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Your job title provides a handy frame of reference for explaining what you do.

"Hi, I'm Jim. I'm in sales."

That's a mistake. If you want to increase perceived value for you and your work, you need to focus on who you are, rather than what you do.

Otherwise, you can be seen as a commodity, which will make it very difficult to reach your top earning potential. This becomes increasingly important over the course of your career, so you don't get stuck in a dead-end role.

No matter what your profession, you need a specialty of some kind — a signature way of adding value. Your personality advantages are the easiest and fastest way to create a specialty.

In her book "Lean In," Sheryl Sandberg describes her intense hiring negotiation process with Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. She turned down his first offer to become the company's chief operating officer — a move that was both surprising and strategic.

She told Zuckerberg, "Of course, you realize that you're hiring me to run your deal teams, so you want me to be a good negotiator. This is the only time you and I will be on opposite sides of the table."

Sandberg reinforced not only what she does, but also who she is. She didn't just show how she would do her job; she also reiterated who she would be in her job.

When someone negotiates brilliantly in her own hiring process, she will likely negotiate just as brilliantly on behalf of her company.

The lesson: When you hire an employee, you are hiring an outcome — and while we usually think of that outcome as being linked to tangible attributes such as skills and knowledge and experience, it is also directly linked to personality advantages. Sandberg did an expert job of communicating who she is in the hiring process, highlighting her differences and how they could benefit Facebook.

Recently my company conducted a training program with Unilever, the global consumer goods company behind brands such as Dove, Q-tips, Lipton, Ben & Jerry's, and many others. We asked Unilever employees to describe how they introduce themselves in a professional context.

We found, almost without exception, that people introduce themselves according to what they do. This is normal. Employees almost always define themselves by what they do.

Over the course of a few hours, we helped them understand their own personality archetype — the combination of their top advantages, which in essence is what makes them fascinating. Based on their fascination advantage report, each employee wrote a quick summary of how they're most likely to contribute to their team. Then we compared their levels of confidence before the exercise.

Confidence levels increased by 34% when employees communicated who they are rather than what they do. They now know how they are most likely to engage others, and how they can compete effectively for attention, so that their emails are opened and their messages are acted upon.

When you clearly understand your differences, you can escape the gloomy, gray world of the lowest common denominator and start to shine. And outshine the competition.

Article Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/sell-who-you-are-to-find-career-success-2014-8#ixzz3AIAmnRHB