Warren Buffet’s business partner Charlie Munger strongly supports the idea of multi-disciplinary learning.
In his speeches about business success, he cites concepts from ecology (the concept of protected niches), physics (the concept of critical mass), and psychology (the concept of human biases). I also have learned a lot from studying multiple disciplines and industries.
What most of my clients perceive as my innovative thinking consists primarily of borrowing commonplace ideas from one field to apply in another field that’s unaccustomed to thinking that way.
For example, one of the concepts I learned from reading books on military operations and special forces tactics is the concept of the “force multiplier.”
A force multiplier refers to methods of having a fighting force of 100 soldiers have the impact of a much larger sized force.
One example of a force multiplier is concentrating your fighting forces against your enemy’s weakest position.
Another force multiplier is timing an attack for the middle of the night. This provides two force multipliers. The first is the element of surprise (they aren’t prepared to fight back). The second is reduced visibility for your enemy (they can’t see what’s going on).
This is why a lot of special forces type operations (where the team has very few head count) take place in the middle of the night.
Another force multiplier is to coordinate ground soldiers and air force planes into a unified attack. A unified and coordinated effort creates an effective force that’s greater than just the sum of the two forces… hence force multiplier.
There are many force multipliers at play when managing white-collar professional careers in the private sector.
For example, it should come as no surprise to you that people with a good reputation are able to produce a higher level of achievement in 365 days than someone with identical skills but no reputation.
It’s important to realize that your reputation is (or at least could be) a force multiplier.
When you have a favorable reputation, doors get opened more easily, colleagues give you the benefit of the doubt, and senior executives are more willing to take a chance on you.
A good reputation comes from working with people and leaving them with a positive impression of your competence, character, and interpersonal skills.
Needless to say, it is worth investing in and protecting your reputation.
However, there’s an even greater force multiplier than reputation. It’s having a positive…
Personal Brand
Reputation = People you know that perceive you as competent
Personal Brand = People you do not yet know who already perceive you as competent
In short, personal brand is your reputation multiplied over a much larger audience of people.
Today, I have a personal brand within the markets that I work.
Ten years ago, I worked five times harder than I do today… but my results weren’t nearly as good.
Ten years ago, I flew around the country giving speeches as a way to get clients, and it was hard work to get even one client.
Today, people I’ve never met contact me wanting to hire me, such as the person who contacted me yesterday.
What’s the difference?
A personal brand.
A personal brand enables you to achieve more results with less effort.
It’s an enormous force multiplier when it comes to work/life balance. It’s an enormous force multiplier to getting promotions. It’s an enormous force multiplier for having lifetime “career security” (the ability to always get a job or client).
To learn more about how to build your personal brand, consider my program on How to Develop a Powerful Personal Brand. It is now available for a limited time.
In this program, I deconstruct the process of building a personal brand into specific steps. It’s an approach you can use as well.
Click Here to learn more about How to Develop a Powerful Personal Brand, and start the process of developing your personal brand today.