Let’s be real. You’ve been in that room. The networking event, the conference mixer, the first five minutes of a Zoom call. It’s a corporate ritual, a dance as old as the org chart. Someone hands you a business card, or their title flashes under their name, and your brain immediately starts a process of translation. “Ah, a Director of Synergy. Okay.” You perform the corresponding corporate nod, file them away in a mental Rolodex, and the conversation unfolds on a pre-approved script of deliverables, KPIs, and market trends. We’ve become so fluent in the language of job titles that we’ve forgotten how to speak human. We’re not connecting with people; we’re having meetings with their LinkedIn profiles. We’re so busy trying to impress the business card that we completely miss the person holding it.
As a Grammy Nominated Spoken Word Artist, my entire career is built on finding the story beneath the data, the pulse beneath the professional. And here’s what I’ve learned: your title is a summary, but your story is a soul transfusion. Your title is the front of the business card, but your humanity is the “unspoken scripture” quietly inscribed on the back. When we only speak to the title, we stay on the surface. We trade information, not inspiration. We get the “what,” but we miss the “why.” People don’t want to be treated like a target demographic or a corporate bullet point. They want to feel seen. They want to feel the goosebump, not just get the data dump. And if they don’t get that from you, they’ll get it from your competitors—not because their product is better, but because their story is.
I learned everything I need to know about this from telling my niece the story of Cinderella. She knows the story by heart. She knows the ending. But she still wants to hear it. Why? Because she doesn’t just want the destination (“…and they lived happily ever after”); she wants the journey. She wants the experience. Your clients are no different. They know what accounting is. They know what software does. They aren’t just buying your product; they are buying into your story, your purpose, your why. The best and most effective leaders, the ones considered a top voice in their industry, understand this. They aren’t just selling; they are sharing. They are performing a kind of spoken word poetry without even realizing it, turning dry facts into a compelling narrative that makes you lean in and say, “Tell me more.” This is the work of the most inspiring communicators and a skill every leading professional can develop.
So here is the challenge from me, Grammy Nominated Poet Sekou Andrews, a Vanguard Artist who believes in the power of the human voice. This week, find one conversation where you intentionally look past the title. Ask a question that has nothing to do with Q4. Share a small, authentic story about your own journey—a failure, a lesson, a moment of surprise. Stop trying to sell the story before you even tell it. Because the real ROI isn’t just in the deal you close. It’s in the connection you forge. It’s in the loyalty you inspire. It’s in the moment you stop speaking to a business card and finally, truly, see the human being holding it.
