Paradox Passion: Hot Results
by Nan Andrews Amish, MBA, CLU
Think back to your first professional success, first public
speech or challenge. You probably heeded Dale Carnegie's age-old
advice to speak about what you knew.
Entrepreneurs learn how to match what they know with what the
market is willing to pay for. And yet often when executives
speak among themselves, they share stories about which they
have strong opinions, emotions or passion, which do not appear
in their official communications. I find myself curious, why
don't these stories appear?
The Power of Passion
How can we use our passion to make what we do more powerful?
Larry Winget, CSP, the "pit bull of self-improvement" is tenacious
and funny. His passion for self-improvement drives his hard-core
approach. His love of fun drives his antics. The Restaurant
Doctor, Bill Marvin, CSP, knows restaurants. His stories, humor,
and programs are infected by his passion for customer-service
excellence. Speaking of excellence, Tom Peters, ever since his
book "In Search of Excellence" embodies the energy of passion
being powerful, in his constant "Pursuit of Wow". His passion
for market and employment trends is reflected in his use of
powerful, hard-hitting statistics and his high-energy style.
All three of these consultants and speakers energize their clients
with their passion. Their stories sizzle because they care about
the outcome. How can we learn from these top speakers to make
our own communications and management initiatives more energized,
more powerful and more effective?
Like other management consultants who speak professionally,
I have expertise in a wide range of business topics including
strategy, marketing, leadership and team development. Our programs
heat up when we show people what is most important to us, invite
them to appreciate the parts of our profession we care deeply
about and facilitate opportunities for them to hear our passions.
What is most important to me is sustainable, peak performance.
I am passionate about wholeness, cross-functional integration
and synergy. I am committed to customer-driven solutions; relevant,
researched data and collaborative processes. I also am passionate
about creating best-in-class health care and I care deeply about
vulnerable teens, kids and animals of all stripes, weights and
colors.
My most successful programs blend a provocative positioning
of organizational assessments with future trends designed to
shift strategic paradigms with a facilitated, experiential,
collaborative strategy session. My biggest frustrations from
the health care industry become my most powerful examples of
management gone wrong -- where I just happen to have relevant
personal stories that can assist me to make my management
points. Athletes and CEO's alike seem to relate to me best,
when I share my human struggle to stay fit, while being a large
woman, in light of one of the last forms of legal discrimination:
size bias.
Why do these things work for me? Because these are important
to me. These are the topics where I have thousands of
opinions, the most emotional edge, the highest frustration,
the most touching stories, and the most fodder for humor, with
which to connect with my audience and make my points memorable.
Where do you have thousands of opinions, the most emotional
edge and the highest frustrations?
By combining the things we passionately care about with the
regular content of our management initiatives, and our corporate
communications:
- Our delivery is more dynamic
- Our examples are more alive
- We are more authentic
- Our connection with our clients, employees and customers
is deeper, because by showing what we care about, we also
have an opportunity to share our vulnerabilities (this makes
us more human)
- Our humor is sharper, driven from the frustrations about
things we care about
- Our stories are tighter, more on target to emphasize our
points
- Our ability to be spontaneous rises to new heights
- We focus on our customer's needs, because our individual
styles are a part of who we are
- We are engaged with our clients and customers
- Content retention and management effectiveness rises as
a result of our connected stories and humor
- Client satisfaction rises as a result of superior results,
higher value
- Referrals, loyalty and bookings increase
- Your business profitability increases dramatically
Strategic Fit
So, now the challenge is to match what you are passionate
about with the programs and services you are committed to provide?
Who would benefit from your views on those matters? What trends
give us new passionate opportunities?
With health care in the United States in such turmoil, I am
lucky that health care marketers and HR strategists are interested
in learning from my experience about best-in-class health care.
Since the "dot-com to dot-bomb" experience, technology companies
are interested in learning about being profitably customer-driven.
Some motivational speakers speak to the potential of living
one's dreams. Corporations who hire motivational speakers are
sometimes leery of this type of program for fear that it has
the potential to increase dissatisfaction in its workforce.
Ouch. Not a good match for corporate objectives! In a similar
vein, I do pretty good running comedy about "Being Rubinesque
in an Ally McBeal World". But I am not a stand-up comic, and
my corporate audiences are not particularly interested in paying
for this particular passion of mine, unless they have Rubinesque
executives with image or self-esteem issues. If we want to share
these passions with our customers, we have two choices. We can
find a new market niche, who would benefit from our experiences
and passions or we can find ways to use these non-business passions
to add value to our regular target markets.
Corporations large and small are dealing with issues of harassment,
and discrimination. I can use my experience of being discriminated
against because of my size to connect with minority populations
that I otherwise might not connect with. I can empathize with
gender issues and racial issues, without resentment. That gives
me a huge advantage in creating programs with high impact. Now
my passion has become not just entertaining, it has become a
competitive advantage. Similarly, motivational speakers who
want to talk about living their dreams might choose to use their
concepts to illustrate how empowerment can create a more creative,
satisfied, workforce with ultimately higher employee retention.
Or they might use their concepts to illustrate internal career
planning. This can be hard work, but it is worth it to mesh
passion with your existing market.
How can your passions provide added value for your clients?
Signature Style
Your passions are your distinctiveness, your competitive advantage,
your unique selling proposition. They differentiate you from
others who consult in your field, who offer similar products
and services. Like a signature story, or a signature piece of
humor, your passions become the basis of your signature style,
which is something difficult to copy. Corporate signature styles
are sometimes called corporate cultures. Trainers and speakers
signature styles are reflected in their examples and their dialogue.
Signature styles are also reflected in a corporate image. It
is the look and the unique feel that keeps clients loyal and
coming back for more. Signature style is more versatile than
an ad campaign or a single signature story, and it's tough to
copy.
Look at these consultants and speakers among us who carry off
signature styles that are all their own. Consider Chris Clarke-Epstein,
CSP, immediate past president of NSA. She played the perfect
hostess at NSA's February Western Regional Workshop banquet,
stopping at every single table, speaking with almost every attendee.
Her style is one of connection. Does it surprise you that her
programs are interactive? Alan Weiss, PhD, CSP, shows with his
approach that superior strategic results are what is important
to him. He gladly plays the contrarian to support his client's
climb to the "summit" of their universe. (Alan's company's name
is Summit Consulting.) He calls it like he sees it. Is it any
wonder that CEOs call on him, when they want the real scoop?
Like comedienne Joan Rivers, whose signature style "speaks her
truth in a harsh but playful way" (June Cline Professional Speaker
March 2001), Clarke-Epstein and Weiss are congruently who they
are.
Look at corporations with signature styles as well. Consider
the HP Way, well known for being collaborative and supportive,
vs. the Siebel culture of German effectiveness. Consider Wal-Mart
or Nordstrom's, both of whom are incredibly customer oriented
in their style. All of these are part of who they are, and what
makes them as entities distinctive, in spite of what products
or services they offer.
My signature style is big, fun and outrageous. A friend once
characterized me as the large woman, with the large, flaming-red
hair, the big-picture perspective and the big, powerful voice
(I drowned out a small orchestra once, without a microphone).
I figured if I was going to be big (clearly I would never be
petite) in all of these dimensions, I might as well use it to
my advantage. Big woman, big voice, big picture. Got it.
Your signature style, is yours and yours alone. Your signature
style is your branding. It is your positioning. It
positions you in contrast to every other speaker that speaks
on your topics. It positions you against every other organization
that offers your product or service. Consider these positioning
phrases that give large clues about signature style: Pit Bull
of Self-Improvement. The Hard Hat Speaker. The Contrarian from
Summit Consulting. We Love to Make You Smile. HP Way. In Pursuit
of Wow. TakeRisks.com. Mental Game Coach. CyberSpeaker. Chicken
Soup for the Soul.
What are the elements that constitute your signature style?
Reap the Rewards
When we are dynamic, authentic, engaged and connected to our
clients, customers and audiences; when we are both confident
and vulnerable, with heart touching stories and content or a
message that addresses our clients' most pressing needs; when
our customers and participants remember a greater degree of
the content we offer or the persuasive proposal we offer, and
apply it their own issues and when we are positioned easily
to differentiate ourselves from others, we have staying power.
Clients want us back. They seek the value we offer! They are
loyal. They refer us to their colleagues. Our businesses flourish.
So do our bank accounts.
Bernard Haldane, the founder of the career counseling firm that
bears his name, once said that when planning your career it
is not good enough to know what you are good at. He defined
career success as only those career activities that you are
both successful at and that you truly love. This is true for
speakers, executives and organizations. When we speak about
what know and that which we love, care and are passionate about,
powerful success is always the result.
A How to Guide to: Passion, Positioning and Profits
Answer these questions, and you will have started a plan to
reap the benefits of your most powerful passions.
What are your Passions?
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1. |
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Who are you? (this is where your
passions start) |
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2. |
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What is your purpose in life?
(your mission. do you have one?) |
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3. |
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What do you value? What is most
important to you? (these typically unconsciously reflect
your identity) |
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4. |
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What are you passionate about? |
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5. |
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What are you most frustrated,
annoyed or angry with in the world? (seeds for humor) |
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6. |
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What do you have strong opinions
about? |
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7. |
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Why do you care about these things?
(your vulnerability) |
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Who could benefit? (Strategic
fit between your passions and client needs)
|
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8. |
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Who could benefit from your opinions,
your experiences, your passion? |
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9. |
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How might you share your passionate
views and stories to illustrate points with in your
existing programs or services and with your existing
markets, in a way that would add value to your programs
by bringing your content to life? |
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10. |
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What future client and environmental
trends might create an opportunity for sharing your
passions? |
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Signature Style = Passion
+ Positioning
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11. |
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Do your material or your job
while being yourself. This is the core of your
signature style. Be with your customers, your
clients, your audience. Connect. |
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12. |
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Authenticity is the result. It
creates loyalty and repeat business. |
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13. |
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Feel the power. Provide the value. |
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14. |
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Then position yourself in the
marketplace in light of your passions, your signature
style and your expertise. |
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Reap the Benefits (Profits,
Referrals and Return Engagements)
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15. |
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Watch people remember you. |
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16. |
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Answer the phone. It is ringing
off the hook. (So I exaggerated a little.) |
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17. |
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Reap the benefits.  |
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(2059 words) Copyright © 2003-2007 Nan Andrews Amish. All rights
reserved.
