Paul Worthington wrote an article titled Where Are All the T-Shirts? for his Off Kilter newsletter, volume 177.
« There’s a story I was once told by a former boss, which is my favorite imposter story because it changed the way I think about it… The client team flew in from their European HQ, and everyone turned up suited and booted the next day… “Everyone here is in a suit. We don’t need people in suits. We already have all the suits we need. We hired you for the T-shirts; where are they?” At this point, my former boss issued himself a mental “Doh!”, whipped off his tie (claiming it was the last time he ever wore one), went out of the room, upstairs to where people worked, grabbed six of the scruffiest-looking people he saw, and told them they were now in a workshop with the aforementioned private bank. And, sure enough, with the requisite number of T-shirts in the room, the client team apparently felt more relaxed, and a great meeting was had. »
« When clients hire us, they don’t want to hire people who are like themselves. They have enough of that already. Instead, they want an outside perspective; they want a different kind of expertise; they want creativity and imagination. And, perhaps most of all, they want the metaphorical T-shirts. »
« Once you realize that a large portion of the value you provide is because you are unlike who the client already is, it brings forward a whole new liberation around how you engage with them. For example, for a long time, I thought you had to be a spreadsheet ninja to deal with clients who already were, but I now realize that you don’t. If you could solve the problem with a spreadsheet, the client would’ve already solved it because they already have spreadsheet ninjas coming out of their ears. As a result, when I work with clients around strategy, I’m pretty upfront about saying not to expect a lot of spreadsheets from me. Instead, I ask the internal people who run the spreadsheets questions about the data they may not have thought to ask before. »
« The more different from my clients I looked… the more it seemed to work. While I didn’t realize it at the time, I was communicating my imposter status, which is exactly what clients wanted. They weren’t looking for suit-wearing, clean-cut, preppy consultants… Instead, they were looking for different ideas, new ways of looking at and thinking about their business, and expertise in an arena deeply rooted in a creativity they did not have. »
« So, if you’re an adviser to others, consultant, or agency person, just remember that imposter syndrome isn’t something to be afraid of. It’s why you’re in the room. So, embrace it, exploit it, and use it to your advantage. »
« I had the good fortune of being invited to the Unicorny podcast with Dom Hawes, which was fun to record and hopefully fun to watch. (I never watch or listen to myself, so I don’t know). The two episodes are here and here if you’re interested. We had a nice chat about marketing as a trade [based on practical experience] (my position) rather than as a profession (the misguided goal of many). »
Articles of Interest 