We Crave Connectedness But We Settle for Transactions
I've got a new thought for the New Year: tell the experts they're nuts. Well, on just one subject: explaining yourself. For the New Year, commit to "be yourself" and to hell with the experts and all their fancy "service platform explanatoins." (Does that make any sense? I didn't think so either.)
In the process, you just might find that you like yourslef, and others, just a wee bit better. And, that you're not always measuring yoruself against an untenable yardstick of "professionalism" and "propriety." If someone is explaining his/her business service to you, hang in for a minute: you can do it. Don't assume s/he will get it all out quickly and efficiently; sometimes, the smart ones need time, you know.
If you're in the professional servcie business, you've been told -- how many times? -- how important your "elveator speech" is to promotig your business. (I've got news for you: you could be the Bill Gates of Consultatns right now: you ain't gonna sell anything bevause no one's buying nothing. Just the way it is. [Excuse all of my colloquial double negatives, please.])
What spurred this? I got to hear an "award-winnng" journalist and consultatn speak recently on the subject of award-winning jounralist and consultant would have me believe that it's all about the "message." Some call it the "elevator speech" or "escalator speech."
After much deliberation, I decided that my niche is "people who like me." They could be in middle level posts in non-profits. Or in industrial or high-tech concerns. They could be a CEO or ED; a VP of Marketing. They're people who think I can help them better organize themselves and their institutions for higher performance. They trust me.
So, if the experts suggest you have ten seconds, tell 'em off and use 30 instead. I'll listen and if I don't, I'm not being respectful. How's that for a New Year's resolution: I will behave more respectfully in 2010. Towards others, the planet, my clients/customers, my colleagues.
So, when I'm told that I have to explain my work in the "right format," (What do you offer?...To Whom?...How do they hear about it?...) I'm being told to state my rank and serial number. I'm being told I'm a "thing."
I'm being encouraged, no coerced, to commoditize myself so that you can understand, in an instant, whether or not I have anything to offer you. How have we arrived here? Slick commercialism? Greed? Fear? Whatever it is, I don't want to buy it. I'll wait to hear what you've got to say: I've got plenty of time.
And, here, I'm going to extrapolate: part of the reason we're in this financial mess is because many people bought "things" that were not prudent: CDO's, CDS's, They didn't look beyond the transaction: it was a superficial decision, without depth or probing. It would seem that all the buyers were into this farcical respnose to disasters -- "it's all gooood" --- that is now used to explain insane behaviors and consequences. (Ask the expert pictured above; he knows.)
So, if I'm a "thing" to you, a tool of some sort that seems to fit your current conundrum, don't buy me. If you want to know who I am, great. I'll tell you. But, it will take more than ten seconds. Sorry, just the way it goes.
I've got a new thought for the New Year: tell the experts they're nuts. Well, on just one subject: explaining yourself. For the New Year, commit to "be yourself" and to hell with the experts and all their fancy "service platform explanatoins." (Does that make any sense? I didn't think so either.)
In the process, you just might find that you like yourslef, and others, just a wee bit better. And, that you're not always measuring yoruself against an untenable yardstick of "professionalism" and "propriety." If someone is explaining his/her business service to you, hang in for a minute: you can do it. Don't assume s/he will get it all out quickly and efficiently; sometimes, the smart ones need time, you know.
If you're in the professional servcie business, you've been told -- how many times? -- how important your "elveator speech" is to promotig your business. (I've got news for you: you could be the Bill Gates of Consultatns right now: you ain't gonna sell anything bevause no one's buying nothing. Just the way it is. [Excuse all of my colloquial double negatives, please.])
What spurred this? I got to hear an "award-winnng" journalist and consultatn speak recently on the subject of award-winning jounralist and consultant would have me believe that it's all about the "message." Some call it the "elevator speech" or "escalator speech."
After much deliberation, I decided that my niche is "people who like me." They could be in middle level posts in non-profits. Or in industrial or high-tech concerns. They could be a CEO or ED; a VP of Marketing. They're people who think I can help them better organize themselves and their institutions for higher performance. They trust me.
So, if the experts suggest you have ten seconds, tell 'em off and use 30 instead. I'll listen and if I don't, I'm not being respectful. How's that for a New Year's resolution: I will behave more respectfully in 2010. Towards others, the planet, my clients/customers, my colleagues.
So, when I'm told that I have to explain my work in the "right format," (What do you offer?...To Whom?...How do they hear about it?...) I'm being told to state my rank and serial number. I'm being told I'm a "thing."
I'm being encouraged, no coerced, to commoditize myself so that you can understand, in an instant, whether or not I have anything to offer you. How have we arrived here? Slick commercialism? Greed? Fear? Whatever it is, I don't want to buy it. I'll wait to hear what you've got to say: I've got plenty of time.
And, here, I'm going to extrapolate: part of the reason we're in this financial mess is because many people bought "things" that were not prudent: CDO's, CDS's, They didn't look beyond the transaction: it was a superficial decision, without depth or probing. It would seem that all the buyers were into this farcical respnose to disasters -- "it's all gooood" --- that is now used to explain insane behaviors and consequences. (Ask the expert pictured above; he knows.)
So, if I'm a "thing" to you, a tool of some sort that seems to fit your current conundrum, don't buy me. If you want to know who I am, great. I'll tell you. But, it will take more than ten seconds. Sorry, just the way it goes.
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