Career

5 Salesforce Career Lessons From Ron Burgundy

By Ben McCarthy

As I was watching Anchorman for the millionth time this weekend, I pondered what we as a Salesforce community can learn from the man himself, Ron Burgundy. Because let’s face it, every industry can learn something from this iconic film (if you haven’t seen Anchorman here’s a preview).

So, let’s dive into 5 Salesforce career lessons that we can learn from Ron Burgundy and Anchorman.

1. Make Sure People Know You (You’re Kind Of a Big Deal)

If there is one thing that we can all learn from Ron Burgundy, it’s how to create a personal brand.

Whilst a lot of us won’t want to be as “in your face” as his personality, moustache, and trademark burgundy suit, there is no doubt that creating a personal brand can be an invaluable asset in your professional career.

As an ecosystem, Salesforce is growing faster than ever before. In fact, aside from the millions of Salesforce professionals all around the world, IDC predicts that there will be 9.3M new jobs by 2026. This means it’s more important to stand out than ever.

Creating a personal brand can help you land your dream job, increase your salary, and get offered opportunities that wouldn’t be otherwise available. Aside from just benefiting yourself, most thought leaders will get where they are by giving back. Creating free, thought-provoking content that can help others further their career.

So start today, and make Ron proud, by giving back and start creating your personal brand!

READ MORE: 5 Simple Steps to Create a Personal Brand
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2. Get Yourself a Mentor (or Buddha Covered in Hair)

Just as Baxter was a friend and mentor (or a miniature Buddha covered in hair) to Mr Burgundy, you should also seek out a mentor.

Salesforce professionals of all ages and experience levels have mentors to help further their learning. Whilst Trailhead and Certifications are great for learning technical skills, there is rarely a replacement for learning from someone with experience.

Whilst a “mentor” could be considered quite a formal term, this could just be someone you meet for a coffee once in a while. Reach out to some of the more experienced professionals in your network and start learning from both their mistakes and their successes!

3. Don’t Take Yourself Too Seriously

Ron Burgundy is probably one of the best people to learn this lesson from and it couldn’t be more prevalent in the Salesforce world. Although there is a time and place for everything, some people make the mistake of treating meetings, events, and meetups too seriously and fail to make a human connection.

The Salesforce community is full of genuine, forward-thinking individuals that really set an industry-wide example of how business should be done. Make sure to not wear a “mask” to work – just be yourself.

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4. Be a Team Player

Where would Ron Burgundy be without his trusty team, Champ, Brian Fantana, and Brick Tamland? It’s all so cliche to hear about Teamwork, but no matter your role in Salesforce, you will always need to work as part of a team.

This is obvious with projects and implementations that have hundreds or thousands of users, but if you are a solo admin or working in a much smaller team it’s probably even more important. Be aware of the roles and responsibilities of other team members, even if they are not directly involved with Salesforce.

For example, if you’re a solo admin working on a Sales Cloud implementation, make sure you have a close relation to the sales reps, account execs, and sales managers – these individuals are your customers.

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5. Have a Secret Talent (like Jazz Flute)

Ron’s way to woo all the ladies was with his secret talent, playing the Jazz Flute. In this competitive industry of ours, having a secret talent can only be held to your advantage to make you stand out from the crowd.

Salesforce Certifications have become the de facto way to show off your Salesforce skills, but there are so many other niche skills you can learn. Salesforce AppExchange Apps are being baked into almost every Salesforce implementation, so learning and understanding commonly used Apps such as Gearset, Conga or Copado, can only help your career prospects.

READ MORE: Salesforce App Certifications to Achieve
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Final Thoughts

Ron Burgundy may be an extreme character, but there are a few career lessons that we can learn from him. In short, if you want to improve your Salesforce career, watch Anchorman and take a leaf out of Ron’s book.

The Author

Ben McCarthy

Ben is the Founder of Salesforce Ben. He also works as a Non-Exec Director & Advisor for various companies within the Salesforce Ecosystem.

Comments:

    Ryan
    October 28, 2015 3:18 pm
    This is awesome. I always lose it when Ron & Champ are prank calling Veronica. You could very easily do a follow up on this one with 5 don'ts from Ron Burgundy. PS: I'm in a glass case of emotion right now.
    Ben McCarthy
    October 28, 2015 3:20 pm
    Why not make it a weekly series! Then my main aim would be to get Will Ferrell to come on :) P.s I would like to extend to you an invitation to the pants party
    Louisa Pidcock
    October 28, 2015 3:28 pm
    awesome !! hahaa
    Shonnah Hughes
    October 29, 2015 5:44 pm
    This is really good advice.... Thanks! :)

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