VIM Executive Coaching is always interested in trends, including so-called “Heirloom Gardening.” As business coaches, we have indeed spoken with folks involved in agribusiness, specialty foods and food marketing, so heirloom stuff seems to fall into that domain.
For example, did you know (depending on source), there may be up to 75 tomato varieties, not to mention variants of variety names? So far, we’ve not encountered a VIM Tomato, but we’re hopeful. To be certain, America is tomato crazy and projected 2025 revenues for tomato’s of all stripes (and yes, we do know of the “Mr. Stripey” Heirloom Tomato) is $204 billion. That’s a lot of green. And, yes, we have heard of the Green Zebra – which isn’t really all green. Of course, we’ve seen the movie, Fried Green Tomatoes.
It’s the marketing, pal.
Agronomists spend entire careers in a bid to produce unusual tomatoes. Well, good for them. Truth is that tomatoes, like people, come in all varieties, but all belong to the same scientific genus, Solanum, with the same species, lycopersicum. There is no superior tomato. They are all tomatoes with different pigments. Yes, we are aware of the lyrics to that old song, “You say tomato, I say tomahto.” Fair enough.
We are told the first discovered tomatoes eaten by a brave plant explorer, probably go back to the early 1500s. It was reportedly about the size of a modern-day cherry tomato. Tomatoes weren’t initially trusted, you know, and for years, a great many years, medical sages felt that tomato seeds might very well make their way to the appendix or some other body organ.
Some tomatoes are darker to a deep purple on a color scale, some lighter, to a pale, pale yellow. They each ripen in their own way and taste delicious. The Italians perfected this fruit’s flavor to a culinary art form. However, here’s the deal: most diners, when blindfolded or being truthfully honest, cannot discern between a fully ripened Black Krim, Brandywine or Roma.
They are good, again, in their own way and may be better for slicing or sauces or sun-dried, however, for most palates, they taste the same. Nevertheless, huge companies spend gazillions on tomato marketing, in their bid to sell seeds, seedlings, ripened fruit or finished food products.
Cheap tomato paste
Something happened over the years. The trusty tomato, much like so many other products “became precious.” Whether artisanal breads, exotic honey, craft beer, or executive business courses, most consumers are left with the same taste after lots of honey-coated hype. Wait, what?
Yes, we snuck it right there, right under the cherry red tomato radar: a mention of executive leadership and business coaching.
There is harsh reality to these varietal discussions. They are all varieties of the same thing. To our belief, no one has eaten a particular tomato and awakened 24-hours later all that much smarter or richer or wiser.
Unfortunately, the same has held true with business coaching motivational speakers – in person on a stage, yapping on a podcast series, droning on radio or cable or pontificating in an eBook. The experts are followed by the thousands, the tens of thousands, who leave the interaction unphased, unchanged. Another truth: many of these experts, under all their layers of blustering, have never worked, actually worked, in a work place. For the most part, you can teach them.
But Vim –
Before you are tempted to throw a tomato, please hear us out. As business coaches, we are not suggesting that business coaching is bad, only that there is but one effective way to approach it.
There must be an inner journey through learning mindfulness and developing authenticity.
The inner journey is responsive; the outer is reactive.
Professional speakers are great at parading around a podium. They can be as impressive as the most impressive of all Big Boy or Brandywine tomato varieties. Or, to be balanced the German Queen or Queen of the Night tomato varieties.
You can be greater, than the greatest of all professional yappers by taking a more authentic executive leadership journey through the door that leads to being mindful.
There is no substitute for a true awareness of a situation. The awareness can be guided but ultimately you can learn to bring those skills into every interaction. VIM strives to teach those reflective and responsive skills.
Just as no one ever confused a red apple for a ripe tomato, you should never confuse a mindful executive who took the reflective journey with one who collected a silly credential for having endured a droning speech by a high-priced speaker.