Mass Readings Audio
https://bible.usccb.org/podcasts/audio/2020-12-13-usccb-daily-mass-readings

 

Third Sunday of Advent – December 13, 2020

Welcome to the one hundred and forty-second episode of By Your Life. I’m Lisa Huetteman and I know that you have a hundred different things you could be doing right now, so I thank you for choosing By Your Life.

My goal is to inspire, empower, support, challenge, and encourage you to connect Sunday, with Monday-Friday, in a secular business world. It’s my desire to help you live our Catholic faith in the marketplace. I hope to offer you practical ways to go forth and glorify the Lord by your life.

In this edition, we’ll reflect on the readings for the Third Sunday of Advent. (Year B) This Sunday is Gaudete Sunday and it is a reminder to us to rejoice. However, if you’re like me, when you realize it is already the Third Sunday of Advent, you’re more likely to panic than rejoice! How did this happen? How did Thanksgiving become Christmas so quickly? I’m not ready yet, are you?

Hiding Behind an Avatar

I don’t have to tell you that this year is hardly normal. There was an article in the Wall Street Journal this week that described how companies are hosting their Christmas parties online and are trying to get creative so they are more entertaining than awkward. Some even bribed their employees by offering a $500 prize to the winner of the ugliest Christmas sweater contest.

But I’m mostly skeptical of a company’s virtual party, in which employees could pick avatars that mingled and danced preprogrammed dances on a beach. The technology allowed employees to hear other attendees’ voices only if their avatars were near each other which made it feel more intimate than a mass video call. The article quoted one employee who said she liked it, saying, “We were all actually slightly less stilted” as avatars. She added that it was nice not to feel as visible and self-conscious as she might on camera. It seems to me that if the purpose of holiday parties is to build relationships through social engagement, hiding out behind an avatar misses the point.

But this woman is not alone. A lot of people are not comfortable with who they are. Many people are so busy trying to be like someone else, they don’t even know who they are. And when you’re busy trying to be someone else, it is no wonder you’re not comfortable with yourself.

When you’re busy trying to be someone else, it is no wonder you’re not comfortable with yourself. Click to Tweet

But not so for John the Baptist. “When the Jews from Jerusalem sent priests and Levites [to him] to ask him, “Who are you?” (Jn 1:19) He made it clear who he was and who he was not. He was not the Messiah. He was not Elijah. He was not the Prophet. He knew exactly who he was and why he “was sent from God”. (Jn 1:6) He told them “I am ‘the voice of one crying out in the desert, “Make straight the way of the Lord,”’ as Isaiah the prophet said.” (Jn 1:23)

I think there are two lessons in our Gospel, that we can take from John the Baptist and apply to the workplace. The first is know who you are, and the second is don’t try to be who you’re not.

Know Who You Are

It is written of John the Baptist that “He came for testimony, to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He was not the light but came to testify to the light. (Jn 1:7-8) John knew his purpose. Some of us take a lifetime trying to figure this out. Who is it that I am? What’s my purpose?

When I started my own business over 17 years ago, I remember struggling with writing my UVP or Unique Value Proposition. Also known as your unique selling proposition, the UVP is the marketing strategy of informing customers about how your brand or product is superior or different to your competitors. I struggled because it was a time in history when executive or business coaching had begun to drastically increase. The number of coaching professionals and the sophistication of coaching in business had increased the accessibility and acceptability of coaching in the workplace. So, I struggled with how I was going to stand out in this market. I struggled with what made me and my business unique.

The Unique Value Proposition is the marketing strategy of informing customers about how your brand or product is superior or different to your competitors. Click to Tweet

It wasn’t until I recognized that all my certifications, tools, and processes were not my UVP. Certainly, they were part of how I worked with my clients, but they were the same or similar certifications, tools, and processes that other coaches had. What made me unique was me. No one else had the same set of experiences that I did. No one else had the same personality and way of working with clients that I did. No one else was me.

But I still struggled. Why was I valuable? Why would anyone care? The key here was that I wasn’t trying to market to just anyone nor to everyone. I needed to be clear about my target market and to whom I would bring value. There are many types of value including functional, monetary, social, and psychological and not all the sources of value are equally important to all customers. So, I not only needed to be clear about who I was, I needed to be clear about who my potential customer was.

What Make You Unique?

When I think about a unique value proposition and a company that got it right, I think of Starbucks. Let me start by saying that I am not Starbucks target customer, but they didn’t care. They knew that their unique selling proposition could attract their target customer to pay $5 for a product that can be considered a commodity and costs $.35 in the grocery store.

But for Starbucks, coffee was certainly not a commodity. For them, it was all about the quality of the coffee and they carefully selected their coffee beans from the best sources of coffee all around the world. Because of this,  Starbucks was known for their “highest-quality coffee in the world.”

Secondly, for Starbucks, it wasn’t just about the coffee, it was about the experience. They offered their customers a “third place” outside their workplaces and their homes where they could escape from the real world. The design of their stores, the décor, the music, and the layout, invited customers to stay longer and enjoy their coffee.

Thirdly, Starbucks’ service philosophy was one where great service meant “customer intimacy”. They created a friendly connection between the baristas and their customers.

So, who was Starbucks’ target market? Primarily they were a selected group of well-being, well-educated, white-collar patrons, at the ages of 25 to 44 who were ready to pay a premium price for a premium experience of coffee.

It didn’t take long before McDonald’s created the McCafé brand to piggy-back on Starbucks’ concept. Their first experiment in launching gourmet coffee and beverages was in 2001 at a coffee bar in Chicago. Even though they were competing in the coffee-lovers’ market, they weren’t competing for the same Starbucks’ target customer. Those who switched to McDonalds McCafé did so because they could get a quality cup of coffee at a fraction of the price and time. They were a different target market who valued economy and speed over experience.

Know Who You Aren’t

McDonald’s is recognized for fast, convenient, and inexpensive food. Starbucks is recognized for its “third place,” an “affordable luxury” where people can enjoy mixed espresso drinks with friends and colleagues, away from work and home. But what led to Starbucks’ success, wasn’t what could sustain it as the company grew because of the difference between old customers and new customers’ expectations of service. As a result, Starbucks faced a decline in customer satisfaction scores, still good, but not at the levels it wanted. The new customers that could fuel Starbucks’ continued growth were an obstacle for the company to maintain its brand image and core service philosophy.

What led to McDonalds success—price and speed—was applied to their offerings to compete in the morning food and beverage market. They didn’t change their core value proposition, they simply applied it to a new set of products. Starbucks introduced new beverages to address the preferences of customers with a taste for non-caffeine drinks and used technology to enhance the overall customer experience. But nothing would have led to failure faster than Starbucks trying to copy McDonalds cheap and fast strategy or Mcdonald’s trying to offer the Starbucks’ experience. While the two companies compete head-to-head in some product offerings, they are different, and they know it. They are clear about who they are and who they aren’t.

Clarity and Peace

For us, there is a peace that comes from gaining clarity in who we are and what God has sent us to accomplish. John the Baptist did, and it allowed him to pursue that purpose unto his death. He didn’t try to be what he was not. He acknowledged that he was not the Christ, but the one who was to prepare the way for him. He didn’t try to be all things for all people. He knew that some would not accept the Christ saying “there is one among you whom you do not recognize.” (Jn 1:26), but he didn’t change his message because he knew who he was, and his purpose was to testify to the truth. Eventually, he’d lose his life over it.

For the rest of us, gaining clarity of who we are, and our purpose is a process. It is a journey of trial and error, of right steps and trip-ups. But we know when we’ve got it right and we know when we’re off track. And as our second reading from St. Paul to the Thessalonians said, “Test everything; retain what is good.” (1 Thes 5:21) This is what good marketers do. They test their concepts in the market and keep what works.

Test everything; retain what is good. ~ 1 Thes 5:21 Click to Tweet

John the Baptist is not unique in being sent by God. We are all sent, after each Mass, to glorify the Lord by our lives. How we do that is unique to each of us and can change as we grow, our circumstances and the world around us change. So, in the midst of our hectic lives, as we pursue greater holiness this Advent, let us rejoice, for whatever we’ve been called to do, we can have confidence in St. Paul’s words that “The one who calls you is faithful, and he will also accomplish it.” (1 Thes 5:24)

Let’s pray:

Father in heaven, help us hear again the voice of John the Baptist crying out in the desert. Help us make straight the pathways of our own lives so that those paths lead to eternal life with you. “Do good and avoid evil” is so easy to say, yet so hard to put into practice. Be with us in each moment of every day so that we remain blameless and worthy of your coming. Help us, Lord, not to dampen the joy of others. Remind us this week to rejoice always and to pray without ceasing. And Holy Spirit, guide us so that our lives may be testimony of the wonders and the love of God, so that others might believe through us.

And may God bless you abundantly this week, and may you glorify the Lord by your life.

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