[Chanting ensues…] ONE OF US! ONE OF US!
Affiliation is essential to growing in your career. You’ve got to be the kind of person that others in your chosen industry see themselves in. They recognize you as one of their own. As one of us.
It’s remarkable how fast the recognition can occur. It’s a shared reference, or a specific vocabulary, or just a way of seeing that tells others that part of their club.
It was dramatized well in Season Four of The West Wing when Rob Lowe’s character writes a note to a colleague simply saying, “Toby – He’s one of us. – Sam.” Nothing more needed to be said.
How do you become “one of us?” It’s three things.
- Dive deep into your chosen field.
- Be professional. (On time, courteous, driven)
- Show your curiosity around other professionals.
Ultra-competency isn’t close to the most thing. That comes with time. You can be “one of us” long before you’re competent.