The title grabs you, doesn’t it? Of course everyone wants to set themselves apart from the herd. But how do you do that? And can just about anybody do that?
A Million and One Ways to be One-in-a-Million answers those questions. It contains and conveys a set of lessons and examples of behavior that, if practiced, allow us to be different—different in very positive ways. Is there anyone who wakes up in the morning and says, “Today I want to go out and be part of the herd,” or, “Today I think I’ll just blend in with the masses”? However, doing your job well in today’s business environment is the price of entry. Just doing a good job doesn’t ensure success and it isn’t the attribute that sets us apart. The differentiating factor really lay in being different. So in today’s business culture, whether you work in a mega-multinational company, a small business venture, or even if you work on your own for yourself, in order to be most successful, we must find a way to distinguish ourselves from the rest of the pack. Companies have strived to do this with their brands and products since the birth of consumerism. But, just like with products, it’s not about being gimmicky or superficial; the old “dress for success” isn’t good enough and isn’t where we’ve evolved. What this book is about is providing ways for you to differentiate yourself in a manner that is valued and appreciated, and in a way that should produce a meaningful impact to your success. Most of these observations transcend business, and actually have broad appeal and relevance that can be applied in our personal lives, thereby developing ways to become one-in-a-million with our spouses, children, friends, and colleagues.
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A Million and One Ways to be One-in-a-Million is specifically constructed to be a quick read catering to the needs of the target audience: a generation of Americans who, at this time in their lives, work hard and play hard, and are looking for the best bang for the buck in all that they do. As the author explains, some of the most important and impactful advice he has ever received was given in a sentence or two. A Million and One Ways to be One-in-a-Million delivers this bang for the buck.
The author, Steven J. Heaslip, has worked for more than twenty-five years in the human resources field. Much of that time was spent with mega consumer products company Unilever. Armed with his undergraduate degree in chemistry, he started out as a production supervisor trainee in a soap factory in Toronto to eventually become the senior vice president of global human resources for Unilever’s Elizabeth Arden business headquartered in Manhattan.
Recently, as the Senior Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer for International Flavors & Fragrances (a publicly traded 2.5-billion-dollar enterprise with approximately 5,500 associates operating in 37 countries around the world) and as a guest lecturer at Columbia and Fordham universities, Mr. Heaslip finds himself imparting these critical behavioral lessons to many young managers, business school students, undergraduates, and the like. The response he elicits from them is dramatic.
So that’s what this book is about. It’s about separating yourself from the herd. It’s about making yourself unique. In an everyday and conversational manner, with real anecdotal examples, A Million and One Ways to be One-in-a-Million distills the author’s twenty-five-plus years of observation and experience into clear, crisp principles by which to work. It illustrates, in a relevant manner, that there are A Million and One Ways to be One-in-a-Million.
Every once in a while—in fact far more often than you even realize—someone gives you a gift. And most people, while they accept the gift, don’t use it for what it is intended. What am I talking about here? I’m referring to when someone, anyone, says to you, “What do you think?” I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve heard people give their opinion, and I know for a fact it’s not their opinion. Indeed, I can tell you, of all of the ways to be “one in a million,” for some reason this is by far and away the most difficult. But because so few people actually say what they really think, practicing this behavior, consistently and tactfully, will truly result in differentiating yourself.
Wait a minute! What’s this “tactfully” thing? I could go off on a tangent here. Actually, I will—because it’s important. I’ll come back to the Gift after I try to explain. First of all, there are far too many people in the world who say exactly what they think in ways that are demeaning, arrogant, and even malicious. This is not a way to differentiate oneself. This lack of tact and respect only serves to create damage and alienate many—not a good way to lead to success. Secondly, and on a related note, the importance of understanding the difference between “nice” and “soft” is quite important here. Something you must never do is confuse nice with soft. And you should always be nice, but never be soft. Let me give you an illustration. I had moved into a new job and had inherited an assistant. On my third day, my assistant was late for the second time, and I had already noticed a few areas where she needed to improve. I called her into my office and explained that, although I didn’t know what her previous boss expected, she needed to understand what I expected. We worked together for about an hour outlining areas where I felt she needed to improve and specifying my expectations in the areas of her work. Long story short: a couple of months later when she left the business, she lamented to her colleague, “He was so nice; I never expected him to fire me.”
You see, nice is all about being considerate, respectful, and tactful. (Remember? That’s how we got off on this tangent.) Soft is about not having standards and being overly flexible. In this example, I consistently treated my assistant with consideration and respect, and always discussed things with her tactfully. I did not berate her or yell at her or disparage her in any way. However, I was always clear about my expectations, and clear about where she wasn’t meeting those expectations. Notwithstanding all of that, she confused nice with soft.
I believe “nice” and “soft” relate to the Gift because a lot of people don’t give their genuine opinion either because they simply lack courage or because they are trying to be nice and in the process of being nice, they are soft.
Now, don’t get me wrong—when your wife or girlfriend asks, “Does this make me look fat?” you lie your face off. Or when your husband or boyfriend asks what you think about his singing, you tell him he missed his calling. But if you give your opinion when you are asked for your opinion, you will really set yourself apart.