Business Beauty
Posted by the Word team at 4/13/2008 2:00 PM 
Categories: Speechwriting, corporate communications, PR, Public Relations, Marketing, Coaching, Executive Communications
Categories: Speechwriting, corporate communications, PR, Public Relations, Marketing, Coaching, Executive Communications
A client asked me if I thought her photo was too sweet. It’s a beautiful headshot, her eyes sparkle, her smile is warm. Jane is a business consultant, and a sharp one. “I don't want to look like the ice queen,” she says, “ but if I'm talking about powerful leadership, then, I think the photo looks too sweet.”
It’s a great question… it’s the essence of the question a communicator like me tries to answer every day, really. What makes communication powerful? What’s the best way to use words, actions, even how we look, to influence what happens next?
My gut response is that authenticity -- the “real” you -- is the most powerful. But then after 16-20 years of being molded by your education, can you find the real you? Is that warm, authentic smile really you, or a technique you learned to manipulate others in order to succeed?
I’ve been watching the Democratic frontrunners for communication ideas, because they are both people who don’t fit the profile and who aspire to the most power in our country. I’m trying to see what it is that communicates to some people that they have what it takes to be President.
Senator Obama has been an exciting candidate from the start -- his lanky youth, his multicultural roots and appeal, his combination of warmth, wry humor, polished style and intelligence set him apart. Recently a few cracks have revealed he does have armor, and this may be more style than authenticity, but he is a junior senator who, long shot or not, kept going and building a well-orchestrated campaign and has taken the country by storm.
Mrs. Clinton can come across as harsh and mocking in a way that only men in our culture are usually allowed; but also caring and “traditionally feminine” at other times; she can reach too hard, deploying the “right” controlled phrase for the situation, or giving way too much detail, but is brilliantly clear at other times. I often wonder -- is this just what she’s doing to get to the White House, or is this the kind of hard-shell President she’ll be?
So here’s the question: Do you hold more power when you control, modify and show a limited picture of yourself to the public, your work team, even your family? Obama is often compared to Jack Kennedy, who we now know was not the knight from Camelot he appeared to be. With Hillary she is up in the polls, down in the polls, and right now has fewer delegates and less money than Senator Obama -- but she keeps going. In some ways she seems unstoppable. And isn’t that the elusive quality of power -- that you don’t hold yourself back and others can’t stop you either?
So Jane, I say look at your pictures and if you say “ this is the business person I love and I want to be” then stick with her, champion her -- if someone tries to use that sweetness against you, then show your dark side. Maybe the key to success has less to do with the image we communicate and more that we just keep going. Because even if things don’t look good for you, things change -- that is the most inspiring lesson I take from this campaign season so far.
It’s a great question… it’s the essence of the question a communicator like me tries to answer every day, really. What makes communication powerful? What’s the best way to use words, actions, even how we look, to influence what happens next?
My gut response is that authenticity -- the “real” you -- is the most powerful. But then after 16-20 years of being molded by your education, can you find the real you? Is that warm, authentic smile really you, or a technique you learned to manipulate others in order to succeed?
I’ve been watching the Democratic frontrunners for communication ideas, because they are both people who don’t fit the profile and who aspire to the most power in our country. I’m trying to see what it is that communicates to some people that they have what it takes to be President.
Senator Obama has been an exciting candidate from the start -- his lanky youth, his multicultural roots and appeal, his combination of warmth, wry humor, polished style and intelligence set him apart. Recently a few cracks have revealed he does have armor, and this may be more style than authenticity, but he is a junior senator who, long shot or not, kept going and building a well-orchestrated campaign and has taken the country by storm.
Mrs. Clinton can come across as harsh and mocking in a way that only men in our culture are usually allowed; but also caring and “traditionally feminine” at other times; she can reach too hard, deploying the “right” controlled phrase for the situation, or giving way too much detail, but is brilliantly clear at other times. I often wonder -- is this just what she’s doing to get to the White House, or is this the kind of hard-shell President she’ll be?
So here’s the question: Do you hold more power when you control, modify and show a limited picture of yourself to the public, your work team, even your family? Obama is often compared to Jack Kennedy, who we now know was not the knight from Camelot he appeared to be. With Hillary she is up in the polls, down in the polls, and right now has fewer delegates and less money than Senator Obama -- but she keeps going. In some ways she seems unstoppable. And isn’t that the elusive quality of power -- that you don’t hold yourself back and others can’t stop you either?
So Jane, I say look at your pictures and if you say “ this is the business person I love and I want to be” then stick with her, champion her -- if someone tries to use that sweetness against you, then show your dark side. Maybe the key to success has less to do with the image we communicate and more that we just keep going. Because even if things don’t look good for you, things change -- that is the most inspiring lesson I take from this campaign season so far.
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