I’ve been working on my personal development recently and I’ve realised that I’m uncomfortable selling myself. I can easily talk about why I enjoy helping my clients and our achievements, but I clam up when I have to talk about myself. I thought that as a Marketing Consultant this may seem a bit odd or even embarrassing but when I also discovered many of my business-owner friends also feel the same way- I was relieved.
I realised that whilst I’m passionate about my values and why I do what I do – I’m not great at talking about what I do to sell myself.
Skimming through the raft of social media posts, I’ve started to notice that more and more of my contacts seem to post about their entire world – their kids, dogs and anything on LinkedIn that isn’t directly work related. I wondered if they might be posting because of how it will look or how someone else will perceive them – if so then that’s ego posting.
The ego is an identity of our own construction, an identity which is false. Stepping into authenticity is challenging. But how can we tell the difference between our egos and our heart?
The first step to lead from the heart is knowing what’s at your core: your values and vision. This relates to all aspects of business including B2B branding.
After 10-years in business I recently went through the process of checking in with my values and vision with the help of the wonderful Isabel Knight and Annie Lee. This was in order to make sure that my work was aligned and meaningful. Whilst I found a dusty old Belbin personality profile was still spot on, I was surprised that my core values have changed slightly over time. It was great to understand a heart-felt value that I hadn’t really taken any time to acknowledge before.
When you learn to quiet your ego, you give your heart an opportunity to lead.
It is a big mistake to not be genuine. Your brand will suffer as soon as you start changing your stance on an issue to look good, or using tactics that don’t fit your ethos to simply to meet market demand. It’s tough to stay authentic and true to your values and I’ll be continuing to work on this for myself and to help others in 2020.