How finding your voice in business makes you stand out (Lessons f

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My dad told me I was quite the chatty and expressive one as a child. I always had something to say about everything. However, for some reason, I stopped being chatty when I was about 5 years old, withdrew into a 'shell' and no one was able to pull me out of that 'shell' till, maybe, quite recently I've tried to get to the bottom of what led to me withdrawing into a 'shell', but unfortunately or maybe fortunately (Lol), I'm predominantly left brained so I really do not remember or have any clue why I stopped being chatty or expressive at that age. Thankfully, constant exposure to knowledge and diverse experiences have helped me on my journey to find my voice To be honest, I'm still evolving but i'm absolutely glad to be on this journey. This was one of the reasons I was excited to listen to Fela Durotoye teach about 'finding your voice' this week. It's been quite a journey for me and I meet a lot of entrepreneurs on the same journey so i'm glad I have the opportunity to share the key lessons I learnt from that session. I'll share three (3) really important lessons that hit home for me; 1. What is your voice? Contrary to how the word is often used, your voice is not just the spoken sound you make to be heard. It's way much more than that. Your voice is your message. It is the expression ( e.g. business idea) you make through a medium (platform) in order to achieve a desired outcome (impact) Finding your voice is about coming to a clear understanding of what you care about, then finding a way to infuse your work with the best of who you are so that it resonates in a unique way with your audience. 2.Why is finding your voice in business important? In business today, competition is fierce and keeps growing. A search on Google for an accountant, for instance, generates 149,000,000 results; a search for financial adviser generates a whopping 15,700,000 results. Have you ever wondered how you can stand out in a crowd of greys?  You know, have your name/ business profile stand out in a random search for best fit for a particular job or business transaction? Well, you can by infusing your deep no lies-no-frills authentic self into your work and business. It will humanize your business and make your customers feel like you are solving their problem. For a lot of us, it's easy to fall into the trap where, instead of heeding intuition and taking the risk of being authentic, we want to do what is expected, play it safe by taking the tried-and-true route, and trying not to stand out. Unfortunately, as a result, our impact is limited, and we may not fully experience the joy that comes from pouring our unique and authentic self into business. Your voice offers you the competitive advantage you need to stand out and attract the right people to you. Steve Jobs is a classic example. Even in death, his voice still speaks. 3. How to find and express your voice? There are three (3) really important steps to finding your voice in business.

• You must have a strong sense of business identity and purpose
• You need to craft a vision consistent with your identity and purpose
• and build distinct mastery of the skills and platforms required for expressing your voice

To express your voice effectively, use a platform you naturally own or currently use. No need to start over. Do you speak eloquently, write effortlessly, network with passion? Stay on your lane. Build from where you are. I hope this helps you set out on the journey to find your voice, develop it and deploy it on the right platforms to stand out. because doing anything less than that is not a life worth living. How do you plan to find your voice? Click here to share with me. I would love to help. Happy Easter! Tomie