This is by far the best skill you can learn in business school. If itâs taught…
Thereâs still a handful of invaluable advice that is missed in B-school and in the institutionalized education system in general. From networking to financial literacy, experimentation to trial and error, basic life skills are forgotten yet if thereâs one thing for sure, merging business and personality beautifully is a secret power. The products and services we use on a daily basis all capitalize on this merger and exhibit it in just the right way.
If you want to do what you love and earn an overly comfortable living at the same time, it is inevitable that business and your personal life will blend. Once you have kids, it is a given and you should be proud someone depends on you!
You donât need to be a talk show host or social media influencer to understand how business and personal life merge.Â
People donât hire you for what you know, they hire you for your potential and personality. Since first impressions are made within the first 4 seconds of meeting someone, they can already assess if you are easy to work with or going to make their lives miserable.Â
Life will be so sad if thereâs no surprise, outside lives, or character. Itâs always better to hire someone with a growth mindset and is compatible than someone who believes they know more and is annoying. Itâs always easy to learn something but harder to change someone.
Plus One
CEOs of S&P500 firms to consultants can blend their personalities beautifully into what they do and multiply results this way. In fact, on average, those who show their personal side and most importantly, personality, do better!Â
Moderation is key in everything. If you want to hire a robot with only technical skills to save time and ongoing compensation expenses, go ahead but in order for a team to thrive long-term, you need soft and people skills for balance and real success.
The greatest salesperson or real estate agent doesnât memorize all the details about the car or house they want a juicy commission from just to spill it all out and bombard their client or customer. That only works in a test on paper, not the real world. Outside of the classroom, the more emotion, less talking, and human side, the better.
People donât buy things to collect or only to use, they buy for the experience, feeling, source of wealth, authenticity, scarcity, and most evidently, the memory. Chanel can sell $800 sunglasses and Sweetgreen can somehow market a $30 salad with lines out the door in Midtown by 12:15 pm because of the feeling their products promote.
Being superficial and trying to advertise or pretend you are someone you are not is a dangerous recipe and formula. In fact, the opposite works. Be relatable, down-to-earth, and personable to win people and friends.Â
The less you show, the more people will want to know about you.
On that note, keep your friends close and your enemies closer. Often times the people who will help us get through the door and manifest that luck are our 2nd, 3r or last degree connections or enemies!
Itâs the students from HS that you least expected to get far that you need to stay in close contact with. The world is a smaller place than we presume. We all need each other in some shape or form and itâs easier to re-connect with someone or ask for a favor when you show your personal side.
People want to know who you know and how you know them. Cultivating relationships are key catalysts and it starts with strengthening your personality. A country club membership in NY can easily cost $200k per year. This isnât to maintain the pool or restaurant. It is the price you pay for meeting and exchanging contacts with people. It doesnât come cheap.
Oftentimes tickets or the entire sporting event is sponsored by oneâs corporation since sports and gatherings, in general, are prime opportunities to introduce a client to your offerings and land a deal. When a client is already having fun and in a great mood, itâs easier to recommend them anything. You can practically sell anything to anyone at the right time and place. Life is a sale after all!
EQ Life Tip: Donât bother anyone for anything when they arenât in a good mood. It will frustrate both sides.
The plastic seat at a tennis match wonât cost anything once the deal is complete. Even if negotiations donât go anywhere, at least you got to enjoy a tennis match and learn more about what a potential client down the road is looking for. No doesnât mean never. There is no wasted potential in trying. Thereâs a larger cost to never going for it.
The experience of meeting someone outside of the office is a fun memory and is another way to influence business. A lot of the time the best deals are done outside of an office-like setting and more in a personable, relatable, personality-driven environment such as at the golf course or event outside of business hours.
Sticky Situation? Personality & Life Within Business
Professionalism is usually thought of as having a strict demeanor and only business, no fun. Iâm here to tell you this is exactly what you DO NOT want to do. People want to know the person, brand, and founder behind the product. Not another program.Â
Once you build your brand and focus on your story not only skills on paper, you can sell anything because people will remember the human emotional element that sticks out.
Personality, EQ, and emotional stability must be everywhere to make an impact. We arenât robots, we are humans. We make mistakes and are imperfect yet thatâs what makes us special. When you reveal your vulnerabilities and insecurities, people relate to you more and themselves open up. Find similarities and relationship builders to get to know others. The best people do this seamlessly.
Here are a few leaders who have launched and sustained their brand through tying their personality within their business(es):
Steve Kornacki
Kornacki Khakis?
Prime Time Football?
What do they have in common?
Stats and Exuberance!
Steve seamlessly blended his love for all things data inside hit shows on prime time such as âFootball Night in Americaâ and makes regular appearances on prime networks such as NBCUniversal digesting and unpacking March Madness, elections, award shows, the weather, and even the Kentucky Derby!
He breaks down high flying statistics, predictions, and real-time results while wearing his iconic khakis in a fun, understandable and exciting way! Truthfully I learned more from a 5 minute segment from Steve than from all of AP Stat. Without Kornackiâs signature pants and personable character, he would be another data scientist behind a desk without a lucrative âfour-year, multimillion-dollarâ TV deal.
Emma Chamberlain
Emma is very much so, but at the same time, not the classic teenager. She is unafraid to speak her mind and thatâs what makes her so easy and fun to get along with. Her 10m+ followers and YouTube fans feel attached to her lifestyle through her openess and vulnerability. There are hundreds of YouTubers her age and younger that produce daily vlogs showcasing their extravagent lives and personality in an inauthentic clickbait way. Yet Emma isnât afraid to tell and spill the truth.
Alongside her YouTube Channel that sheâs grown to millions of loyal fans, she is the face of many luxury brands and retailers walking the runway at the Met Gala. She leveraged her audience from YouTube and social media to build a successful coffee brand and launched a podcast all around her personality and cool relatable authentic style that is hard to find on superficial social media these days.
Al Roker
Heâs not just any weather man. He adds a fun light hearted curious spin to cloudy storms and has been doing so for decades. His personality is irreplaceable and he strives to leave a smile on millions of Americansâ faces every morning. He has flourished thanks to his unique energetic personality and classic fashion taste which have transformed his brand in and out of the camera on the Today show to his podcast, cooking adventures, and all kinds of diverse ventures he embarks upon at his age. He is certainly young at heart.
These are just a few folks that come to mind that merge business and personality seamlessly. It hasnât just worked for those in front of the camera. It works for everything we use. Ask yourself, why do you visit that specific coffee shop every morning on your way to work or buy more sustainable clothing? More often than not, itâs the experience and someone that sparks those feelings of wanting to come back.
I started watching the Today show since the pandemic began every morning and till this day, Al is someone I look forward to watching to break down the bipolar Northeast weather.Â
Each time thereâs some game, and there is always something on, I know to tune into Kornacki for a good laugh and to test my March Madness bracket. And last but not least, when I feel down or getting the flurries of envy as a normal teen, I think of Emma and realize Iâm never alone!
Sometimes the easiest thing you can do is just be yourself. Not pretending to be overly professional or cool. It will open doors you never thought existed and relieve stress on both ends. You wonât need to pretend to be someone you are not. It is exhausting.
Everyone is special and unique in their own ways. Go applaud yourself. It may be the best thing you can do to influence the world and build your brandâs legacy.
Behind every business are people.