Advocates and Adversaries

The other day my wife and I were discussing parenting. We have three young kids, so it’s a frequent topic between us.

She brought up an idea she’d read recently that when disciplining and correcting our children, we can choose to either be adversarial in how we approach them, or we can choose to be an advocate for them and model the behavior we want for them.

After our talk ended, those two words—adversary and advocate—kept pestering me.

I realized that those two contrasting ideas come into play in much more than parenting. They are everywhere around us.

I know many business people who are driven by the need to crush their competition. Business is a game, and it has only one winner.

The most important people in the lives of people like that are their adversaries.

I know other business people who are driven by a sense of compassion and a desire to create things that will help others.

For them, the most important people in their lives are the advocates surrounding them; it’s the people who share their ideals and encourage them to keep going.

In every area of our lives, we can choose to approach it with a negative or a positive mindset.

Your marketing can take on this worldview too. Don’t just think about your website copy or your emails to clients. Think about the way you present yourself on social media and the tone you use there.

You can choose adversarial marketing, where you point out your competitor’s flaws and attack them to convince prospects that you’re the right choice. You can choose to complain and belittle others. You can constantly talk about what you don’t like.

Or, you can choose to be an advocate in your marketing, where you put your focus solely on the people you want to serve, and how you can speak value into their lives.

The question becomes, in every interaction we have and in every communication we send out: Which side am I on?

I know which one I would rather choose.

Advocates > Adversaries

— Johnny Sandquist 📖 (@johnellert) May 27, 2020

 

 

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Featured Image: Photo by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash