| Lately, I’ve noticed an obsession with fonts.
Many of our clients who utilize our mentoring platform have been requesting recently darker fonts, newer fonts, larger fonts, and different colored fonts. And after the fonts, they become transfixed by logos, line spacing, even the opacity of icons. To be clear, I’m more than delighted to make any changes our clients desire. I want them to beam with pride when they invite participants to join their mentoring program using our platform. But I have witnessed a disproportionate number of font change requests by clients who need to be engrossed in their program’s strategy, success measures, and participant expectations instead. In fact, one of my font-enthralled clients is currently struggling to attract mentors and launch their program. But it’s not just my clients. We all get thwarted at times by trifling matters. It’s the pull of procrastination… So why do we get distracted by fonts? Because as human beings, we are desperate to feel a sense of control (especially in a year that has demonstrated, even reveled in, how little control we have over our lives!). From an evolutionary perspective, with control comes an increased chance of survival: more control, less risk. Over the past two decades, I’ve observed that many people charged with the execution of a mentoring program typically cannot (or perhaps will not) make decisions on strategy, success measures, or participant expectations without stakeholder approval. But I’ve never heard a client say they need stakeholder approval on a font. Understandably, they seize the font choice as an easy, low-risk way to control something, anything! Yet when my leaders remember that they can leverage their mentoring programs to onboard powerfully, decrease attrition, support career pivots and leadership transitions, and drive succession, they quickly abandon their fascination with fonts. When you feel the stress of chaos and the lure of the font, try keeping the spotlight on the strategy instead. © 2020. Ann Tardy and Mentor Lead. www.mentorlead.com | www.anntardy.com |
