December 2019 Favorites File
How often do you think about what is possible? Do you consider yourself a cynic or an optimist?
The majority of people spend most of their time filled with anxiety and concern over making a mistake.
Imagine if you reacted to a mistake by throwing your arms in the air and exclaiming “How fascinating!” and learning from the mistake rather than collapsing inward and blaming yourself and starting the spiral of negative self-talk.
Imagine you and a friend are looking at the same scene – say it of someone who is in need of help. The first person sees the situation as hopeless, the second sees a possibility to help.
How much different would our lives be if we looked at through the lens of possibility???
This is what Benjamin Zander, conductor of the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra and author of The Art of Possibility believes. He was recently a guest on the EntreLeader podcast (episode 353).
He defines a cynic as a passionate person who doesn’t want to be disappointed again. When you speak to their passion rather than focusing on their fear, the cynicism disappears. Think about how that would also work in marketing your services. When you are met with cynicism or doubt about your product or service, speak to the passion your audience has for the outcome and help them overcome their fear of disappointment. It isn’t easy for them to overcome their fear of disappointment but with you guiding them through the process, the likelihood of success increases.
And personalities
A couple of different personality topics prompted me to identify the deeper, more meaningful connection between personality and brand development. The first came from an interview with Brit Kolo on The Pattern of Purpose podcast. Brit talked about using our Myers-Briggs Personality Type profile to find the marketing tactics most authentic for you. I found this to be a fascinating idea.
Kolo also goes on to say she believes understanding yourself as a representative of the brand is more important than defining the target market. When we consider who we are and the appropriate tactics to complement our strengths and personality, we can segment our audience down to who will resonate with our true self.
Not long after hearing this conversation, I was reintroduced to the enneagram. Once I took the assessment and saw how much it aligned with other personality assessments and my Myers-Briggs profile, I was hooked on how each of these profiling tools can contribute to the definition of our brands – whether it is defining our brand voice, values, or brand promise.
As an enneagram 2 and an ENFJ, with strengths of Woo, Communication, Individualization, Empathy and Adaptability – it should come as no surprise that I’m a caregiver/helper in the brand archetype quizzes published on several websites across the internet. And when digging into my brand profiling, those traits and values shine through. I have been doing this with my clients for as long as I’ve been defining brands. It has yet to fail me or my clients.
What do you think? Does our brand align with your strengths and personality? Leave me a message. I’m curious if you see the similarities too.
Resources mentioned in this episode.
- EntreLeadership Episode #353 The Art of Possibility with Benjamin Zander
- Pattern of Purpose #35 The Best Marketing for your Personality Type
- Marketing Personalities, Britt Kolo
- The Enneagram Institute
- Characterizing your brand
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