Consultancy Matters

A person's passion is the sincerest definition of who they are. Passion can manifest itself in a hobby, an aspiration, or if you're really lucky, a career. Take two people, Joe and Jane, as an example. Joe has a passion outside of his career. He devotes a lot of his free time to this passion and naturally speaks about it to his peers. When his peers think of him they probably define him as "person passionate about X." Now take Jane, one of the lucky few who has made a career out of her passion. She devotes twice the amount of time, twice the amount of energy and twice the amount of conversation to her passion. How do you think her peers define her?

If you've read Simon Sinek's bestseller Start With Why, then Jane will remind you of Herb Kelleher, co-founder of Southwest Airlines, or Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple Inc. Joe will remind you of the Wright Brothers. Each of these individuals built empires by undyingly following their passion. Sure, you can claim that these individuals are used as examples because of winner's bias. But they succeeded because not only were they extremely passionate. They succeeded because they were able to clearly communicate their visions.

I consider myself extremely lucky. Like Jane, I've built a career out of my passion. When I first launched my film production company, my team asked the same questions regarding our clients that our competition was asking:

• What is this client doing that's different?
• What do they bring to the table?
• What problems are they solving for their customers?

While these questions helped us understand our clients, we realized they weren't getting to the core of what defined them. We were part of the same old convention of business. We were focusing on what our clients were doing and not why they were doing it in the first place. Once we realized this, we began asking ourselves different questions:

• How can we harness the passion that defines the client's company to create a story?
• Are their employees inspired by that passion?
• Does the story align with their core values?
• How can we align the story with the company's brand mission?
• How is that story going to connect with their audience?
• How are we going to make the story authentic and engaging?

Via The Learning Factor

Ever worked for a leader who left an imprint on your life? The type that took you under his or her wing, coached and mentored you, removed obstacles from your path, and was always available for you? 

That person may be in the minority in the world of transactional management and carrot-and-stick motivation approaches. But if you've experienced such a leader's unique greatness, you'll never forget how they made you feel. 

• They didn't get caught up in their positional power or take advantage of their title.
• They inspired you by making you feel like an equal.
• They shared some of the decision making with you and stretched your growth.
• They provided you with all the resources you needed to do your best work.

For those staring at the bullets above like a deer in headlights, let me assure you: They do exist. 

Leaders like these aren't characters in some rose coloured Hollywood script. They are real humans beings that arrived there through hard work, trial and error, and a wholehearted commitment to be and do their best. 

Via The Learning Factor