Finding your voice, owning your space
In our third Leaders in Conversation event, we heard from Penny Lee, Brand Directoress about why it’s important to find your niche, ditch the alpha-ness and power up with people who get you
To find your voice and own your space means being who you are, listening to that and then bringing it into your business. We often feel that our personal lives and our authentic selves are quite separate to our professional personas but I think now more than ever, it shouldn’t be. It means creating a community. It’s about doing things that you love for people that you care about on a daily basis. We spend so much of our time at work — is it enough to only do it for the money? I don’t think so.
Having a niche is important. I understand why some people think its better to be a “jack of all trades” as it gives you a wider customer base, but you can actually serve people better if you go niche. It can feel a little counterintuitive and really brave to do it, because there will be people who won’t want what you do. However, you can’t please everyone and if you try to, life will end up being one big compromise. Instead, if you go niche, it may be narrow but its deep. You are really answering someone’s problem and speaking directly to them. This builds loyalty, you’re building a community and you’re becoming more irreplaceable. It’s not a price war. It’s not a next fad. You are the expert and people come to you for that. The more you concentrate on your niche: the more you get to hear why people want what you do and what they need from it. This information will help you get better at your niche and build a virtuous cycle.
Start with the smallest audience you need. How many customers do you really need? It might only be 10 or 20 or 1,000 but if you’re trying to go for 100,000, that’s a lot of money wasted trying to reach a lot of people who aren’t even interested in what you’re doing. Whereas if you really know what you’re doing, you can target what you spend money and time on, while at the same time making sure you get better at what you do. That doesn’t mean you can’t scale up later.
Working on something every day that you love with people that you care about will make you happy. If you find a niche, then it’s really something that you’re in to — and with this comes your values, your way of working and spending time with people you like. It’s wonderful because you get to work and develop an area you’re really passionate about.
You don’t need to go on a spirit quest to find that niche. What do you enjoy? What would you do if money wasn’t a thing? What change do you want to make, what problem do you want to solve and what legacy do you want to leave? Observe yourself and ask other people: what am I really good at, what’s my skill set, what lights my fire? It’s always about doing and finding out.
You start with small steps rather than making the big leap. A great place to start is researching your niche, their problems and where you can find your target audience. If you’re not reading about the area you think you’re interested in, and if you’re not finding out about people or making a big effort to get involved, then maybe it’s not your thing. There’s nothing wrong with that but you have to be really honest with yourself. Write down your values, define your niche and define what it stands for.
Finding your purpose gives you more confidence. It’s about being yourself and working on things that you enjoy, which gives working this way a lot of strength. It makes it easier to say no to things. I’ve always been a bit of a “yes woman” but I realized that when I say yes, it takes time away from me being able to do other things. So if I take on a client that doesn’t fit or a project that’s not just right, I know that will take me away from the stuff I should be doing. So I try and say no more often now. It is something I’ve had to learn and practice. I still catch myself saying yes, it’s an old habit. Remember to look at the benefits of saying no. We always worry about what we’re going to lose but you may be surprised about what you will also gain.
Finding your voice and owning your space isn’t just something for business owners; employees can benefit from this too. If you’re in a leadership role, you’re in control of creating a working culture and building your team so they are able to find their own voices. If you lead with human values and purpose, then you probably have a great team. However, it’s not always easy, particularly if you work for a company where the culture is challenging. If you’re somewhere where you can’t feel you can speak up about what you believe in and work in a way you want to do then it will impact on your ability to succeed. Find your allies, or find a way that you can start to carve out your values, even if it’s just gradually. Do you have a mentor in that company or can you speak to your boss really openly about it and say, these are my values, I want to start really bringing this into my work, I think it will make my work better because of a, b, c, d. It’s brave to speak out about your values and but it genuinely pays off. And if they don’t care about that, I would question whether it’s the right company for you. I know this is easier said than done, but you should be looking for a place that shares the same values as you and where the culture allows you to be yourself because then you can absolutely thrive.
It can be challenging for women to assert themselves in male-dominated industries. I worked in the creative industries for over 20 years and it very much felt like I was the only female there. It was like I had to close down part of myself. I remember when I went to see Mary Portas at the Ilkley Literature Festival and I cried afterwards. She said that she got to 50 and realized she just been alpha-ing it up throughout her career. I realized that’s what I’ve done as well, I’d had to be someone else, I’d had to toughen up and Alpha up. This just felt wrong. So women need to make the change they want to see, find the right clients, find the people, get collectives together — collaborate. There are some amazing people, doing amazing things out there and we’re better together.
Getting rid of some of the alpha-ness is what makes a good leader. Creating those spaces, listening, learning, not being defensive, not being ignorant and just battling on any way. People sometimes think that soft skills are bad for business, but that time is changing. It’s all about collaboration, flexible working. Leading from the back, not micro-managing or being aggressive.
My own inner critic is horrendous. I’m winning at the minute, but it’s not always the case. I’ve had a massive burn out, which led to depression. I was quite a confident person before then, but it absolutely floored me. I didn’t know how to write an email, to respond to anything, speak to anyone. I kind of clawed my way out. Eventually I would start going to things by myself. My suggestion is that you have to push yourself a bit, get some good people around you, and practice using your voice. So be kind on yourself. Give yourself some time, push yourself sometimes, and listen to yourself. You know, we don’t have the tools to do everything and just because you’re a leader, it doesn’t mean you can do everything. So ask for help, admit that you don’t know everything. Is there someone in your team that could help you?
Not everyone will be on your side. You can tell if someone’s open or if someone’s just going to waste your time and drain your energy. You can’t change everything and everyone. There are some people for whom you are not going to make a difference and it’s okay to walk away. You’ve got to protect your mental health. It takes a lot of strength. Other people might not agree with everything you say and do, but they’re open. It can be good to spend time with those people. You have to bring more of the good ones together and create the positive power to override the negative parts. That’s what we’re seeing at the moment with the amount of people on the streets for the Black Lives Matter in America, for example. And that’s what will win in the end. You don’t all have to be doing the same thing, but they’ll share your values or you have some connection in some other way. Power up with people that get you.
Connect with Penny Lee via Twitter or Instagram
To watch the full interview, visit the Leaders in Conversation Facebook group
The next event in the Leaders in Conversation series is on Wednesday 24th June, The Human Workplace. For more information and tickets https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-human-workplace-tickets-110087950022
