Recently, I started pitching much more actively. (Yay for inbound marketing and referrals working wonderfully for YEARS. Boo for that not being the case these days. At least not for me.)
And almost any time I see the chance for free feedback from a person or community I trust, I take it.
- To be in integrity (one of my core values). So much of my business centers around me being the one who offers outside perspective, so I want to be able to receive feedback in the same way. Builds empathy and understanding with my clients. Plus, it allows me to absorb and iterate on different feedback styles.
- There are TONS of smart people out there who can see all kinds of things I’d never be able to see for myself because I’m too close to it. (Literally the same justification most my clients use when they choose to work with me.)
So I got some resume feedback. And I implemented a lot of the suggestions. I redesigned and restructured a bit, pulled out some more accurate overarching themes and keywords (for the bots and the human eyeballs to catch), etc.
But one piece of advice I received, I immediately knew I wanted to ignore.
(Spoiler alert: that’s ok. It was still useful to receive.)
He said I could just “ditch the values section” of my resume. And while I’m at it, go ahead and remove the marketing committee of my county’s democratic party because it’s “best to just avoid anything political.”
Now, by nature of the fact that you’re receiving this newsletter right now, you’ve probably heard me wax eloquent about values any chance I get. They are CORE to my approach to business, the clients I want to work with, and generally how I move through the world and make decisions.
And yes, I do sometimes advocate for values being seen and felt implicitly in your marketing. Especially if the alternative is to name them explicitly, but not follow through operationally. (That empty virtue signaling is basically the only no-no in my book.)
So little indicators like committees I’m part of, methodologies I’ve developed, and clients I’ve worked with do show those values in some ways. But my reputation and relationships have been centered on values, so it feels essential to signal them loud and proud. And explicitly.
And then regarding “being political”…I feel life and much of business is inherently political. So if someone sees (buried deep on a dozen-item list of community engagement roles I’ve had) that I was part of this local democratic party committee and chooses NOT to work with me because of that, well, I don’t think we’d be a good fit anyway.
Ideally, most my clients and I speak the same (ish) ideological language and hold the same (or adjacent) values. But even if we have opposing views in some ways, 2 of my core values are Conscientiousness (”bringing empathy and awareness to my life and work”) and Exploration (”creating space to experiment and staying open to different perspectives”). So if they can’t get on board with those, we wouldn’t gel, jive, and thrive together.
(^ I included my personal definitions of those values because that’s a key part of my values framework. Establish what they are, define what they mean, then actively apply across all your decisions. More on that framework here.)
When I mentioned this feedback at a recent Conscious Crowdsourcing Gathering, someone said she’d be MORE inclined to work with me if she saw that committee on my resume. I saw many heads nodding in agreement.
Yet another reminder that repelling someone is just the opposite side of attraction spectrum we’re all on.
All that to say, did I agree with this feedback about breezing past my values? No.
But was it still useful? Yes.
Because it shone a light on what matters to me so that I can double down on it. And it showed me what I could experiment with.
One of the biggest tools I’ve found in making any decision I feel unsure about—what conference to attend, what business pivot to make, what person to hire, even what values you DO want to be known for—is to think about the inverse.
Figure it out by process of elimination.
➡ So when you don’t know what “it” is, what is it definitely not?
Don’t waste any more time or energy or money in the no-zone. Move on to the maybe list or the parts you know for sure.
Something clear(er) and better always takes shape.
Especially if you’re a big idea person.
And you get outside perspective.
And you have core values to fall back on.
If you want to work on how your big ideas and core values translate from your head and heart into your business, let me be your outside perspective. Your idea editor. Your words-focused strategic advisor.
1️⃣ Book a free Alignment Call to chat about the ways we can collaborate.
2️⃣ Get some free insights at our June public About You Audit. It’s a quarterly event where I give first impressions feedback (plus some universal tips) on something you use to share who you are and what you do. Because that intro is a big piece of your brand-building puzzle.
(Promise to give as good of feedback as possible. But even if you don’t agree with my feedback, it’s still a useful exercise.)
This is an excerpt from Toward Purpose & Progress, my newsletter where I share business tips, good news, shoutouts to Founder Friends, and other juicy snippets. Subscribe here for more rants, reflections, and resources.
