“I don’t get any better than this.”
How the Signature Leadership Work idea came to me in 2011 and led me to developing my first flagship programme
If you have spent fifteen to twenty years developing insight, wisdom and experience, developing your flagship programme is one of the most powerful things you
The Work We Were Born To Do was published in 1999 is far more recognisable than I am! People know that book title more than they know my name. For fifteen years it was my Signature Leadership Work, although over that period, the idea of Signature Work wasn’t even in my consciousness.
The Signature Work idea really formed in my mind from a pivotal experience I had in 2011, twelve years after that first book was published and after twenty one years as a speaker and coach.
I had done quite well in developing a brand and a business before, but especially after The Work We Were Born To Do was published. I had accumulated experience, wisdom and insight that other people were finding valuable. I wanted to pass on what I’d learned to other speakers, coaches and writers so they could blossom and go onto enrich the lives of the people they could reach.
I felt inspired which is usually a sign that The Muse was inviting me to collaborate on a project with her. So I co-conceived, designed, developed and a flagship programme called The Messages You Were Born To Share. It was the vehicle for me to structure and share what I had learned at that point in my life and career.
It was a six-month programme adventure and journey to guide people to be powerful messengers in their world. It was the first flagship programme I had created and delivered.
The adventure consisted of 24 modules, four modules each day for one day a month over six months delivered on one Saturday a month. Each module was around each of around 90 minutes. I was thrilled that forty people signed up. There was an optional deep dive day on the Sunday for a smaller group who wanted coaching and to go deeper into Saturday’s topics. A dozen of the 40 enrolled on the deep dive day.
It turned out to be the most successful programme I had ever created.
The goal of the six months was to help people with a message to share. I, along with a team of experts who were also friends, would help them refine, articulate and know to share their messages and deliver them through writing, speaking, coaching and broadcasting.
Effectively the programme would help them to start or supercharge their own personal development business.
I devised, produced and hosted the whole programme, I guess I was Educational Director. I also delivered around 60% of the 24 modules and then bought in expert friends to deliver other specific topics.
During the third weekend, I was delivering my module and then handed over to my friend to deliver their module.
I stood at the back of the room and I noticed something.
Looking around the room, I was feeling really good. I thought to myself, “Look what I have made happen!” I was happy, inspired and fulfilled. I saw a room full of people, learning and growing together, having fun and being grateful for the experience. And I’d been the instrument and the driving force behind all of this happening.
And in that moment, a thought crossed my mind.
The thought was: I don’t get any better than this. This is me at my best. This is me utilising my skills, my best qualities, collaborating with friends in service to my community. This is me having fun, and leading the way.
I was feeling good about who I was and what I was delivering to my community
This was not my usual voice of doom that would tell me that I was crap and doomed to be crap forever. It was the most positive and affirming voice in me telling me that this really was me at my best, at this point in my life.
It was a wonderful feeling.
I did a bit of research about the idea of Signature Work. I loved the idea that chefs have signature dishes, sportspeople have signature moves and musicians have a signature style. I loved that signature meant “uniquely you, expressing the DNA of who you truly are. Infusing what you do with your own essence.”
You probably know these examples even if you don’t know the person behind them: Feel The Fear and Do It Anyway, Unleash the Giant Within, Men Are From Mars, Women are from Venus, The Power of Now, The Artists Way, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, Become a Key Person of Influence, The Heroes Journey, The Millionaire Messenger, Making A Living Without A Job
And three of my own: The Work We Were Born To Do, The Business You Were Born To Create, The Messages You Were Born To Share.
Your Signature Work is not something you have to do forever, it probably has a shelf life, and then you’ll have another iteration of your Signature Work waiting to emerge. It needn’t be a rinse and repeat trap. It can be continually expanding and evolving, and grow in your maturity and capability.
I developed the Lead with your Signature Leadership Work programme to help take your experience and insight and share it powerfully with the people who most need it and value it.
https://iamnickwilliams.com/lead-with-your-signature-leadership-work/
One of the fifteen clearly defined outcomes is that together we’ll design your own flagship programme that you are inspired to both market and to deliver
Just drop me a line at nick@iamnickwilliams.com and we’ll see if the programme is a fit for you
