Promoting Vs. Connecting

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The movie “The Greatest Showman,” Hugh Jackman, playing P.T. Barnum, explores Barnum’s journey from a poor kid, to founding the Barnum and Bailey Circus during the 19th century. 

Barnum considered himself a showman, he wanted to bring smiles to children and make people feel a great sense of happiness after watching his performance. He was always selling his shows by using his captivating style with outlandish promises.

Barnum was filled with innovative ideas to go along with his flamboyant style which kept people coming back to his traveling shows. He paid Jenny Lind, “The Swedish Nightingale,” $1,000 a day in 1850 to sing at his shows, with her salary paid in advance. 

This exuberant expense caused Barnum to teeter on the brink of bankruptcy. By selling Lind’s merchandise and holding auction for her tickets (yes, there was scalping in those days) as everyone wanted to see Lind perform, Barnum was able to recoup his financial outlay and make a profit. His aggressively bold style infuriated Lind causing her to sever the contract early, which kept Barnum from making even more money, 

David Ogilvy was also in sales, although his style was far different than Barnum’s. Ogilvy was selling someone else’s product. His messaging to the consumer had to be believable, so he never used celebrities to help sell any product. The consumer might like the celebrity, but that doesn’t make them believable.

Ogilvy wanted to be genuine, he wanted to use the power of his words, to connect the consumer to the product. When he accepted the CF Hathaway account, a small shirt maker from Maine, he knew he needed to try a unique approach. Ogilvy had to make the gentleman in the ad different, not in looks, but style. How could he make the consumer wonder about the man’s background? Thus, the eye patch idea was hatched.  

With the eyepatch, the ads had what Ogilvy called "story appeal", arousing reader curiosity. How, they wondered, had the man lost his eye? The ad’s impact was immediate. Its first insertion in The New Yorker cost just $3,176. Within a week, every Hathaway shirt in the city was sold.

Ogilvy and Barnum were both salesmen with different styles. Barnum the promoter, Ogilvy the truth teller. 

Both were able to use their skills to enhance the second of four criteria of leadership: Management of Meaning. This is a critical area as the leader becomes a salesperson, selling their ideas using a unique approach to allow their followers to understand their vision. Management of Meaning when done correctly creates alignment within the organization. When a leader uses the P.T. Barnum approach of promoting to sell their ideas, without connecting everyone to the vision, the runway towards success is short. Eventually those following will see the shallowness of the sales approach, will believe the leader is more about making themselves successful, than the entire group. Promoters promote themselves. 

When leaders take the Ogilvy approach of truth telling, by using his words and actions to create a connection, there is unlimited potential for sustainable success. The Ogilvy bond is strong, it can withstand hardships, and downturns. Whereas the Barnum style of promotion and unfulfilled promises will eventually falter when trouble arrives. 

Don’t promote when selling your vision. Connect your vision to those you lead. Be Ogilvy, not Barnum. 

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This week’s community insight from The Daily Coach Network is on Leading Through High Uncertainty: Navigating uncertainty requires critical survival skills — composure, common sense, and patience. These traits also build credibility with those you lead, empowering you to foster agility within your team.

The Daily Coach Network is a vetted membership community of sports executives, business leaders, and coaches who learn together and support each other to improve their teams' performance.

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