How's Your Elevator Pitch?

I don’t ride in too many elevators these days.  If you’re in the education world this is probably the same for you too, so the idea of the elevator pitch might be a little foreign.  For review, the idea originates from the practice of pitching your great idea to someone of importance, if you ever happen to be riding in an elevator together…so approximately 30 to 60 seconds.  Of course, you don’t need to be in an elevator to give an elevator pitch, instead the concept has evolved to include anytime you’re trying to convince someone else that your idea is compelling enough to make them want to learn more.

I’ve been reading about elevators pitches in Daniel Pink’s book To Sell is Human where he outlines a number of successors to the elevator pitch, including the twitter pitch, email subject line pitch, and a few others.  He also asks the question “What’s your Invisible Pitch?”  Meaning if you asked those around you to describe you in 3 words, what would they say?  Pink describes the Invisible Pitch by saying, “we don’t always realize it, but what we do and how we do it are themselves pitches.  We’re conveying a message about ourselves, our work, or our organization.”  Although not completely related, I’m reminded of the famous Peter Drucker quote “culture eats strategy for breakfast.”

Despite our best intentions and best plans what are you as a leader pitching to your community?  What are your teachers pitching to your students and parents?  What are your students pitching to each other and beyond?