Posts Tagged ‘Skip Lineberg’

Co-authors Emily Bennington and Skip Lineberg, two influential bloggers and speakers in the business world, have written Effective Immediately (Ten Speed Press, 2010), a valuable guide for recent graduates who, as the subtitle says, want to “Fit In, Stand Out, and Move Up at Your First Real Job.” As an instructor to college students majoring in business, I have learned that most of them lean towards taking the fitting in approach, when in fact the combination strategy of fitting in and standing out — deftly selecting times to blend in or make compromises, and yet seizing the opportunities to be creative or call attention to yourself — is actually one of the surest roads to success. And by success I mean being able both to contribute to your team and advance and improve yourself on a fairly regular basis.

“Find your inner Gene Kelly” is lyrical advice. The authors examine Gene Kelly’s dancing in attempt to discover what made him seem to “float” above the his peers. They claim his edge was “incremental,” noting that small things, like the consistent polish of his shoes, the angle of his cane, and the crease in his pants made all the difference. That attention to small detail, taken together “seemed to make his dancing effortless.”

The theory of the incremental edge, by the way, echoes one of Malcolm Gladwell’s key arguments in The Tipping Point: that small changes in presentation can often make  a big difference when it comes increasing the appeal — and ultimate impact — of an idea or product. You just have to figure out what changes to make depending on your audience.

Among Bennington and Lineberg’s list of sample “Gene Kelly dance steps:”

• Use superb grammar (hooray for that!)
• Complete assignments early
• Give a small gift to your clients (your favorite business book or flowers) on the anniversary of your partnership
• Keep your desk spotless at all times.

If you — like me — consider that last item  too tall an order, come up with your own deft moves. It’s a fun exercise and, as they say, incrementally, but also immediately, effective.