Do you stand out or is your luggage black too?

Someone forwarded me this email and I loved it so much I wanted to share it on my blog! It’s so true, especially with job seekers.

As I stood outside in a puddle of slush and snow a few weeks ago at Chicago’s O’Hare airport looking for my carry-on luggage, two questions filled my mind.

First I wondered why one of the busiest airports in the world would make passengers deplane outside during a snow storm. You would think the airport would be prepared for snowy weather and would have ways for passengers to deplane into the terminal instead of outside it. : )

I also wondered, as I saw people struggle to find their black carry-on bag in a cart filled with black carry-on bags, why so many travelers buy a black bag.

After all, they have a choice. Go to any luggage store and you’ll see green bags, red bags, yellow bags, blue bags and even pink bags and yet most choose black.

They have an opportunity to buy a color that stands out and yet they don’t. They conform. So when it comes time to find their bag it’s not easy to distinguish their bag from others.

It’s the same way in business and life. We have a choice. We can stand out in traffic or we can choose to conform and be like everyone else.

If you don’t stand out and simply conform, when customers are given a choice they won’t be able to differentiate you from the competition. You’ll be like a black bag in a pile of black bags.

People and organizations and brands that stand out in traffic are the ones that thrive. They are easy to find and everyone knows there’s something different about them.

Can the same be said for you? Do you stand out at work? Do you stand out to your customers? Do you stand out to your team?