I am a person full of contradictions and today I discovered another such contradiction about me! When I have a story to tell, I can go on and on about it (of course digressing through the way) and ensure that the others present in the conversation do not get a chance to talk and are listening to every single detail and responding. Of course, I do not want to discuss how entertaining some of my stories can be(…modesty ;))! So literally, I make a mountain of a molehill.
But when it comes to articulating any professional communication, I have the power to make even a big thing sound miniscule and irrelevant. And this goes back to my engineering days, where after putting in 5 months of relentless efforts on my final year project, both Anjali and I were incapable of justifying our efforts in the report. And that’s when we realized how we both lacked the capability to use “flowery language”. Basically, modesty becomes operational at all the wrong times in life.
The reason I choose to blog about this is because, during the internship, I felt challenged by this incapability yet again. This, to the extent of my mentor telling me “why do u underplay everything…use big words…the impact is always better that way”. This is something that I am sure will remain at the back of my mind at least for sometime. Another incident occurred today that brought this issue to the fore. In the past couple of communications between the Cerebration team and potential case sponsors, I have realized that Amruta does a brilliant job of glorifying the event. While the thoughts have been resonated by all of us at different occasions through different mediums, this particular mail by Amruta blew me away. And knowing her…I know that its not one of those “creative high” days. It’s just that she has the talent.
As I decide to embark on this journey to enter the big Consulting Arena, I realize that this is a weakness I have to overcome. Consultants are paid to tell you things that at most times is already known. It’s the job of a Consultant to send the message across in the most effective way. Sometimes, it’s about making you come to terms with reality. At other times, it requires them to tell you “we are there for you”. Whatever be the case…it was never achieved through “being modest”. As Shyam puts it…”Its all about Marketing and PR”! And I agree! It’s the power of making things sound BIG! So my next KPI is to be told by someone…“you sound like such a consultant”!!!! :)
