What in the world would change if you said what you wanted to say?
What in the world would change if you said what you wanted to say?
If you’ve been following me for a while, you may have heard me ask that question before. It’s delightfully provocative (if I do say so myself) because it seems lighthearted on the surface. When you dig beneath the surface, however, you can see how deep this question really is.
Every business has the same core challenges: deliver a high quality product or service, differentiate themselves in the market, and do good.
The latter two challenges are addressed with this question. As the founder or leader of the business, you created your company for a reason, and it’s often because you saw something in the world that you wanted to change. You recognized that you had the unique skill set and/or expertise to change the narrative, make an impact, or desperately want to disrupt an industry.
That burning need and your willingness to talk about it and do something IS the differentiator in your business.
In working with hundreds of business owners and leaders over the years, I know it’s the sharing boldly piece that is often challenging. We’re bogged down - me included - with questions about our own abilities, our own enoughness.
No one else is fueled by the desire to see that one thing changed in exactly the same way as you are… or for the same reasons.
No one else is bringing their unique learned and/or lived experience the same way you are.
No one can do it in the same way… even if the product or service you offer is similar to others.
There are hundreds of other business strategists out there. Our products and services are often similar. But when I start to talk about how I envision a world where women globally are free to use their unique skills, expertise, and voice to create opportunities for themselves and others. How I believe entrepreneurship uniquely affords women, especially in the developing world, the mechanism to do that, all of a sudden, some distinction is made.
This is further amplified when you share your lived and learned experiences and show how they’ve shaped you and uniquely positioned you to do the work you were called to do in the world. In my case:
Moving to Egypt with my family when I was ten, learning Arabic, and falling in love with Middle Eastern culture.
Walking the streets of Cairo, Egypt with my study abroad peers years later, going to bat against the smack talk and harassment of an obnoxious group of teenage boys in Arabic, a language I was studying formally in college, when others didn’t feel like they had the words or the voice to combat it.
Facilitating my first leadership development workshop at Boeing, being terrified that I’d somehow mess it up. That I wasn’t an expert until a dear friend and colleague reminded me that I didn’t have to have all the answers, but to ask good questions.
Walking away from my corporate career to start a business and seeing just how powerful and life-changing it was to be able to provide new opportunities for my family and others.
Standing in front of a classroom of managers at Ethiopian Airlines and realizing that what I was sharing and how I was sharing it, was making an impact. That this information that seemed so humdrum in the U.S. was new, powerful, and could literally change the trajectory of these individuals’ lives and the company’s strategic future.
Leading a parent and guardian workshop at a school in downtown Minneapolis to a group of Somali moms. Standing next to the interpreter, staring at the moms who were desperately trying to raise their kids in a foreign place with hopes and dreams of a better life, I found myself deeply empathetic and desperate to give them the tools they needed to be successful here.
Asking for my contract to be honored when a massive job was canceled well within the cancellation window. This was the first time in my life, in all my years of owning a business (nearly 6 years at that point), I realized how powerful it was (and is) to say what you want to say, to ask for what you want. It was also when I realized that there are countless business owners struggling to do that very thing.
Saying yes to an opportunity to be a TEDx speaking coach and realizing how deeply inspiring and powerful ONE big idea can be… and how that can be applied to businesses.
Seeing firsthand what it’s like to have your voice suppressed and how life-altering it is when you find the strength and courage to finally say what you want to say.
Any of these experiences on their own are interesting, but when put together as a whole, they tell a critical story about who I am as the leader of my business, what has shaped me into who I am and influenced my worldview and opinions, and how I’ve been uniquely equipped to create the impact I really want to make in the world.
As a TEDx speaker coach, I know that putting your ideas and pieces of your life out into the world is scary. We wordsmith the message to death, edit and censor ourselves hoping it all comes across perfectly, but I’m here to tell you that when you speak from the soul, when you stand boldly in courage and say what you want to say, THAT is when people listen. That’s what makes a message and your business compelling.
“Your mission is your competitive advantage” or “Say what you want to say” aren’t trite, cutesy catch-phrases. They’re an invitation to examine why you’re building and growing your business, how aligned your strategy is to the bigger vision, and to light a fire in your soul, so you can share boldly and create impact.
THAT, more than anything, is when change happens for you, your business, and in the world.
So, what in the world would change if you said what you wanted to say?
