Identify your Secret Sauce - Step by Step
Now word of warning- this post is a juicy one, simply because the topic is a juicy one.
However, iyt’s one we all need to get better at as it can have a massive impact on our career choice and level of confidence that we need in order to put ourselves into certain situations, tackle certain tasks and reach out to certain people. What am I talking about?
I’m talking about your secret sauce your point of difference that no one else can compete with.
Good news: we all have something that makes us stand out
Bad news: hardly anyone knows what it is because it’s so natural to us. It’s who we are so we assume everyone knows what we know and everyone’s got what we have.
But trust me- this is not the case
So if you’ve ever wondered what it takes to stand out without being loud (hello fellow introverts) – then this blog is for you!
And since I mentioned it’s a juicy episode and I want you to take some time to dig deeper in it, I created some worksheets for you to download.
Are you ready to find out what your secret sauce is? Then let’s go!
HOW TO FIND YOUR SECRET SAUCE AND STAND OUT (WITHOUT BEING LOUD)
QUESTION FOR YOU: WHAT MAKES YOU DIFFERENT? CHANCES ARE YOU MIGHT HAVE THOUGHT ABOUT IT AND COULDN’T QUITE FIGURE IT OUT OR YOU DON’T FIND A DIFFERENCE…
If so, you’re not alone.
In fact, I recently did a keynote for LearnX, an online summit for learning & development professionals on the topic: Future of Work trends and how to reinvent yourself.
Maybe you’ve been there because today’s episode is actually inspired by the questions, I got around my first point that I made on reinventing your career:
And that is: Knowing and owning your secret sauce.
Either people having mentioned they neglected focusing on their point of difference and where too busy focusing on their job rather than on their Brand. Others said that the keynote triggered them to reflect put together the pieces but had never done it before.
Majority however just said they wouldn’t know where to start.
Which is EXACTLY why I created today’s episode (and BONUS worksheets!) “How to find your secret sauce and stand out from the crowd” (especially without being loud – hello my introverted fellers. I can see and hear you).
Hop over to the futureofworkcampus.online/secretsauce
I cannot wait to give YOU my top tips to ensure that you are felt noticed, heard…. And hired!
Alright- now onto your secret sauce…
Your secret sauce has 3 ingredients and if you’ve known me for a hot minute, you know how much I love my acronym.
So here are the 3 C’s for your secret sauce:
- Characteristics
o Your personality
o Your values
o Your interests
➡️ Your ‘DNA’, your finger print. There is only 1 of you with the exact make up.
- Credible credentials
o Your background and experience
o Awards, recognition, education etc
➡️ More the hard skills, easier to measure because they are more tangible than your character
- Competency
o Results and achievements
o Social proof
➡️ This is basically what you can do for others, results you can achieve based on your credentials (your what) and your characteristics (your how)
This last part is so important because whilst we talk about your secret sauce, remember no one cares about you until you care about others. If you don’t use your secret sauce for others, what’s the point of having it?
Ok - let’s start with the most important, yet often also most difficult part: your personality.
This is what sets you apart from everyone else because there is only one of you!
Since it’s natural to you, it’s often hard to see and even harder to articulate it.
This is why using personality tests can be super insightful as they help to put words towards feelings and help you identify a common theme.
One of my favourite tests are the Enneagram as well as the Brand Archetype test.
I use this combo for my 1:1 coaching clients as the 2 of them test your natural strengths as well as your tendencies (which are your values and beliefs) in action.
It’s all about shifting from intuitive about your strengths to being more intentional
For example: my primary brand archetype is a magician and I’m an enneagram 3.
What I’ve realised now more intentionally (which before I knew this was a thing) is that I love being creative, it’s easy for me to come up with new ideas, concepts, programs, I love to challenge the status quo and already live 7 years ahead.
It’s not a chore to create something that doesn’t exist yet, maybe not even as a concept. I’m energised by it in fact. Type 3 is a performer – I love to get things done and don’t mind putting 110% into it.
That also means that I’m not patient as I love to get and have things done straight, I’m also competitive and never settle and so on.
It uncovers also weaknesses that you can be more aware of as well and manage it.
These traits are also reflected in my speaking style that I’m enthusiastic and energetic which also other people always comment on.
So here is your prompt:
Take the enneagram test.
Share your results on LinkedIn or Instagram, tag me and let me know what you can read from this.
What insights have you gained and how will you apply these strengths more intentionally rather than just intuitively?
Let’s talk about another important aspect to your personality: your Interests (and I intentionally stay away from calling it passion which I explain in a second why)
Why are interests so important?
Because in order to be and do your best, you also need to be willing to totally emerse yourself in it, learn everything there is to know, constantly up-skilling, practising, applying.
To clarify your interests (and again- don’t worry about maybe not having found your ‘passions’ – they are actually evolution from interests)!
The more you know about something and the better you get at certain things, the more you want to do of it. And this is how you develop a passion for something.
Really important to add here is that not everything you’re interested in needs (nor should be) monetised.
For example- I’ve developed a passion for fitness when I was 13 years old and overweight. I started exercising, discovered group fitness classes at 14, became group fitness instructor myself at the age of 16 and worked part time as PT and GFI for nearly 15 years.
I always knew however that I didn’t want to make a full-time career of it because exercise is also an outlet for me that I enjoy doing on my own and I never wanted to feel it’s a chore.
I also saw that most of the trainers had super early mornings and late nights, but downtime during the day. It’s not the type of work routine that I want to have as I enjoy my early mornings on my own as it’s my most creative and productive time. Same with late nights where I like to wind down and do some more creative work that doesn’t require me to be fully present for others.
Whilst I’m not actively work as a PT anymore, I use my background when I run leadership or team retreats and make it part of the team building exercise. Gives the team a reason to bond – sharing their disgust of me pushing them.
So the point is- identify what excites you and also why.
Like I enjoy the competitiveness of exercising- mainly with myself as well as training my mind, learning more about myself – things that I can also apply in other areas of my life.
I also enjoy the active nature, the positive feeling when I pushed through a challenge and of course people you meet who also exercise as they are usually driven, push through things when it gets hard, aren’t complainers … all the traits that I like in people.
I use those insights to see where else can I find and surround myself with those type of people; it also makes it easy to say no to clients who wouldn’t be a good fit. Who don’t want to push past when things get a bit uncomfortable? And who want to get everything immediately without committing to the effort that goes in.
Speaking of effort – that’s another test for you to do:
Research the industry or the profession you consider and learn everything there is to know about it. Would you be willing to embrace the suck that comes with it? You’ll know you’ve found your thing when the 2% that is really exciting outweighs the 98% of not so pleasant things that come with it.
So many want to become speakers for example. Great!
But: how many are really prepared to practise on speech over and over. Record it, listen back to it, get in front of people, get feedback on it, do it again? Exactly – you can count them on one hand.
The next part is your credible credentials which involve your hard skills, everything that is easily measurable, and you’ve acquired over time.
Simply saying you’re good at something isn’t enough so you need to back it up with previous results and achievements as well as what we call social proof. So for that, think of everything you’ve done and achieved officially so far, from:
- Education
- Experience
- Exposure
- Awards, recognitions etc
This should be fairly easy for you to put together. The next step here is to identify some of your strength that you can bring to the table. What is it that got you into the profession or industry, what skills have you gained, who did you get exposure to that helps to gain credibility, did you work for anyone recognised or for a brand well known?
You build your brand with everything you do but also with who and what you’re surrounded by. What is the company or industry you’re in (or were in) known for? Use those aspects and tap into the power of brand building by association.
The final part is your competency which is also the results you’ve achieved based on your character and credentials.
You may have a diploma or degree in an area but that doesn’t mean you know how to apply it or are any good at it.
What’s worth a social media marketing diploma when you have no idea how to set up a new Instagram account or don’t know how to create engaging content?
Think of anything that you’ve gained traction with, gotten great feedback for, have initiated. For example- one of my marketing roles I developed a training for the sales team on the products which wasn’t in my job description. It wasn’t just well received from the State team who I developed it for but from the national team and it got rolled out to all sales teams. Skills that I gained was researching information, breaking down a lot of content into smaller and more bite-sized chunks and also deliver it in an engaging way. All those skills gained are now relevant, but I can also use the result to showcase my competency in developing training material.
Also think what people are coming to you for as this is often a good indicator for what they rely on you for.
TO PUT IT ALL TOGETHER:
Rather than putting your head in the sand and say ‘it’s all just too crowded and I can’t get any traction’ or ‘I don’t have anything interested to say’ – it’s time to realise that only you can (and should!) change this and create your own story.
You just have to take the right steps to make sure YOU are the one people remember for all the right reasons and that goes wayyyyy beyond your job title.
There will always be someone who’s more experience, more qualified, cheaper, more exclusive .. you name it. But there is always only one of you and you’re here for a reason. Your unique combination is what resonates with some to be and do their best so not showing up with your fully self is a waste of your talents.
So to wrap up, it’s time to put it all together and identify your secret sauce recipe:
1) What are 3-5 words that would sum up your personality?
2) What are some of the results you can achieve based on your strengths?
3) What are some credible credentials that can back up your claims?
My example is:
"Petra is full of energy, enthusiastic, runs a million miles an hour and you’ll always find here working on something new where she can bring in her natural strengths of helping people and companies to reinvent themselves.
She is certified Personal Brand & Digital strategist and combines her background in Brand and Product Marketing with her passion for coaching and works with driven professionals to build and monetise their Brand.
Over the last 6 years, she has worked with over 300 individuals and nearly 50 companies on identifying and developing their point of difference.
She has been accepted as Forbes Coaches Council member and is a regular contributor for Forbes Magazine, speaker at conferences like HackingHR, DisruptHR, LearnX and recently launched her own podcast - the Future of Work Campus Podcast.
Final thought:
High competence and high enjoyment = high performance
You’ll never tired and exhausted of doing what you enjoy whilst being good at it. It’s about energy management rather than time management to get a lot done whilst making the biggest impact you can make.
If you invest some time in honing in on this sweet spot of yours,
- I CAN ENSURE THAT YOU WILL FEEL NOTICED, HEARD…. AND HIRED