Mary Schmidt Marketing Troubleshooter

In Beyond Buzz Lois Kelly talks about “alpha scaredy cats.” I’d prefer to call them cowardly lions because they have such a roar, but one little girl in twinkly shoes can send ‘em running for cover. (As a “girl” I know this. Actually, you don’t even need the twinkly shoes.)

As Lois defines the term, these cats are people who are articulate, persuasive, domineering, often charming, and command respect because of their overt self-confidence. But underneath that smooth veneer, they’re risk averse and self-doubting, particularly of people in their own organization; they think outsiders are smarter.

Cowardly lions will suck all the life out of an idea before you complete your first sentence. So much for brainstorming - everybody shuts up and down. Might as well turn out the lights and hit the yellow brick road to work for da man.

Two examples of that - um - sucking from Lois:
“We can’t say that.”
“Some prospects might not like us talking about that.”

and my additions:
“We didn’t do it that way at….”
“It’ll never work.”
“We’ve never done that.”
“We don’t have enough (time, people, money)”
“It’d cost too much money.”
“They’ll never buy from us.”
“They wouldn’t be interested.”
“I don’t like it.” (So? The lion ain’t the target market.)

Don’t let this happen to you. You can smile ever so sweetly and move right along (no heel clicking required.) Let the poor llon roar (preferably in another room) while you keep working. You never know, that lion could end up surprising you - and coming through when you most need him or her somewhere down the road - just as the lion did in The Wizard of Oz.

Related Posts:
Leaders? Or Just Pushy People With Opinions?
Start-Up Success: People Before Plan
Start-Up Suicide: Mine is Bigger Than Yours
Start-Up Suicide: Fear of Heights
Start-Up Suicide: What Do You Think, Honey?

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Tags: entrepreneur sanity check, start-up financing, The Loan Fund