What I Learned From Sitting on the Other Side of Strategy
You aren’t a strategist until you you’ve had a mental breakdown on camera while trying to figure out your own customer avatar, or at least I tell myself that after my recent session where I was the client. Don’t you think us strategists would have it all together? Can’t we just untangle our brains the same way we can do for others? I don’t know.
Frankly, my brain is probably still tangled while writing this. Maybe I’m alone… maybe I’m not. But the curiosity in me continues to go deep within what really happened. Why did I break down? How did that come out? What was it?
When I reflect on these questions, I keep gravitating to feelings of fascination… excitement. Strategy is different for everyone, but human connection, listening, and understanding is relatively cemented across the board. This is the concept of strategy that gets me all jumbled in my head. I find myself evaluating my actions and choice of language… always checking myself to see if I’m really digging deep or just jumping to conclusions.
A fallacy while learning strategy.
We learn to be open and ask questions and listen, but comparison can be the hardest challenge in the world. The problem with comparing while learning brand strategy is that it can block you from identifying the amazing traits that lie within you. The fallacy is ourselves and not trusting our gut and our passions to get to a solution.
And rightfully so. We may get blown off the balance beam from time to time by interrogating our inner selves with unhealthy questioning. We may think this is normal because we are strategists. It’s our job to uncover solutions to challenges or problems, right? Why wouldn’t we start with ourselves and just try to strategize our way to our “perfect identity avatar.”
The fallacy with that is by trying so hard to figure out who we are supposed to be, we instantly become blinded by what makes us so uniquely and beautifully different.
So what’s up with the mental breakdown?
Experiencing a strategy workshop as a client is an entirely different perspective. Just as a strategist, you maybe work to go into sessions open for whatever comes out, as a receiver of strategy, coming in empty serves the values that the other brings to the table.
I didn’t come in empty. To be blunt, I came in massively full… like all-you-can-eat tacos with a $5 dollar margarita special kind of full. I came with baggage and wasn’t able to clear my head and follow a workflow that was so different than my own. The problem WAS NOT the workflow. The problem was MY perception and being so aloof to the present moment.
My Chelsea Creative brand has just been rapidly evolving. So, when trying to create my own avatar, I couldn’t answer a darn question. I froze. I hesitated. I doubted myself and the way I do things. I broke down. And I was vulnerable.
The silver lining…
Quick question, do you know what comes after a breakdown? A break-through.
My eyes were opened to a whole new perspective on how I can prepare as I work with my clients. Business and personal life intersect so often, especially for super passionate entrepreneurs. There are so many things going on in life. Doors are constantly opening and closing and just endlessly revolving. A troubling mindset can completely alter the effectiveness of a strategy session.
So how do you get your client out of the mud? One word: empathy. Things aren’t always going to align in an instant. Detectives don’t solve massive crimes in a day. Where is this stigma that all of the notes need to be sorted out to be great at what you do?
I am super appreciative of my strategist to help me get out of the mud. The biggest lesson I’ve learned so far is sitting on the other side. Understanding what the pressure may feel like by not having things all figured out. This is normal and healthy.
And…we need more mud rescuers in this world.
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