What happens when you realise your path is entrepreneurship rather than employment? Lindsay takes up the challenge and shares an account of her journey as it unfolds…

I can NOT believe that just the second you think you’ve scaled the mountain and can relax at the top, you look over the ridge only to see yet ANOTHER, higher mountain top to climb. And you know that the higher you go, the better it will be, so the feelings are a mixed sense of incredulity, exasperation, and energy to take on a fresher challenge.
I’ve just been to London again – it always pays to meet up with experts, people in related fields. I get something out of every meeting and this time I met with people with experience in learning, HR, philosophy, and leadership. Referrals, people I used to work with, people I met at conferences…

A HUGE new mountain range opened up just as I thought I’d finally landed the USP. It’s almost as if everything has to happen at a time that is right for it to happen. Because it’s only when I describe the NEW IMPROVED AMAZING USP that then someone can make a comment, come up with an observation that builds on it. AGAIN.

And it always sounds so bloody obvious.

“Why don’t you talk to the needs of the client centrally, rather than present Mirror Mirror?”

Think strategy engagement

Think transition to agile ways of working

Think post-merger integration

I guess we were so proudly stuck in how magically generic we were, this wasn’t on the table. But yes, sure we can address how Mirror Mirror works with the strategic driver.

“Why don’t you make Mirror Mirror special for each client – tailor it for them so that they want to bite on something that is specifically for their situation?”

Now our ‘generic pride’ looks silly. Of course! How obvious. No-one wants to buy something off the shelf when they have unique needs they need met.

I was sitting in the pub with a former boss of mine. Excellent leader – best boss I’ve ever had actually. Talking about building up the business he pointed at the bar.

“You can aim to go there and plan your next steps – but you might end up in the other room – and quite happy with that. The point is, you never know what’s going to happen. You’ve got to be reactive. Maybe Mirror Mirror turns out to become purely associated with companies transitioning to agile ways of working (because of the way it promotes facilitative leadership ad employee ownership).”

So I’m going to revisit the positioning, the materials and the pitch to connect to a specific need in a specific way. That’s no problem. By now I have a communications agency interested in running the Mirror Mirror QuickScan for their London team members, so they can experience it from a client perspective and get involved in delivering. I have replies from contacts on my sales pipeline. I’m going to spend the rest of the year planning my next steps to the bar and see where it gets me 😊. 

Mirror Mirror – the process that accelerates team alignment for improved performance and innovation. By enabling a better shared current reality between people with a shared goal, they make better, faster progress: www.mirrormirrorhub.com

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