📖 Boss Diaries | Entry #2

For a while, I’ve been wanting to write about a trend that I notice.

The first Q people ask me is about an immediate challenge.

My Q back to them helps us discover the root cause. This is the auto-consultant part of my brain that never sleeps. 

😂 I don't even do it on purpose anymore. 

When I’m a little old lady, I want to remember 2 instances. The second is even more impactful than the first. 

Someone says,

"Ana, can you help me gain confidence for this presentation?"

"Absolutely, let's look at your slides."

3m. later I'm thinking...

The presentation feels awkward because the slides need help. Both the visuals and the verbiage. Who is the audience? What's the one thing they should remember when the last slide ends? Is the story organized logically? Informative? Proof cited? Entertaining? 

Then (with permission, of course 😊), we start moving things around. 

The presenter tells me they need more confidence.

But from the audience's perspective...the story is jumbled.

Boom.

Problem solved. Confidence achieved.

The next read-through is magic.

Or someone asks me to review a UX launch that's 5 days away and not landing right.

Everyone's talking conversions. Click-through rates. Traffic.

Perfect.

"Can I see the product?" 60 sec. later...

"Wait..." This isn't a product problem, it's a communication problem.

Their competitor has 100,000+ users. They have 1,200. Basically the same SaaS.

People aren't refusing to buy, they can’t understand what they're reading.

That's a completely different problem. And that's part of my job that I love.

The risk mitigation. Leadership intent. The brand voice. Enterprise continuity.

That tiny little...

"Wait..."

Because everything changes after that.

People tell me that I solve problems quickly. 

IDK honestly.

I think I just fall in love with the question that brings the high-octane collab that comes next. 

Maybe that's why I ask such strange questions.

Not 20, usually 3… Mmm-sometimes just 1.

The right question makes the answer arrive.

....

Maybe that's why leadership, marketing, communication, exec. presence, pronunciation, networking, never feel like separate topics to me. They're all in the same family. 

"How do we help another human understand our intent?"

Everything else… Just the vehicle.

If you made it to the end here... yes. I absolutely look at numbers.

I just use them for spotting patterns.

Your competitor's… and your own.

Time for more matcha now that I gotcha on the same page in my book, well... my diary. 😉🍵

Back to my next meeting! 😊