By: Stephen Mayers, CAI
You're always in the spotlight. Everyday. No matter where you go or what you are doing, someone is assessing your behavior.
Just recently, I was doing a live auction and was approached by an attendee. This buyer approached me to let me know I was in the "spotlight". He was assessing my style, professionalism, crowd control ability and stage presence. I was being evaluated for the possibility of another auction job.
How we behave while we are relaxing or working should be a consistent message of who we are (our identity) or who we aspire to become.
The 21st century message has been one of "consistency". Thanks to social media sites like Twitter, Facebook, & LinkedIn leaving our comments, photos and tweets lingering out in cyberspace~Our message to the world has to be unified. Our professional brand, our websites, business cards, advertising etc. Everything points back to message of being consistent both professionally and in private.
What I didn't know is that this particular attendee had been to several different auctions and after hours events just to assess me as an auctioneer. I had been in the "spotlight" and didn't even know it.
You don't have to be the auctioneer on stage with a mic to be in the spotlight. Every job is an important role to the success of an auction and everyone who works in our industry is in the spotlight representing auction companies as a professional.