Two weeks ago, I asked a room full of entrepreneurs a very bold question: “What makes YOU extraordinary?”
I mean, sure, it is cool that you are a book-keeper or a writer…it’s especially cool if you’re an electrician because I have no idea how you figure out what you’re doing with all those wires and stuff…and it’s even pretty darn cool if you’re an empowerment coach, realtor, or land developer.
But what I really want to know about you is simply this: What makes you extraordinary at what you do?
It’s the stuff that makes us extraordinary that people are drawn to. It’s what separates us from all the other electricians and bookkeepers. It’s what makes the difference between the choice to hire YOU or the other guy down the street.
And here’s the really, really cool part: The thing that makes YOU extraordinary will really appeal to some people…and not appeal to others at all! And the thing that makes the guy down the street extraordinary will really appeal to the other people and so he will get business, too!
It’s not about using what makes you extraordinary to COMPETE with others…it’s about using what makes you extraordinary to stand out in the crowd so that the people who VALUE your unique gifts and talents can find you.
It’s like lighting a beacon, really.
It’s saying: “Here I am in all my extraordinary greatness! Come work with me! Let me serve you! We will make a great team!”
Because the truth is (and I am so so grateful for this truth because I really wouldn’t enjoy life half as much if it were not true): we are all different. We are, each of us, skilled in different ways. We look at things differently. We react in unique ways to situations based on our perspectives. We handle things differently, approach things differently, and solve problems in different ways. Heck, we even talk differently! We use different phrases, tones of speech, rhythms and cadences…each of these things and so many more are what makes us each extraordinary.
And when we take those gifts, those unique Ways of Being into our work?
Wow.
When we bring all of who we are to our work, when we bring all of who we are into our service of others, that’s when the magic happens.
People who are attracted to our uniqueness become our customers…and we bring our gifts to that relationship…and magic happens…and everyone wins.
So as I said, I asked this group of entrepreneurs what makes them extraordinary…and it took some time for some of them to formulate a response. I understand that. We aren’t always used to blurting out what makes us SOOO great (and in fact, sometimes we’ve been shamed for doing that in the past…told we were “bragging” or “too big for our britches.”)
And I can personally understand their reluctance to reply since I, myself, haven’t always “owned” what makes ME extraordinary!(Too many past lives being burned at the stake for being different no doubt has a bit of an effect on my desire to stand up and shout about my various abilities! LOL)
So I coaxed them a bit…
And I told them about me.
I said I was a business coach, and that what makes ME extraordinary is that I’m kind of like a “business whisperer.”
Just as a horse-lover would take their beloved horse to see the horse-whisperer when she herself could not really understand what was going on with the horse, when everything she knew how to do didn’t seem to be working, when every tip, trick, and technique she’d been taught and used before was failing, she would turn to the horse-whisperer to communicate with her horse, to determine what was really going on, and to ultimately provide the tools and make the suggestions to improve such that her relationship with her horse could return to the wonderful one she desired and remembered, so, too, do business owners bring me their businesses.
Because I can talk to businesses.
And I can communicate with them in ways that others simply cannot.
And I can find out what’s at the root of any business challenge…and I can determine what needs to be done to solve it…and I can even share with the business owner the exact strategy and timing required to bring them back to a place of happiness and success within their business that they remember and long to experience again.
And that makes me pretty freakin’ extraordinary.
And when I shared that with this crowd, people nodded.
They FELT the extraordinary-ness that I was sharing about myself seep into their bones.
And their own extraordinary-ness responded in turn…it started to nudge at them…rise up within them…and pretty soon they were shouting things out to me:
“I am a bookkeeper and I am extraordinary because I treat each and every client’s books as if they were my very own! It MATTERS to me just that much!”
“I am a realtor and I am extraordinary because I actually give a crap if the house my clients buy is the one they really want! I won’t just sell them something for the sake of making the sale. I want them to LOVE IT.”
“I am a financial planner and I am extraordinary because I take all the shame and guilt away that my clients have around their finances and I work with them to create a financial plan that they can be PROUD OF.”
These were extraordinary statements…extraordinary truths that echoed through the room…sank into our bones…and rippled out into the Universe.
It was just that powerful.
And so here is my request of you: Please, tell me and everyone you meet what it is that makes you extraordinary such that it can seep into our bones, so that it can nudge what is extraordinary within us to burst forth to the surface, so that we can stand in all our extraordinary greatness together because THAT is when the magic happens…and that magic is just too good to live without.
Big Love,
xoxo
Did you enjoy this post? You can have articles like this, insights, and opportunities sent directly to your inbox each week. Click here to stay connected.
Rebecca Liston helps her clients predict, pivot, and compete in an increasingly complex global marketplace. Her clients quickly uncover the root of their challenges and know the actions to take to overcome them. A six-time nominee for the RBC Canadian Woman Entrepreneur Award, Rebecca combines business strategy with intuition, giving her clients the edge on forward-thinking, elegant answers to their most complicated problems. Her clients are entrepreneurs with CEO-mindsets and executives with entrepreneurial instincts. She is based in London, Ontario. What if you could get the answer to your biggest business challenge, in one sitting? Visit rebeccaliston.com to find out more.
