In most professions today, competence is no longer the primary differentiator.
That doesn’t mean competence matters less. It means that something else increasingly determines who is trusted, influential, and effective.
This article sits at the heart of our Being Human series — reflections on empathy, values, and how we are experienced by others at work.
When Competence Isn’t Enough
For much of our working lives, competence is the differentiator.
- You build knowledge.
- You gain experience.
- You learn the language of your profession and prove that you can apply it.
And of course, building competence matters.
But as you grow in your work and profession, often without any clear announcement, the situation changes.
You find yourself in rooms where everyone is competent. Everyone has a strong résumé and a track record.
The gap between those who “know their stuff” and those who “know it very well” becomes surprisingly small — in part because access to knowledge has widened.
AI has flattened access to knowledge that once took years to accumulate.
None of this makes competence unimportant. It simply makes it insufficient on its own.
When everyone is capable, something else starts separating those who are most effective from everyone else else.
When Who You Are Moves to Center Stage
As your competence to do the work becomes less of a differentiator, something else begins to predominate.
This is the point at which who you are — defined as how others experience you — moves to center stage.
Your steadiness, communication skills, and ability to positively influence others are no longer adjacent to the work.
Who you are is the work.
It explains why some people continue to grow in influence at work even when others, equally competent, do not.
A List of Competencies Doesn’t Make You Stand Out
This reality shows up very clearly when people are being evaluated for senior roles.
Earlier this year, a senior person in the Customer Experience field lost their job. This was made public on LinkedIn.
They are experienced, they write, and are highly visible. Few would question their competence to do the work.
In a post, they let the industry know they were looking for a new role.
And in a long list, they catalogued everything they knew: the platforms they had worked with, the methodologies they understood, the conference stages they had spoken on.
It was an impressive inventory of competence.
And yet, reading it, I was struck by what the post did not cover.
There was no sharing of how this person was experienced by others, or how they had operated within — and contributed to — organizational culture.
No consideration of how they acted as a force multiplier.
Because when you’re being considered for a senior-level role, a potential employer will want to know:
Can this person execute meaningful change at scale, through other people?
Don’t forget that who you are is also the job.
Especially when the role involves achieving objectives through other people.
Two Career Phases, Different Dynamics
The idea that who you are is the work applies throughout your career — but it is read differently in the early career phase as compared to later on.
Early Career: What’s Your Potential?
Early in most careers, competence is still forming. Gaps in your knowledge are expected because people know you’re learning.
At the same time, what they notice is how you show up while you’re learning.
For example, do you:
- Deliver on the basics — like being on time and taking feedback well?
- Take on responsibility without being asked?
- Treat other people’s time, effort, and experience with respect?
When company leaders talk about you — and they do — they’re deciding whether they want to invest in you, coach you, or give you more responsibility.
That’s just the reality.
They know your competency isn’t there yet. But how you behave and communicate at work is read and interpreted as your potential.
Of course, even in the early career phase, force multiplication is possible. When someone improves how others work, their impact can exceed their formal job role.
Later in a career, however, force multiplication becomes critical.
Later Career: What’s Your Impact?
As careers progress, the weighting changes.
Your competence has already been tested in the real world and is now largely assumed — with the understanding that if you’re not competent, you likely won’t be in the role for long.
At this stage, the more consequential question is no longer about capability. It’s about the effect you have on others — and, increasingly, on the system around you.
That effect shows up in how people across the organization experience you at work.
For example, would they say:
- I trust this person.
- This person brings clarity to the work.
- Because of them, the system works better.
This is where some highly competent people plateau — while others continue to grow in influence.
Personal competence begins to take a back seat to becoming a force multiplier: someone who helps others think more clearly, work more effectively, and achieve shared goals.
Force Multiplication
At senior levels, effectiveness is not measured by individual contribution.
It is measured by what happens because you are in the system.
I share three effectiveness signals — the ways force multiplication tends to reveal itself in the workplace.
A Disciplined Focus
Keep the main thing the main thing — Stephen R. Covey
Whether they’re talking about vision, metrics, or how work gets done, force multipliers consistently help others focus on what truly matters.
At this stage, the difference isn’t just whether targets are hit — it’s whether the right targets are being pursued in the first place.
Over time, this changes how work gets discussed. Conversations shift from activity to impact, and from volume to value.
The 80/20 Rule
Ray Dalio reminds us in his Principles of the Day that 80% of the outcomes come from 20% of inputs.
Force multipliers are experienced as people who help others see which levers actually matter.
When I worked in finance, a CFO once showed me how he could assess the performance of almost any business by looking at no more than seven numbers.
As a business owner myself, I’ve never forgotten that lesson.
Connects People and Builds Capability
Leadership is not about being in charge. It is about taking care of those in your charge. — Simon Sinek
Force multipliers are experienced as people who strengthen the system around them.
They create the conditions for learning, judgment, and growth — helping others see beyond their immediate role, reduce friction between teams, and clarify how the work fits together.
Being Human Is a Practice
At this point, it’s worth pausing on a common misunderstanding.
Everything described so far — judgment, steadiness, influence, force multiplication — is not about someone’s personality.
It’s not about being naturally calm, charismatic, or likable. And it’s certainly not about being “nice.”
Being human at work is not something you either have or don’t have.
It’s something you practice.
It shows up in the ways you positively impact culture and become a force multiplier for good.
Despite conventional wisdom, people do learn, grow, and change — to the point that others can see it and feel it.
Our Articles on Being Human
Across these articles, you’ll find stories and insights on empathy, values, and how we are experienced by others at work.
Reflections & Life Lessons
Personal stories and reflections that reveal what it means to grow, learn, and live with intention.
Fourteen Editions, Fourteen Lessons from Beyond the Frame
- I share fourteen lessons from the first fourteen editions of our Beyond the Frame newsletter.
Three Life Lessons to Reflect On at Year’s End
- Reflections on personal growth, personality traits and accountability.
What Tom Cruise Taught Me About Productivity
- I was in charge of the Tom Cruise Fan Club — here’s what I learned.
Why I Keep Writing — And Why You Might Too
- Writing isn’t about self-promotion — it’s about contribution and connection.
What I Learned Training People with Disabilities
- True resilience is finding the strength to keep contributing positively, no matter the challenge.
Values Don’t Mean Much If They Don’t Cost You Something
- Our values matter most when they require courage and come at a cost.
What My German Class Taught Me About Listening
- A personal story that shows why listening to understand — not to reply — is a vital skill in work and life.
How Feedback Changed My Life
- As a Trainer, feedback shaped my work — but it has also shaped my life.
What I’ve Learned About Motivational Quotes
- I used to be skeptical of motivational quotes — until one changed my perspective.
Why Manners Will Always Matter
- At the heart of service and leadership lies something deeply human — experience slight discomfort while considering the needs of others.
Professional Mindset & Judgment
How values, awareness, and self-regulation shape how we show up at work.
Beyond Fortune Cookie Wisdom: Turning Words into Action
- Inspiration matters — but people also need something they can do. Here’s why we should avoid Fortune Cookie Wisdom.
The Curse of Knowledge: A Cognitive Bias Explained
- An exploration of how the Curse of Knowledge creates blind spots in communication, and how awareness and empathy help us overcome it.
“I Didn’t Sleep Well” Isn’t a Customer Experience Strategy
- Explores the difference between short-term discomfort and true burnout — and why professionalism means showing up for others even when it’s not easy.
What Behaviors Do Customer Experience Professionals Display?
- The mindset and habits that true CX professionals demonstrate — at work and beyond.
Strong Opinions Don’t Guarantee Good Decisions
- Why humility and process beat ego and opinions in making smarter choices, in CX and beyond.
Yes — You Don’t Have to React
- A reminder that between stimulus and response, we have the power to choose our behavior — at work, with Customers, and in everyday life.
Thank You for Reading
I regularly share stories, strategies, and insights from our work in Contact Centers, Customer Service, and Customer Experience. If this resonates, I’d love to stay connected.
You can drop me a line anytime, or subscribe on our site.
Daniel Ord
[email protected]
www.omnitouchinternational.com
