Being Known for One Thing Beats Being Vaguely Good at Everything

Broad competence feels safe — you can join any project, help with anything, never be the weak link. But when opportunities get handed out, people reach for the name attached to a specific strength, not the name attached to general helpfulness. Being known for one thing makes you findable; being good at everything makes you invisible.

This does not mean neglecting the rest of your skills. It means picking one area — a technical depth, a type of problem, a way of working — and letting your reputation collect around it on purpose, instead of spreading evenly and thin.