Your organization is in a constant state of change – a faster, more powerful, more transformative change from the inside and out than ever before. You have to relate, communicate, influence and decide at speeds and in ways that you never have before. Twitter, Snapchat, LinkedIn and Facebook make email so last century, particularly if you want to communicate with millennials. To be successful in 2015, you need to connect quickly and powerfully and differentiate yourself.

And then, there is your business. In today’s world, your technology, your product and your service are likely to be a commodity, whether you are a lawyer, an accountant, a banker – or even in technology. Virtually any product or service you sell is matched (or soon will be matched) by competitors.

So, what makes you different, better and of greater value to your customer, your market, our world? How you, your people, your teams and your teams-of-teams relate, communicate, collaborate, deliver and service your customers is your brand, your value, your competitive advantage – or disadvantage.

Research tells us we have nine seconds to fascinate our audience as a company, a brand or a person. Will our emails be opened and read? Will our conversation be engaging?

To pierce through that noise, we need to not only know our strengths, but our differences. We need to be willing to show up as we really are. We shouldn’t try to be all things to all people, but powerfully be ourselves, our brand – individually and as a company.

My company offers coaching, training and consulting focused on improving satisfaction and business performance through leadership, teams and engagement. There are many great coaches in my field. We each have our strengths. Often, those strengths are also commodities.

What makes us unique and powerful is our differences. My difference is that I focus on relationships in the workplace. How are they really functioning? What is being said and done that works, and what doesn’t? How well are we truly connecting as a team, caring about one another, debating issues, making decisions, being accountable? What needs to be addressed in order to take it to the next level? That is my difference. I show up with passion, emotion and a willingness and skill to get things on the table. Being a courageous and heartfelt change agent is my way of showing up.

People may loathe it. Some will love it. But everyone will know who I am. My message will cut through the noise. After all, you are reading this!

What’s your difference? How will you cut through the noise? ?

Steve Garber is director of Third Level Ltd. Contact him at 561.752.5505 or sgarber@thirdlevel.com.