Polarization and Projection…Your Success Hinges On It

This blog post continues the conversation around the concept of polarizing. This really ties into brand bravery. All of this ties into courage. In my work with brand leaders, I work with the “shadow”. The more and more we deal with the shadow, we look at polarization. In this blog post, I’d like to talk to you about the concept of projection. Projection is a very, very intricate conversation, a very, very intricate concept. For me, it was one of the hardest to grasp when I was really learning and understanding the shadow from the luminary leader on the Shadow, the late Debbie Ford.

Projection: Standing for Something and Getting an Emotional Reaction

Projection is when you stand for something and somebody else has an emotional reaction, a visceral reaction to it. Then they’re going to project onto you. That emotion can be positive or negative. You, as a brand leader, as an owner, stand up, you need to convey and elicit a very strong emotional connection so that you can resonate, so, not for the faint of heart. When you speak, and you stand for something, it’s like sonar. The receiver is going to, in their own psyche, have an experience of that. It’s going to trigger a memory, and there’s going to be projection. As I increased my visibility as a leader, the projection got bigger and bigger. Projection is when you stand for something and someone has an emotional reaction to it. Click To Tweet Anything that we see in someone else, is what we actually have in ourselves- that’s either underdeveloped or that we’ve rejected and we’ve put “out to the shadow”. A projection can be positive or negative. It could be a light projection. “Oh, my gosh, I worship you.” “I love you.” “You are the bomb!”,  “You are so amazing.” I also see the dark, the shadow projection which is, “Ugh, she’s full of herself.” “Who is she to be on the stage?” “How come she got the contract?” You have your own version of this. You have your experience of projection. As you up your resonance, in direct proportion to your ability to resonate, is the ability to handle polarization, and then handle projection. Some people like you, some people won’t. The more successful you are, the more people will like you, and the more people won’t. The clearer you are, on what you stand for, and you start demonstrating more and more courage, that’s triggering. Trust me, that’s triggering. Look at your brand. Look at where your resonance quotient is. Look at where your communication quotient is. Look at your polarization, and then, look at your capacity around projection. This is all about accessing your courage to be your full brand, because your success is going to be directly proportional to your capacity to handle the emotional, shadow aspects of entrepreneurship. The more successful you are, the more people will and won't like you. #brandswhoinspire Click To Tweet

Kerri Konik is a seasoned brand strategist and leading expert in igniting emotional connection and optimizing customer experience to drive business growth. She is a consultant, advisor and speaker on catalyzing the emotional bonds between customers, brands, and leaders to increase value, progress, and accelerate the speed of change, growth and desired impact. An entrepreneur at heart, Kerri has launched five businesses, and is the CEO of InspireFire, a women-owned brand strategy and marketing consultancy based in Philadelphia.