By George Muenz

One of the most consistent challenges I see my clients facing, at all levels, is the ability to clearly articulate how they made a difference or an impact. This occurs for a variety of reasons, from the traditional focus on duties within a resume, to humility, to not really knowing how to identify and express what might seem part of the job.

The inability to confidently articulate this crucially important information is even more significant to those seeking to shift their career path. They may be able to execute very well in their desired role, but will probably not be considered, seeing as they cannot express and demonstrate how they make an impact and a difference regardless of the role or environment.

How can you remedy this to ensure that you will not fall into this common dilemma?

Conduct your own performance review. Did you help make money, save money, improve processes, and improve morale? Did you identify new opportunities or find new ways of doing something better? Did you break the status quo and encourage a new way of looking at a process? If you list your 10 most important duties, can you identify an impact you had with most of them? I don’t care if you are a janitor or a CEO, everyone has to demonstrate that they make an impact or make a difference. There is no role or position that can claim to be free of improvement.

I’m writing this in a coffee shop with two servers. One is behind the counter, waiting for customers. The other is cleaning the tables, removing newspapers from the counter, arranging the goods on the counter. They are both “working” but only one is making a difference.

I often suggest looking at your work through three categories: Challenge or Goal, Solution, Result.

Challenge: What was the challenge and/or what was the goal of the project?
Solution: What was your solution, and the thinking process behind that solution?
Result: What was the result and impact?

I know what an administration assistant does, or an accountant or a lawyer, or a programmer, more or less. I can hire average all day. I want above average.

George has over 30 years of business experience both as an entrepreneur and leader in the high technology sector. He has led sales teams in the fast-paced Internet start-ups sector to management positions in Operations, HR and Business Development. George was Director of Sales and VP Business Development for NetNation, a then publicly traded company on NASDAQ. As a Career Coach, clients have included international CEOs, Directors of HR, to entry level applicants and many roles in between.