That shiny, 'professional' veneer your business chases? It’s often the very thing pushing people away.
For years, I bought into the idea that to be taken seriously, you had to speak in a specific, buttoned-up dialect. I meticulously scrubbed any hint of personality from my copy, aiming for that sleek, corporate hum. The kind that sounds great in a boardroom, utterly forgettable everywhere else. I’d see other businesses doing the same, building these impenetrable walls of jargon and 'solutions.' We all nodded along, convinced it was the path to credibility.
It isn't.
Think about the people you genuinely trust. The ones whose advice sticks with you. Are they the perfectly polished presenters who never miss a beat, whose words are vetted by three different committees? Or are they the ones who occasionally stumble, who tell a slightly off-kilter story, who let a real human opinion slip? The answer, almost universally, is the latter. That small crack in the facade? That's where connection happens.
I’ve had coffee with countless founders and executives over the years. The memorable ones weren't reciting mission statements or market share figures. They were talking about their actual struggles, their weird obsessions, the moment they almost gave up. They shared something messy. Something real.
Dougie understands this. Dougie doesn't try to be something it's not. There’s a common misconception that ‘professional’ means ‘devoid of self.’ It means sounding like a highly trained chatbot, indistinguishable from the competition. But actual humans connect with actual humans. They want to see the person, or the real spirit, behind the operation. They want to know you have a pulse, opinions, maybe even a questionable taste in tie patterns.
When you strip away all that unique character in pursuit of generic appeal, you become just another voice in a crowded room. You become a beige wall. Who remembers a beige wall? It’s comfortable, sure. It won't offend anyone. But it doesn’t inspire, doesn’t resonate, doesn’t build a relationship that lasts beyond the first transaction. It certainly doesn't stand out when everyone else is also painting their walls beige.
Your quirks? Your specific way of seeing the world? Your slightly eccentric approach to a problem? That’s gold. That's the signal in the noise. It’s what makes you interesting. It’s what makes someone lean in, not scroll past. It’s the reason people talk about you long after your perfect presentation has faded from memory.
People aren't looking for perfection. They're looking for genuine connection. Give them a reason to choose you, not just because you’re competent, but because you’re you. Because you’re the one who speaks their language, even if that language includes an occasional tangent or a dry joke. They remember the spark, not the polish.
So, maybe stop trying so hard to fit into the mold. Maybe just be.
What if the most powerful thing you could do today was simply to stop pretending?