The Evangelist
I'm going to talk about this topic because it really is something that I'm passionate about.
Something I've learned in recent years is how bad it is to mask meanness by trying to sell them as if they were honest goodness. And it happens in lots of situations.
For those who did not know, although in my years as Microsoft employee my official title was "Academic Relations Manager", though my internal title at the company was of "Academic Developer Evangelist". But of course, in many places the concept of "evangelist" has a religious connotation and is not always well seen. The crazy thing is that the concept of seller has no negative connotations and it is relatively well seen.
Why do I say it's crazy? I will try to explain myself a little bit more based on my experience.
I read a lot of literature on management, entrepreneurship, creativity, evangelism. If you ask me today, I believe that evangelization is one of the purest forms of "selling", and also one of the most effective. Many years ago, some companies understood this concept, and managed to position themselves in the world using individuals who really believed in the products or services as if they were dogmas. Perhaps one of the most recognized cases is that of Guy Kawasaki as an Apple evangelist in the early years of the company. However, in general, the main evangelists of the companies used to be and usually are their own founders. There is no way to generate something successful if we do not dogmatically believe in our ideas (although we must be open enough to modify them if necessary).
What happened later is that the companies started hiring "evengelists" who did that for work, not always believing in what they were selling or looking for to be adopted. What does this mean? Maybe they loved the product. Maybe they used it. Perhaps it seemed interesting. But they did not necessarily believe it dogmatically. Perhaps they did not feel that what they were to evangelize was something that could change the lives of the evangelized.
When I did my job at Microsoft, I really believed in the possibility of providing opportunities. Not really in a particular product, but I always told youth: take the chances that life gives you. If IBM or Google comes tomorrow and gives you free things to help you in your work and personal life, take it. Today I am here giving you things. Life is already complicated enough to be rejecting opportunities. And I really did believe in that. And I believe it to this day.
That is why I sometimes think that the power of evangelization is lost sight of. And that should not be considered as negative when what we are trying to evangelize are values and general principles in which we all agree that they are benign. Is the value of decent employment good? Is the effort to get things good? Is education good?
If we focus on this that I mention, you'll understand how easy it is to sell the value of ComIT, beyond the fact that Soledad and I believe in this for being the founders. We created it together with other people in the image and likeness of our own values and principles. And after a purification that took years, we added people who share the values and transmit them because they are also theirs. How will not an organization grow if many of us are evangelizers of what we preach? How will we not be in 11 cities, in 3 countries, if we generate a real impact, although seldom recognized?
Sometimes the evangelist is uncomfortable for others. It's hard to convince him to do things are not aligned with his beliefs. But on the other hand it is the one that makes a huge impact. And if what the evangelist is proclaiming is something positive, the sky is the limit.
The real evangelist has no need to mask his pettiness. You may or may not like what he preach, but no one can deny that his work may have a broadly positive effect.
I hope to be able to tell you more about my experience and for you to enjoy it. I for sure have experiences for more than one post.
Something I've learned in recent years is how bad it is to mask meanness by trying to sell them as if they were honest goodness. And it happens in lots of situations.
For those who did not know, although in my years as Microsoft employee my official title was "Academic Relations Manager", though my internal title at the company was of "Academic Developer Evangelist". But of course, in many places the concept of "evangelist" has a religious connotation and is not always well seen. The crazy thing is that the concept of seller has no negative connotations and it is relatively well seen.
Why do I say it's crazy? I will try to explain myself a little bit more based on my experience.
I read a lot of literature on management, entrepreneurship, creativity, evangelism. If you ask me today, I believe that evangelization is one of the purest forms of "selling", and also one of the most effective. Many years ago, some companies understood this concept, and managed to position themselves in the world using individuals who really believed in the products or services as if they were dogmas. Perhaps one of the most recognized cases is that of Guy Kawasaki as an Apple evangelist in the early years of the company. However, in general, the main evangelists of the companies used to be and usually are their own founders. There is no way to generate something successful if we do not dogmatically believe in our ideas (although we must be open enough to modify them if necessary).
What happened later is that the companies started hiring "evengelists" who did that for work, not always believing in what they were selling or looking for to be adopted. What does this mean? Maybe they loved the product. Maybe they used it. Perhaps it seemed interesting. But they did not necessarily believe it dogmatically. Perhaps they did not feel that what they were to evangelize was something that could change the lives of the evangelized.
When I did my job at Microsoft, I really believed in the possibility of providing opportunities. Not really in a particular product, but I always told youth: take the chances that life gives you. If IBM or Google comes tomorrow and gives you free things to help you in your work and personal life, take it. Today I am here giving you things. Life is already complicated enough to be rejecting opportunities. And I really did believe in that. And I believe it to this day.
That is why I sometimes think that the power of evangelization is lost sight of. And that should not be considered as negative when what we are trying to evangelize are values and general principles in which we all agree that they are benign. Is the value of decent employment good? Is the effort to get things good? Is education good?
If we focus on this that I mention, you'll understand how easy it is to sell the value of ComIT, beyond the fact that Soledad and I believe in this for being the founders. We created it together with other people in the image and likeness of our own values and principles. And after a purification that took years, we added people who share the values and transmit them because they are also theirs. How will not an organization grow if many of us are evangelizers of what we preach? How will we not be in 11 cities, in 3 countries, if we generate a real impact, although seldom recognized?
Sometimes the evangelist is uncomfortable for others. It's hard to convince him to do things are not aligned with his beliefs. But on the other hand it is the one that makes a huge impact. And if what the evangelist is proclaiming is something positive, the sky is the limit.
The real evangelist has no need to mask his pettiness. You may or may not like what he preach, but no one can deny that his work may have a broadly positive effect.
I hope to be able to tell you more about my experience and for you to enjoy it. I for sure have experiences for more than one post.
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