schools around the world; consult and speak for great organizations, from Google to Yale University to the World Bank; and I have the opportunity to share my ideas regularly in publications like Harvard Business Review, Forbes,and Entrepreneur.
This book is the result of what I’ve learned personally, and it contains insights gleaned from interviews with dozens of thought leaders in an amazing array of fields, from genomics to urban planning to personal productivity to high tech. (All quotes, unless otherwise footnoted, come from the personal interviews I conducted.)
In the first section of the book, we’ll focus on identifying your own breakthrough idea. Using today’s top experts as examples, we’ll deconstruct the process successful leaders have used to find and develop their ideas. The path varies; for some, it’s developing one “Big Idea,” and for others, it starts with a microniche that expands outward. Still others develop unique research that sheds light on their field, or draw from other disciplines to offer a new perspective, or create a framework that helps the world better understand a complex phenomenon. There’s no one “right way” to develop your breakthrough idea; any of these approaches can yield powerful insights and generate meaningful contributions.
In part 2, we’ll turn to the question of how to build a following around your idea—an equally critical component that ensures it reaches the world. It starts with building one-to-one peer connections: a base of supporters who believe in you personally. The next step is turning outward and developing an audience—a larger group of fans who resonate with your message. Finally, it’s about connecting those followers with one another, magnifying the power of your idea and ensuring that it’s talked about even when you’re not in the room. That’s when you’ve built a movement.
In part 3, we’ll bring it together and talk about the logistics of making thought leadership happen. First, we’ll talk about making the time for thought leadership. Some people, such as university professors, are lucky enough to have jobs that allow them to develop their ideas as part of their regular duties. For most of us, though, that’s not the case, so we’ll discuss strategies for balancing existing professional obligations with the kind of research and thoughtful contemplation that’s necessary for idea creation—not to mention the social media and content development that’s required to spread the word.
Next, we’ll turn to making a living. If you’re not getting paid directly for your thought leadership, how can you make it sustainable? We’ll look at strategies that various thinkers have employed, from online products to speaking to mentorship programs. We’ll also tackle the critical question of how to make money while staying authentic, so you don’t feel like you’re selling out or cheapening your ideas. Finally, we’ll get real about the level of effort required to distinguish yourself and your ideas. We all know it’s not easy, but we’ll drill down on the specific schedules and techniques used by various thinkers so we can see what’s really involved in getting to the top.
More than ever, for the sake of your career and our society, it’s important to ensure that your best ideas emerge and take root. This book will help you develop them—and create the momentum necessary to make sure they spread. Consider this a framework to help accelerate your career, spread your vision, make an impact, and live the life you’ve imagined. What’s the idea you want to share? And how are you going to start spreading it?
PART 1
FINDING YOUR BREAKTHROUGH IDEA
YOUR VOICE DESERVES to be heard. It might seem almost impossible to get noticed amid the 1.4 million books published in 2013,1 the 100 hours of video uploaded to YouTube each minute,2 and the 500 million tweets per day.3 But it is possible, and in part 1, we’ll break down the process by which successful thinkers have been able to find and develop the ideas that have made their name, and made an impact on the world.
We’ll start with how to develop Big Ideas—the bold, industry-changing insights that most people associate with thought leaders. We’ll also talk about cultivating an expert niche—a narrow specialty that can provide a crucial toehold—and about the power of independent research. We’ll look at how to combine ideas from various disciplines, a mix-and-match that can take your ideas in powerful new directions. Finally, we’ll discuss codifying a system to help others better understand complex phenomena.
In today’s crowded marketplace of ideas, you need to be able to show others—quickly—why they should listen. By following the templates forged by some of today’s top thinkers, you’ll be able to coalesce your ideas, show how they’re valuable to others, and break through the noise.
1
The Big Idea
Einstein’s theory of relativity. Gandhi’s vision of nonviolent resistance. Jung and the collective unconscious. Those Big Ideas upend our beliefs and expectations and make us see the world in new ways. To create them, a genius is struck with inspiration—Newton gets bonked by an apple, Archimedes shifts in his bathtub—and in an instant, it all becomes clear. Right?
The truth is a lot more complicated. Big Ideas aren’t hatched by a rare breed of intellectuals living in isolation. Instead, they come from regular people who are willing to ask the right questions and stay open to new ways of looking at the world. To assume that creativity is something that other people do—that you aren’t capable of it—is an abdication of responsibility, says Professor David Burkus, author of The Myths of Creativity. It’s incumbent upon us to open our minds and try, rather than shutting down before we even begin to engage.
True thought leaders are driven by asking questions that others have not, and question assumptions others take for granted. Of course ulcers are caused by stress (an accepted medical “truth” until an obscure Australian doctor shunned by the medical establishment proved—by infecting and then curing himself—that they were actually the result of a bacterial infection1). Of course something as high stakes as space flight should be run by the government (until entrepreneurs like Elon Musk and Richard Branson began aggressively creating successful private ventures). And of course the only right way to teach college classes is by having a professor lecture in front of a small group of students (until Stanford professor Sebastian Thrun gave up his tenured teaching position to launch Udacity, an online MOOC provider, after seeing that his first pilot course attracted 160,000 students—more than he could reach in dozens of lifetimes teaching in a traditional classroom).
Finding the next Big Idea is about cultivating a questioning mind-set. It’s easy to accept established wisdom—which is usually, though not always, correct. But it’s in those moments where conventional wisdom fails that the biggest breakthroughs occur. Thrun had no idea how many students would register for his first class, but when he saw the overwhelming results, he was willing to jump on board and explore. Barry Marshall, the intrepid Australian doctor, couldn’t be 100 percent sure of his hypothesis until he drank the H. pylori concoction himself, but he was willing to step forward and test his beliefs. In this chapter, you will learn how to challenge the implicit assumptions you’re making, and test whether something is really impossible—or just difficult enough that most people haven’t bothered to look further. We’ll examine the importance of asking what’s next—a critical question in a rapidly changing world. It’s easy to see what’s right in front of you, but if you broaden your perspective and think critically about the next year, or five or ten, you can add real value to the conversation. Finally, we’ll look at how your own personal experience can lead you to Big Ideas.
WHAT ASSUMPTIONS ARE WE MAKING?
Every field has useful guiding assumptions. Received wisdom saves time—you don’t have to reinvent the wheel—and stops you from pursuing fruitless leads, but it can also be a trap, preventing you from exploring new ideas. To find a Big Idea, you have to question the assumptions that are keeping everyone else in check. You don’t succeed by following the rules and thinking exactly like everyone else; you need to ask “what if?” and “why not?” Try to put yourself into the mind-set of an outsider, who doesn’t know all the rules. What would they make of how things are typically done? Are there practices they might find counterintuitive or outmoded? Might there be a new or different way of doing things? Finding that answer could be the seed of your Big Idea.
Product details
- ASIN : B00LFZ8IY4
- Publisher : Portfolio (April 21, 2015)
- Publication date : April 21, 2015
- Language : English
- File size : 832 KB
- Text-to-Speech : Enabled
- Screen Reader : Supported
- Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
- X-Ray : Enabled
- Word Wise : Enabled
- Print length : 214 pages
- Page numbers source ISBN : 0241247012
- Best Sellers Rank: #540,416 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #374 in Career Guides
- #583 in Business Motivation & Self-Improvement (Kindle Store)
- #670 in Motivational Business Management
- Customer Reviews:
About the author
Dorie Clark is the Wall Street Journal bestselling author of The Long Game, Entrepreneurial You, Reinventing You, and Stand Out, which was named the #1 Leadership Book of the Year by Inc. magazine.
She helps individuals and companies get their best ideas heard in a crowded, noisy world. She has been named one of the Top 50 business thinkers in the world by Thinkers50 and was honored as the #1 Communication Coach in the world by the Marshall Goldsmith Leading Global Coaches Awards .
A keynote speaker who teaches executive education for Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business and Columbia Business School, Clark has been described by the New York Times as an “expert at self-reinvention and helping others make changes in their lives.” She is a frequent contributor to the Harvard Business Review, and you can download her free Long Game strategic thinking self-assessment at dorieclark.com/thelonggame.
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Learn more how customers reviews work on AmazonCustomers say
Customers find the book provides useful and practical information about standing out. They describe it as a valuable, excellent resource that is worth reading. The book is well-written and easy to understand. Readers appreciate the engaging stories and candid approach to building an engaged following.
AI-generated from the text of customer reviews
Customers find the book useful and valuable. They appreciate the author's skill at simplifying complex ideas. The book provides specific, straightforward steps to help stand out. Readers appreciate the wealth of examples of famous and not-so-famous people. The book is a guide to getting noticed as an expert in your field by giving you advice on where to go.
"...Her actionable advice, superb writing, and real-world profiles are more relevant than ever in our increasingly robot-, algorithm-, outsource-driven..." Read more
"...Every single reference so far has been relevant and to the point and i'm very grateful that she hasn't harped on for days. Perfect for me...." Read more
"...Dorie is exceptionally talented at synthesizing a lot of information and surfacing sometimes counter-intuitive advice that -- if applied -- can be a..." Read more
"...Page 150 - Become a Connector - This section teaches the basic premise of standing out... reciprocity...." Read more
Customers find the book provides valuable and practical advice on how to stand out. They describe it as a useful guide for ensuring relevance and getting your message heard. Readers also mention it's a fun read that helps develop networks and achieve success.
"...The practical and accessible paths Dorie describes to becoming an industry thought leader are inspiring...." Read more
"...This is so much fun to read partly because of the conversational style of writting makes you feel like a friend is chatting in your ear and because..." Read more
"...But it's well written and an enjoyable read. TONS of examples of people who have made it. The book is probably 75% other people's stories...." Read more
"...career enough to know that she lives this and is wildly successful as a result. This section is the most marked up in my book...." Read more
Customers find the book well-written and easy to understand. They appreciate the systematic approach and realistic process for becoming a thought leader. Readers also mention that the conversational writing style makes them feel like friends.
"...Her actionable advice, superb writing, and real-world profiles are more relevant than ever in our increasingly robot-, algorithm-, outsource-driven..." Read more
"...This is so much fun to read partly because of the conversational style of writting makes you feel like a friend is chatting in your ear and because..." Read more
"...But it's well written and an enjoyable read. TONS of examples of people who have made it. The book is probably 75% other people's stories...." Read more
"...Dorie Clark's outstanding book provides specific, straightforward steps to help us "stand out." As I read and thought about the groups with..." Read more
Customers find the book engaging and helpful for building an engaged following. They describe it as an accessible, practical guide with a breezy, readable style and can-do attitude. The book is described as unique, different, and thought-provoking.
"...Try this: Distill your smarts and most passionate interests into a distinctive, much-needed method. What gets in your way of making that happen?..." Read more
"...The book's breezy, readable style and endearing can-do attitude almost mask the fact that it is bursting with content...." Read more
"...This book is a step-by-step guide to identifying your idea, building a following around it and then spreading it across channels to help you stand..." Read more
"...she takes you step by step through building, nurturing, and growing your following...." Read more
Customers find the stories engaging and interesting. They appreciate the author's candid approach to her journey, setbacks, discoveries, and success.
"...• Makes her stories more interesting and • Attracts and builds trusted bonds with complementary thought leaders" Read more
"I found this book to be really well written & bursting with fantastic stories...." Read more
"...Dorie is candid about her journey, her setbacks, her discoveries and her success. A must read for anyone with an idea to share." Read more
"Dorie is a master story teller which makes this book such a valuable read...." Read more
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Top reviews from the United States
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- Reviewed in the United States on September 24, 2015I value the teachings of Dorie Clark. Her first book,Reinventing You: Define Your Brand, Imagine Your Future, continues its profound influence on my own 21st century career management.
Dorie Clark's Stand Out Is The Defacto 21st Century Career Management Strategy Manual. Dorie's latest book, Stand Out: How To Find Your Breakthrough Idea And Build A Following Around It, is exceptional. The practical and accessible paths Dorie describes to becoming an industry thought leader are inspiring. Her actionable advice, superb writing, and real-world profiles are more relevant than ever in our increasingly robot-, algorithm-, outsource-driven world.
If I were a book agent, I'd position Stand Out as the powerful and practical, how-to, user's manual to accompany Seth Godin's visionary ideas from Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us and Linchpin: Are You Indispensable?. If Tribes and Linchpin are the target destinations, Stand Out maps out accessible paths we can choose to take.
Ask Yourself -- 21st Century Career Management Tactical Gold. Each chapter concludes with a series of questions we can apply to our, individual Stand Out journeys so we earn thought leadership status. They're similar to the free, Stand Out Self-Assessment Workbook Dorie offers on her online, home page. Answering each question helps you evaluate if a specific tactic(s) is actionable in your current situation.
The courage to follow through and figure out how to adapt/modify these tactics when setbacks occur is an important Stand Out lesson ...
... Because The Journey Is The Reward. A Stand Out career path is not clear-cut, easy-to-see, or step-wise. Making the decision to Stand Out with your breakthrough idea(s) and following through on how to position yourself as the thought leader driving the idea(s) are courageous choices. When Dorie chose to Stand Out, her path to earning thought leadership wasn't easy. She candidly shares her setbacks, how she adapted, and why she kept going.
There's A Unique and Different Stand Out Path For All Of Us. Dorie's personal story and the profiles of the people she interviewed are inspiring. Each person found her/his way through a combination of intellectual curiosity, a motivating fire for more control of their personal / professional destinies, and creative tactics integrating online chops with in-real-life (IRL), street-smart savvy.
It Can Be Done. But, you have to keep going. First, make the conscious choice to do it. Second, do it. Third, slog your way through and adapt. Fourth, fight through setback after setback. Fifth, go back and ASK YOURSELF why you chose Number 1 (because Dorie and the people she profiled constantly confronted Number 4).
- Reviewed in the United States on May 6, 2015Firstly you'll have to excuse my punctuation and spelling. I can promise an honest review but not one thats nessasarily as easy to read as this book,
This is so much fun to read partly because of the conversational style of writting makes you feel like a friend is chatting in your ear and because the chapters are extremely easy to swallow as they are nice and short compared to the majority of books i normally read.
I'm of the genetration where i feel the need to get as much out of something as fast as possible and so I nearly cheated by just reading the "Ask Yourself" section at the end of each chapter.
The 'Ask Yourself' section is at the end of each chapter and it's the section where the Author helps you to reflect on her words and ideas, So I thought I'd be a clever clogs and just read the "Ask Yourself" section and save myself lots of time.
Oh My My. Totally the wrong thing to do. The section that im talking about is so richly thought out that I'm more than 4 hours into the book and Im still trying to get my partner to answer the questions that the Author has posed and the afternoon set aside to read the book has turned into the afternoon where me and my partner hold up our business model to the questions posed by Author Dorie Clark.
Also when I forced myself to go back to the beginning and read the chapters fully I was really impressed that the Author didnt just fill it with rubbish. Every single reference so far has been relevant and to the point and i'm very grateful that she hasn't harped on for days. Perfect for me.
Im half way through now but I wanted to write this now as i have no idea how long this will take to finish. It's a short book but the magic lays in the way the author inspires you to reflect. Maybe i'll update this review later.
I highly recommend this book to anybody who has a dream or a business and wants to take a step back and reflect in order to progress.
- Reviewed in the United States on November 29, 2021Here is the summary of the book:
- This is going to take a ton of commitment and time- This isn't a negative and I think this is good to understand up front. There are not quick solutions to becoming a recognized expert in a given field. Just understand that this is going to take a ton of effort.
- You are going to need to become an expert at something unique and new.
- You are going to have to do a TON of writing, recording, creating. Just understand this.
- You are going to have to leverage social media (a lot) and constantly network- Again, not negative but understand you are going to have spend tons of time in talking about yourself and trying to meet others
- Eventually, something should happen: It took her over 10yrs of struggling before something stuck.
Basically, like all the other experts have shared you are going to need to really commit to this and it's not a quick strategy. This is basically content marketing and an individual level.
But it's well written and an enjoyable read. TONS of examples of people who have made it. The book is probably 75% other people's stories. But considering the lessons are: Get good at something unique , create content, and share it all over the place, what else can someone write about.
Enjoy!
Top reviews from other countries
- Cliente AmazonReviewed in Italy on July 22, 2020
4.0 out of 5 stars A book from a good writer
To people that want to start consultancy business. Yet it gives good hints to people who are shy to go out there and test theirself.
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BodaReviewed in Germany on May 19, 2018
5.0 out of 5 stars Very good book
I like this book, Dorie is a very reasonable influencer because she doesn't just try to sell you words for the sake of it but you feel there's something there you can do, there's something you are reading that is relevant for you.
- Barry LinetskyReviewed in Canada on March 3, 2017
5.0 out of 5 stars A Motivating Guidebook For Aspiring Thought-Leaders and Entrepreneurs
I found this to be an outstanding book written in clear prose by someone who knows the subject and can communicate ideas and motivate the reader at the same time. As we advance through our careers, we become experts with our own unique brand attributes. Dorie Clark begins there are provides for how to further leverage one's talents and aspirations by providing guidance for those seeking to capitalize on this, either for profit or personal growth.
The advice she provides is based in and concretized with examples from people she has interviewed and studied. Sometimes this can be too much, but on the other hand, I was able to extrapolate from some of these stories to identify many really worthwhile ideas and potential paths for myself. With some imaginations, these examples can open the mind of the reader to valuable opportunities.
In general, the book takes the reader through a logical process of identifying your unique area of expertise, building a network of followers, and then making it happen. This book flies at the 20,000 foot level allowing you to think clearly about possibilities and providing a road map to proceed. The more tactical details required to implement are not covered, but for the most part, the people this book is aimed at already have the maturity and skills to find the answers or obtain the help they need.
- Alex SwallowReviewed in the United Kingdom on February 6, 2017
5.0 out of 5 stars Dorie Clark delivers- yet again!
I'm a big fan of Dorie's work and I was very excited to finally have the chance to read her book.
She delivers in exactly the same way she always does in every article of hers I have read or piece of wisdom that she shares online.
So, that being said, why should you buy this book?
For a start, the format of the book allows her to outline her ideas in much greater detail and to take you step by step through the process of making yourself stand out. Also, Dorie introduces you to ideas (and individuals) here that I haven't encountered in her other writings. Finally, in each major area in the book, Dorie challenges you to ask yourself some questions to bring clarity to your thinking and help you take action.
Aspects of the book I particularly enjoyed:
- Dorie encourages you to start with what you have, rather than wish you had something else. I feel she does this in two main ways. First, by introducing us to inspiring individuals who have started out and succeeded from a starting point that wasn't one of privilege. Second, by sharing practical tips of ways that we can use what we already know to take our lives forward.
- As a small business owner just starting out, I need tips that I can action without too much of a cost outlay. Dorie's tips are cost-effective- making use of emotional intelligence and a developed understanding of human nature, rather than encouraging you to simply spend lots of money to share your message with the world.
- Dorie explains how hard work is a crucial part of the mix. Not only is this an aspect of success that many people miss, but Dorie herself is a perfect example of how hard work pays off. She explains how in the book but I've already seen it just by observing the way she puts out content online, her output is phenomenal.
- Dorie addresses sustainability- making sure that your successes are consistent and crucially that you can monetize what you do. This is the thing that holds a lot of people back from trying to follow their dreams- they don't see how they can possibly make money from it.
- I like the general style of the book- Dorie is a fine writer and clear thinker and she backs up her points with plenty of examples.
If you have a burning desire to share something of importance with the world, you need this guide and the positive message it contains.
- eric27Reviewed in France on November 9, 2016
5.0 out of 5 stars Interesting
Very interesting book. It will help you to choose an option in your career. Good examples of entrepreneurs. The author shares her valuable experience.