Notes from the Bar: Defining your Elevator Pitch

Recently I have been going out on my own to recapture the freedom I used to feel when I would go on work trips overseas. It would be so easy to get a seat at the bar of a nice restaurant in London, New York, or Paris if you were on your own, so I have been trying to recreate this experience here in Joburg. I have also become a bit of a hermit since lockdown and really need to stop living in yoga pants all the time. Thus, a new series – notes from the bar. I have a piece I wrote after my first outing, but I don’t feel ready to share that one yet. However, this past weekend I went out and got a good one that I hope will be useful to some of you.

First, I must share the single-woman-at-a-bar seating strategy – especially if you are there and completely uninterested in being picked up by anyone. If the bar is packed, pick a spot that is towards the end of the bar but has a seat on either side of you. If the bar is reasonably empty, pick a spot in the middle, and, once again, empty seats on either side of you. Place your handbag or jacket in the seat next to you and bring out a notebook or laptop to take up some bar space. This way, you will usually be left alone for most of the evening, and either the bartenders take pity on you for being alone (shame on them!) or just chat to you occasionally because they’re nice individuals. Also take advantage of this because they will keep your seat protected and not let anyone move you around or further down the bar pecking order. If they push you down the bar pecking order, the tip is not as generous as it would be. Also, some safety tips: always let someone know where you are; keep an eye on your drink at all times, no matter how fancy the establishment; and if you’re drinking alcohol, leave the moment you feel slightly tipsy even if you’re having a lovely time and would like to stay.

Now for story time…

I had gone to the bar of a very popular restaurant in Joburg to brainstorm some ideas for this week’s blog. I had put down three by the time a couple sat down next to me at the bar (my bar strategy had failed after an hour). I recognised the man and was sure it was someone I had met with my former boss a few years ago. The owner of the restaurant came over to have a chat with them and I heard him mention his name so, confirmed. The individual is a key player in the private and public sectors. The networker in me couldn’t resist and I rudely interrupted their date and reintroduced myself. Kudos to them for politely taking the interruption. After explaining how we knew each other, he asked me the question that I had not had to answer since I stopped ‘working’ and now dreaded: “so what do you do now?”

Panic!

I fumbled some answers about the consultancy and that I had then chosen to take a sabbatical.

Follow up: “so what can you do?”

Panic!

“Well, I’m a generalist so I can do a lot of things – strategic planning, communications, I’m currently training in Futures Thinking”.

I actually wanted to crawl under the bar at that point because I am so much more than that, but I just did not articulate it. We had a very pleasant exchange afterward about universities (something I can talk about) but future/present me is kicking myself for not having that interesting elevator pitch or being able to articulate my value.

Lessons

Despite the embarrassment, panic, and inability to answer these questions confidently, it was a learning experience. I had gone to the bar that evening to plot out some ideas for the blog on exactly this kind of theme. By the next morning, the three ideas turned out to be two important lessons for myself, and maybe for you too.

Lesson 1

When I started plotting out ideas for the blog this week it was about having to let go of what has always defined me. I am a recovering workaholic. I have always defined my self-worth by work. It took me a full month of writing this blog before I felt comfortable posting it to my professional network on LinkedIn because, in part, I felt embarrassed and like I was not being productive in the traditional work sense.

When I was asked the question on Saturday “so what do you do now?” my answer should have been “I live” because that’s what I do now. I have had to adjust my thinking about productivity. It always used to be tied to success in terms of a career path, salary, and constantly being work productive. Even when I was doing my PhD, it was work – researching, writing my thesis, and eventually leading to a career in something. My previous role was also such a defining job (title not so much), but I felt people respected me for the position I held and the work that I did. I didn’t do anything else but work.

When we are asked what we do, we always default to our work but never to what we do to live or our passions outside of work. If I think about it, I am no less productive now than I was when I was working. I just do things that bring me more joy at the moment. I can spend up to two hours on yoga a day, my Futures Thinking course can take up to three hours and then lead to the spin-off of two hours of research into the future of work or food or urban spaces, oh and then there’s my passion for Formula 1 that probably gets at least half an hour, if not more, a day plus several hours on race weekends. On top of this, there are the hours in the kitchen that I enjoy spending coming up with new recipes while I work on blog posts, job applications, coursework, or my language courses. I now have a life/work balance as opposed to a work/life balance. It might not pay the bills right now, but it is far more enriching.

Lesson 2

The elevator pitch is important. You never know who you are going to bump into at a bar. Yes, you might be content with your life trajectory and the path that you’re setting for yourself but there is always a possible lead to something new. My current plan is not to stay in SA but I missed a golden opportunity to sell myself to an important person here and, more importantly, to practice articulating my value.

I haven’t mastered my elevator pitch. Actually, I don’t have an elevator pitch yet if I’m honest. I keep thinking I do but clearly, I don’t if I wasn’t able to do it at the drop of a hat on Saturday evening. I am very good at selling others but not myself.

Since the bar encounter, I keep thinking back to Alessandra Wall’s LinkedIn Learning course on Articulating Your Value. The last time I referred to it, it was about skills but this time it’s about talking about your passions. Right now, I’m passionate about living my best life but let’s be real and think about the audience. The audience in this case was a potential work connection that I hadn’t come across in a while. In this transitional phase of my life, I suppose I would articulate that I am a writer who is passionate about helping others unlock their potential professionally (and personally). At the same time, that is only one aspect of me. Another aspect is a strategist and futurist who is really fascinated by the future of work and how we will possibly move to hyflex models of working for knowledge workers. Or the person that is really excited to see the race strategy for the Miami GP this weekend – a completely new track with a fake marina! Now not all of these are relevant to the elevator pitch but when you can speak passionately about something, then you can hold someone’s attention for longer. That is the key to defining your elevator pitch.

The May Plan is accepting that I am no longer defined by my work. Wow, that is a difficult adjustment for me – even just to write it down. It is also to learn to articulate my value more sensibly; developing that elevator pitch so that it is always ready for that unexpected encounter at the bar.

Alex the Generalist