I had breakfast with a friend (I will call him Joe) today and he was speaking of his endeavors as a small businessman in a relatively new and innovative field. What is fascinating to me was the lengths Joe goes to in his passion for his work. He is an inventor, an innovator of the first order. With hands on and a gleam in his eye, Joe leaps into every project with an insight, creativity, and dedication rarely seen. What also came out is Joe's struggle with the corporate and political worlds he is required to navigate. Joe does not have prestigious degrees or expensive suits, yet he is the one often called upon to solve problems that the biggest and the best are stymied by. Joe is the quintessential take-charge scientist, always ready with a solution or unique approach.
What started us on this conversation was his hourly rate for engineering consultation--the same rate I would get if I were to pick up a hammer and saw. Needless to say I was astounded! I realized that Joe is a supremely confident expert in his field; there is no question about his skill, knowledge, or genius capacity. However, there is an issue with his self-perception and self-worth. While he does not suffer from an overt sense of poor self esteem, he does struggle with the political and corporate environments within which he is called to navigate.
Joe is not in need of therapy or psychological counseling. Rather, he is ripe for observational consulting on how to make a transition from his current situation to the next levels of potential found in his work. In that vein I gave him three things to do: First, I told him to change how he dresses when in business meetings (he is most comfortable in shorts and a T-shirt--they have served him well up to now but are fast becoming a liability). The notion I impressed upon him is that cloths are more important for the person wearing them than they are for those seeing him. How a person feels about themselves is subtly and profoundly impacted by one's clothing and appearance. The feel of well fitting, quality clothing imparts a sense of self that is independent of external influences. Others do not notice the clothing so much as the man "in" the clothing. Wear "powerful clothing," what ever that means for you, and your innate demeanor will resonate with everyone in the room.
Next I told him to immediately raise his prices. There is no clearer way of stating to the world that you know what you are worth than by demanding appropriate compensation for your efforts. This is not greed. It is not a business ploy to gain advantage. It is a way of expressing awareness of one's contribution to the world in a universally common language. Money speaks on many levels beyond those of profit and loss, and by commanding a fair compensation for one's work, that language speaks across a multitude of barriers--the barrier of self-perception being one.
Third, I told Joe to make a contact list of everyone he has a relationship with related to his work, paying particular attention to political and corporate connections. Joe tells story after story of meetings with CEO's, politician's, and notable celebrities regarding his business. In his travels he has been to the State Capital, Hollywood, and Washington DC. He has met with powerful people in a variety of circumstances, all of whom are impressed with his ideas, solutions, and knowledge. When presented with a proposal that has profound political implications, these people are potential resources and advocates who are available to support his work. When Joe calls upon a politician or CEO to support a project, he in effect puts them to work so he no longer needs to do everything himself.
By combining a confident appearance, commanding a fair compensation, and calling upon powerful supporters of his efforts, Joe will be able to address whatever self perception that may be holding him back through action, and allow his experience to push through any inherent resistance to change.
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