Next month, I will be leading a presentation training class for 30 recent high school graduates, or “rising college freshmen,” in New York. Before they head off to Penn, NYU, Northeastern, and Northwestern, among others, my team and I will be instructing them on how to write and deliver a good talk, how to network, how to prepare for and execute a good job interview, and how to handle video meetings (as I’ve detailed here and here).
We probably won’t be asked for overall career advice. But if we are, I am going to pass down the wisdom of a man who first appeared on the public stage looking like this.
Steve Martin was always a genius underneath that “wild and crazy guy” persona. But in his later years, he’s been rightly regarded as a perceptive and intellectually curious man. But still wildly funny.
Recently, I’ve heard and read two things by Martin that I wish I had heard 30 or more years ago. Both involved his advice to younger performers. And both apply to every profession you can think of.
In an interview with The New York Times, discussing a class he’s giving on comedy, Martin talked about no longer feeling competitive when watching comedians. Because, he says, “there’s always someone funnier.”
What a refreshing way to look at competition. Martin is not saying not to strive to be the best, but to accept the fact that you are almost guaranteed not to be. Akin to the adage “don’t let perfect be the enemy of good,” this simple thought allows you to take some pressure off while still honing your craft. There was only one Michael Jordan, Meryl Streep, Babe Ruth, and Shakespeare (actually several people may have written the works we consider his, but you get the idea). That did not stop the Kobe Bryants, Viola Davises, Willie Mayses, and Christopher Durangs of the world from perfecting their talents. No matter what you are pursuing, accepting that there will inevitably be someone better at it can allow you to fully develop your work without the crushing weight of expectations. And, you can always learn from “the best.”
Martin’s other piece of advice is even better. When asked how to be successful in show business, he says he always replies, “be so good they can’t ignore you.“
I’ve long felt that the key to success was two things: 1) what you can do; 2) who knows you can do it. In Martin’s world, becoming excellent at what you can do forces people to know you can do it. We worry so much about making connections with the “right people” that we often neglect improving our skills so that the “right people” will want to hire us. In communication, that means becoming such a good speaker that people want you to give your talks. Or such a good interview subject that you become the “go to” person for reporters. In an office, it can mean being the one who writes so everyone understands, can best deal with interpersonal conflict, or can get the meeting or land the contract.
Workplaces change, workforces change, markets change, the world changes. But some things do remain constant. One is that successful external and internal communication, no matter the medium, is critical to the success of any business, organization, government, family, or network. Being so good at communication that people notice, without your worrying about who might be better at it, can make all the difference in your career.
What a wild and crazy idea.