Yesterday I introduced the new Feminine Entrepreneurial Model of Business. You could also call it a better way of living; you don't actually have to start a business, or own one, to participate.
The paradigm of competition of the FEMB differs from the traditional, Taylor-imbued way of doing business. Not that Mr. Division-of-Labor Taylor was wrong, his innovation helped bring us to where we are and the incredible productivity we all enjoy. But now we get to be productive, and experience work-life at a more fulfilling level.
Old Model says Compete for Customers Based on Value.
Make it better, make it cheaper, make it do more things faster. That is what the traditional model instructs. And it's certainly necessary to offer value, but it's more rewarding to do it from a deeper level of being who you really are.
New Feminine Model says Attract Customers through Trust and Authenticity.
Mixonian has written on relationship-based marketing before; that's one perspective of the new model. The way the economy is developing, trust has become indispensable for winning clients. A client who trusts you will work with you, and even pay more than the supposed "best value" in town.
Trust is built upon authenticity; people can sense what you're really about, even without seeing you. Pretending to be interested in something that you're not, will come to the surface in one way or another.
In both of her books, Chellie Campbell relates how she lost her best client because the client picked up on the fact that she had lost interest in her bookkeeping business. It's not that she told him anything, or stopped showing up at work; he simply knew. Now she runs a different business.
At my mastermind coaching week-end, this truth made me extremely uncomfortable. Pretending to want to be a tenure-track professor fools no one, and leads no where. Either you learn a new perspective on your job so that you perceive value in it, appreciate it, apart from the pay, or you change employers.
Do you see how this affects everyone, not just business owners?
Even if you work in a real company and get a real deposit in your bank every 2 weeks, you really are in business for yourself. Your employer is your client, even if you work in education or the not-for-profit world.
While showing up for work is required to stay employed, it's far from sufficient. And working yourself to a thread, i.e. burn-out, isn't sustainable either.
According to the old molel, employees get paid solely based on their production, or the appearance of production -- looking busy even when you're not.
In the new model, seeing your job as a way to express yourself, connect with others in a meaningful way and add value from a standpoint of being yourself, is the ultimate job security.
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