TZL 1287

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O P I N I O N

Be yourself and win

In business development, many missteps can be traced back to a lack of understanding and acceptance of who we are.

T he late great Chris Cornell wrote, “You may win or lose, but to be yourself is all that you can do,” on his band Audioslave’s hit song, “Be Yourself.” Upon release, the rock tune connected on a deeply personal level with people around the world. At our core, we know that being true to ourselves is the first step in growth and true transformation. Professional services firms could benefit from taking a page from Mr. Cornell.

Javier Suarez POP MARKETING

presented to them. The issue is not if we can do the work, but rather have we done this before and are we the right firm to do so? Are we going after care- fully groomed leads or are we implementing a shot- gun approach? Beyond that, if we are developing or at professional services firms can be traced back to a lack of understanding and acceptance of who we are.” “Most minor and major missteps in the course of business development

Most minor and major missteps in the course of business development at professional services firms can be traced back to a lack of understanding and acceptance of who we are. This goes beyond the crucial and often forgotten SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) analysis into the deeper territory of our collective consciousness – essentially a living, breathing pillar of our culture. Marketing professionals are in a unique position to steer conversations into business-savvy transactions – who are we and what do we want to accomplish? ❚ ❚ AEC professionals are problem solvers by nature. This presents a wealth of positive junctures but can also prove to be a challenging trait. For starters, there is a primal urgency to decipher any dilemma

See JAVIER SUAREZ, page 4

THE ZWEIG LETTER March 11, 2019, ISSUE 1287

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