Welcome to The Iconic Edge.
This week I'm building my website. Or, I was planning to.
In the last edition, I told you the website was next on my list.
Not the full site, just the home page. Because that is all you really need at the start, and it takes the most time.
This wasn't about the design, that was already there. It was the page copy. The words.
I know The Iconic Edge methodology inside out. I know what I believe about the future of the working world, and I'm completely behind it.
So the challenge wasn't figuring out what I wanted to say. It was getting clear on HOW I wanted to say it.
Refusing to settle for something that sounds polished but average. I wanted to land my message with impact on that page.
For it to be 100% me.
But I just couldn't get it there. Not at that moment.
So I stopped. To take a step back and think more deeply about it.
To be honest, I'm slightly annoyed with myself (I loathe missing a deadline I’ve set myself).
But I'd rather be a week late than have my website carrying a version that's just doesn’t feel like me.
I told you that I’d share even when things did not go to plan. Well, this is one of those times.
The importance of your perspective
So why am I talking to you about building a website when you are in a job and (I'm guessing) currently have zero intention of building one of your own today?
The website isn't the point.
The stage is the point, and you already have one.
Yours might be your LinkedIn profile, your CV, your work bio, or the internal directory people skim before they meet you.
It's anywhere your name is written down and somebody forms a view of you without you in the room. They all need you to write about who you are. Which is harder than it seems.
Especially now.
I watch the data on this closely. The reason I am so obsessed with getting the tone right on my own stage is because AI-generated professional writing is now free and everywhere.
Anyone can create a competent website, LinkedIn profile or bio document with a prompt and a little bit of AI know-how.
You know I love AI and it can help your productivity in many ways. But, what AI can't produce is your actual original conviction.
Your unique perspective.
Your slightly weird, wonderful, human way of putting things.
The recent Edelman Trust Barometer backed this up: Trust is bleeding out of institutions and pouring into individuals. Specifically the ones who are brave enough to say what they actually think.
What does your current Stage say about you?
Go and read your own LinkedIn 'About' section, CV profile or another place that talks about you..
Read out loud, not in your head, because your ear catches what your eye forgives.
Ask yourself whether a single line could only have been written by you.
'Strategic leader'. 'Passionate about developing new products'. 'Proven track record of delivering results in fast-paced environments'.
Let's face it, we've all written something like this before.
The problem isn't that they're badly written. They're perfectly well written.
That's exactly what's wrong with them, because well-written alone is now what makes you blend in.
Strike through any sentence you would never say to a person sitting opposite you.
Then, ask yourself two questions:
When somebody finishes reading it, what do they actually think about you? Anyone can list facts. But facts only tell people where you've been. They don't tell anyone what you'd be like to work with, or what you'd argue for passionately in a meeting.
This one takes longer, but it's worth the time. What do you believe about your industry that most people in it don't? A perspective you have been wanting to share. A thing you've said in the kitchen after the meeting but never in it.
That isn't just a line for your profile. That's the thing your whole profile should be built on.
Reply and tell me the line you see everywhere on LinkedIn that means absolutely nothing (I'm collecting them).
Next week: the website homepage. With the words exactly how I want them.
All my best,
Nichola
P.S. One day soon this will be more than a newsletter. It'll be a room full of women who saw the shift early and built for it. If that's someone you know, send this her way. We rise together.Nichola