Kurt Vonnegut died lastnight. He was a great example of someone doing his own thing and being successful with all of his quirks and eccentricities. Vonnegut found a style he could own because it was genuine and a true reflection of his personality.
If you do your thing like everyone else does it, you’ll simply blend in and people will forget about you. But when you really stick your neck out and be so fully yourself that it scares some people, offends others, it will attract the people who will resonate with the real you and in turn, the authentic personality of your business–not the one you “create” but the one you integrate.
I have to say I have a soft spot for Vonnegut since he studied anthropology at my alma mater, University of Chicago. They rejected his thesis. U of C later gave him an honorary degree. Had Vonnegut contorted his message to please his professors, maybe we would have missed out on the voice he was developing.
So what voice are you developing? What you perpetuate you will become fluent in, known for and people will expect more of it. Are you developing your business personality, your marketing, and client/customer relationships from a genuine place?
In honor of Kurt Vonnegut: go ahead, step out there boldly and let us see what you’ve really got. I’ll do the same. It’s time to up the ante on boldness. I can feel where I’ve been holding back too. Imagine if we were all living our bold selves, manifesting our authentic businesses? I think that would be the kind of world Vonnegut and many others could smile down on.
© 2007 – 2009, Karrie Kohlhaas. All rights reserved.
