Steven Robbins here. Welcome to the Get It Done guys quick and dirty tips to work less and do more.

Today's topic is how to stand out at work in a good way. My friend David Wood just wrote a book,

Get Paid for Who You Are. It teaches people to take their unique skills and talents and build a business around

it. That sounds like a fine idea. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that more and more

we all get paid for who we are, not just what we do. In school, they said good grades would lead

to a great college and then to a great job. My command of computer science was supposed to skyrocket me to the pinnacle of money and power.

Then I hit the real world.

It seemed lots of people could program. Who knew?

Sure, I created a machine intelligence that could solve poverty, feed the world, and fix climate change.

But no one cared. They just wanted a new instant messaging client.

A lifetime developing skills didn't set me apart. These days you need more. You're competent?

How nice. That means you're a pleasantly interchangeable cog who can be replaced by a competent

person in another country who's willing to

work longer hours for less pay. Use your personality to stand out. For years, I wore a suit and used

words like value chain. And no, not the kind you buy for 40% off from the Walmart jewelry counter.

No one took me seriously. I tried to act like a serious business

person, but deep down, I just didn't care how many basis points would cause our projected ROI to

win the World Series. A couple years later, I started a podcast about business. It was very

business-like, and a stunning success. Of course, by stunning, I mean dismal, and by success,

I mean failure. So I started to get it done guy, mainly as an excuse to be myself, have fun,

and give some good advice in the meantime. It hit number one in iTunes business a month later.

Hmm. It turns out, people like personality.

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