Entrepreneurs often like to share a hero’s journey origin story along the lines of, “I’m not a natural. Nothing came easy for me. It’s all about work. Luck had nothing to do with it.”
A recent article in Inc (reported in Inc This Morning) discussed an article published eight years ago. The article’s author, Jeff Haden, suggests that hiring managers tend to give more weight to natural talent than to hard work.
As reported in the Inc article, the researchers conducted two studies.
In one study, participants listened to a piece of music. Half were told the musician was a natural; half were told he had worked hard to become a professional. Listeners gave higher ratings to the natural, predicting more success and suggesting he had greater talent.
A second study with a similar design featured a pitch from an entrepreneur. Half the participants were told he was a natural at business; the other half that he’d have to work hard to get there.
So does that mean you talk about how lucky you were?
Jeff Haden, the article’s author, says there’s a middle ground. Talk about your natural talent and then say you capitalized on your luck and talent to get where you are. So when you tell your origin story – if you do! – make sure it’s not all about how hard you worked.
That makes sense for these reasons.
(1) It’s a more plausible story.
Every successful business owner I know has worked hard, at least at some point in their business life. But every business owner also brings natural gifts. When they deny those gifts, they seem to lack self-awareness.
For example, successful business owners have an intuitive sense of what their audience wants. I compare it to perfect pitch among musicians. It’s a gift that you can’t buy with money or hard work.
Successful Role Model archetypes know how to relate their personal lives to their audiences. They instinctively share stories that build relationships. They don’t get carried away with stories of that cute thing their cat did, which is what I might do. They talk about families – real or imaginary – and simple things like gardening.
Successful Celebrities know what their audiences admire. A trip to Bali? Or a solo trip to see ancient ruins?
The Inc article talks about a study involving musicians. The article noted that musicians tended to respond more favorably to someone with natural talent. They say hard work is more important, but they favor the natural.
The reason may be simple. Certain qualities are innate, such as perfect pitch. If you can’t hear the difference between major and minor chords, you may be able to learn, but you may not. Without hard work, these innate qualities won’t take you far, so you could say hard work is more important. But it’s a case of “necessary but not sufficient,” not “more important.”
(2) “Worked hard to get here” stories make listeners feel exhausted.
When I interviewed Business Therapist Nicole Lewis-Keeber on my podcast, we talked about the impact of listening to stories. When you hear a story about trauma, you can be emotionally affected. You’re imagining yourself on the scene.
Similarly, I suspect we can feel exhausted as we listen to someone talk about working hard.
Have you ever caught yourself saying, “I’m exhausted just hearing you talk about what you did?”
Maybe you’re hearing someone train for a race or prepare for a grueling career in medicine or law.
So if you work with other businesses, your potential clients will be thinking, “I don’t want to work this hard.” A more effective promise might be, “We’ll start with your gifts and build on them.”
Relatedly, let’s say you’re a business owner. You’re evaluating tax preparers. One talks about struggling to get through classes; another talks about loving the numbers and sailing through the exams. I know which one I’d choose.
I feel exhausted just listening to someone talk about hard work. Even if they turned out to be great, as a client I don’t want to bother someone who’s not a natural. I’d feel guilty making them do more work!
(3) Hard work and talent are correlated. It’s rarely a case of one or the other.
People tend to enjoy working at things that come easily to them. If you’re a natural driver, you’ll enjoy long drives. If you’re a natural athlete you’ll gravitate to challenging workouts.
It IS true that you often – but not always – enjoy things after you’ve done them a while. I tolerate yoga classes more than I used to, but I still find myself watching the clock and wishing we had shorter class times…and that’s after years of class. On the other hand, I really like working out with weights and time flies in my barre classes. It’s no wonder I get more approving looks from instructors in barre than in yoga.
So what’s the strategic way to use this information when you tell a story?
When you’re choosing a business or career, start with your gifts. Tell a story truthfully: “This comes easily to me. I loved it so I worked harder. And even today…”
You’re being honest. You might wish you can teach anyone to do what you did, but that’s not realistic.
