At every company, there are really talented people who don’t know how to stand out. Tech nerds, social butterflies and tomorrow’s leaders. They can all get where they want to go if they apply themselves.
Its a combination of the following:
- they do not want to tread on anyone’s toes
- they don’t know how to stand out
- they don’t take the right actions to fast-track their own growth/progress
Below is a breakdown of some useful tactics that have helped me stand out in workplaces with hundreds and thousands of employees. The key was finding the openings and applying myself to that course of action.

If you’re currently an employee at a job, highly recommend reading the post
Find Papercut Problems
When I join a new company I always look at the black holes to see what is an underlying issue at the company. By black holes I mean what are things that fall into black holes because the company does:
- Moves too fast to do everything
- The company is understaffed in a department
- No one does that because no one knows what it is
- The thing is too much hard work
- Everyone thinks its not their job to fix
This is an opportunity to stand out and make a name for yourself. If you can fix a couple of problems that have been on going in the company you are seen as a problem solver. You are also seen as an achiever and this leads you to get noticed for promotions, special projects and other opportunities.
It could be fixing a drawer that doesn’t open properly or fixing formulas in a Google Sheet, the small annoying things that no one has bothered to fix. Ive renamed entire folder systems for better reference in the past, and sorted out the computer hardware storage so everything was logged, labelled and grouped and the HR team LOVED this for onboarding new employees they never had to dig through cords and cables to see what matched what computer anymore.
Everyone notices when something is fixed and that word of mouth moves to through the food chain baby. Before you know it you are a person of interest in the company and it takes very little effort to get there.

Apply The 5% Rule to What You Do
This one will take you a little time to get the knowledge of how to apply the 5% rule. You have to know the operations before you can make the call.
Look at the team or department that you work in. Do you do work that helps to move the company $ needle? if you don’t try moving to a team of departments that does and see how the pay differs.
Ask yourself if what you do moves the needle at the company even 5%. If it does always keep reviewing your work and the system to see if that 5% could be improved to 8% or 10%. Doing this will raise eyebrows and get you some attention. Anyone that can impact a company bottom line in a positive way will get attention.

Boss Mode Your LinkedIn Profile
If you are serious about advancing your career then you need to review your LinkedIn profile. Look at your photo, banner, title, about me and network.
- Use a clear and professional photo
- Make yourself a catchy background banner
- List your title but don’t go crazy with all available 3 letter acronyms
- Write a bio that tells someone about the work that you and experience and slip in a little personal info but keep it short.
- Connect with people in the same role as you
- Connect with people in similar companies to you
- Connect with people in roles that you want
- Build your network
- Build your reviews, exchange reviews with old colleagues and workmates
- Offer reviews to people you have managed or worked with
- Build a impressive profile that people who view you will want to connect with
Creating a solid LinkedIn profile will get you noticed. Now and in future. I’m getting so many job offers and consulting offers because of how I present and what I comment on with knowledge and authority in my responses people want me to work with them or coach them.
The coaching side leads to an interesting solo business if you do like that business model, but you have t analyse if you will still have that type of pull not being attached to a company

Pimp Your Video Call Setup
I’ve seen some horror video setups in my time and some pimped-out setups that you think you might of seen a Pinterest mood board one time. If you want to be noticed by your company or partner companies then take time to really look at your video setup.
- Look at the angle your camera is using. You want people to see your whole head on screen
- Look at what people can see in your background when in the frame, can you make it feel warmer and like you are not in your mum’s basement
- Do you have appropriate lighting to make video calls where people can see you during day or night calls.
- Do you have a good enough webcam and can people see you clearly.
- Do you have a good enough microphone and can people hear you clearly.
- Pay attention to what you wear on video calls, wear plan colours to stand out, try not to distract from your face if having a serious meeting.
I’ve got guys on my team that I know I will not bring on 3rd party video calls because while super talented just don’t fit what we want to present to external parties, but I’ve got guys who had gamer setups with the neon lights, big screens and superb lighting that I bring onto calls to show yes we are serious and yes our people are intelligent.
Work With Them But Not For Them
I’m always of the belief that I work with a company and not for a company regardless of my position. I am a damn good operator and I move mountains for the companies I work for so in my eyes they are lucky to have someone like me on the team. If the narrative changes and there’s no two-way synergy Im gone.
Think of your job as a partnership. Your employer should be listening to you, giving you shots and being flex where they can be with salary and benefits. You provide the value and they provide the $$$.
My rule is to know your value and know when to get out.

Build Your Personal Brand
For me, this one in particular has been huge. I would join a company and just write about them everywhere to the point the social and content teams invite me into huddles and want my opinion on topics and graphics because my posts get more attention than their company posts.
Building your personal brand is not just going to get you noticed by bosses but you are investing in your future by creating an audience. My network is amazing if I need anything or to meet anyone I can tap my people and open doors and the same if my network wants to meet anyone I orchestrate that for them.
Writing shows your passion and enthusiasm for what you do. You also get points if you are supporting the company on your own merits.
If you suck at writing do more of it, just like the gym requires you to keep showing up to be stronger, writing is the same. My Grammarly is insane I’m nearly 10,000,000 Million written words with No GPT (I use a different account for automated stuff).
What can you write:
- Opinion pieces: This can backfire if you don’t align with company vision and policy trust me. But it works and it shows you are a thinker.
- Industry reviews: Write about the industry that you are in, listing all known companies, their offers, problems, strengths and where they all fit. This helps you position your company in anyway and anywhere you want them to be seen.
- Internal newsletters: This one is hard to start but helps you get eyeballs and open conversations. Original the idea of Shaan Puri it’s a genius move to get noticed internally. when Shaan did this he used the format of 1-2-3, being 1 Photo, 2 Thoughts and 3 links to interesting things. He reported seeing a huge change in his career and status from doing this.
- Strategy docs: If you are super hungry you should write the company’s annual strategy docs as if you were given a blank canvas to do whatever you wanted. Fresh ideas and fresh eyes are what managers are looking for as more and more traditional tactics are not as effective as they once were.
- Blogging: Start a blog and make it either about the work that you as an industry or just a personal blog and keep writing, write lots and explore your thoughts. As people get to know you and your blog it opens up more conversation that leads to better opportunities.
I hope that you can take these points and apply them. Anyone can do this but they have to be committed. Workplaces are simple business units and its all maths if you break them down. Identify what it is you want and any tips from above will give you enough attention juice to get noticed by the bosses and help you open communication with anyone in the company. I hope this was helpful to you.