What’s Your Story?

Most of us have enriching backstories that never make it to the front page because we fear it will show us in a less than favorable light.  We tend to keep our introductions chronological, title-focused, and dare I say, sleep-inducing.

A typical introduction goes something like this,

“Hi, I’m Jane, the Senior Director of Marketing at XXX, with 25 + years of sales and marketing leadership experience working in the XXX industry.”

And, while all that is true, Jane, what if you could take that up a notch, such that the “thought bubble” of the people listening would exclaim, “Now, that’s someone I’d like to know more about!” or “She’s someone with whom I’d like to partner.”

What if Jane’s introduction went like this instead?

“Hi, I’m Jane, I help business leaders grow revenue and profits because I’ve learned plenty (sometimes the hard way) about what makes customer’s tick and stick with us for life.”

From here, and if time allows, Jane can expound on her back-story and lessons learned.  Eventually, she may get to her years of experience, title and other areas of expertise.  Or, it may not be necessary.

When I help clients craft their stories, I start broadly with questions to draw out what makes them tick, and what significant moments contributed to their leadership arsenal.  Some questions seem silly on the surface; others give you cause to pause.  Few of the literal answers to these questions will make it into a bio or an interview, but they draw out the necessary context and energy that is so often missing from someone’s personal introduction or story.

Ultimately, these questions are designed to cull primary areas of strength and differentiation, passion, and desired company culture (or lifestyle), all of which fits nicely into a Venn diagram, the intersection of which is your sweet spot.  This forms the foundation of your story from which your LinkedIn Summary, resume, elevator spiel and introduction emanates.

Click to download the Coach2Growth What’s Your Story? Tool.