In talking with others about the concept of A Bigger Voice, it’s been trial and error in finding the right words, to communicate clearly and concisely.  This is important. Without crystallization of your message, of your wisdom, of the stunning result you are trying to create, and the story behind why you are doing this work now, it will be hard to attract a community of kindred spirits. All you’ll get are a bunch of blank looks. (Believe me, I’ve had my share.)

How many fuzzy great ideas have you heard in your lifetime? Even taking out the rhetoric of this election year, you’ve probably heard lots of people talk about wanting to do good in the world but without distinguishing what they want to do differently or why they are choosing to focus their efforts in a specific direction or a clear picture on the desired outcome. It then becomes motherhood and apple pie–easy to agree with but nothing to compel you into action.

Back to my trial and error. After many attempts, I noticed that when I used the term "wisdom entrepreneur," people resonated with and remembered it. In other words, the term stuck. And given curiosity on the listener’s part, I had a chance to tell more of my story and make some distinctions.

I recently took a stab at defining the term "wisdom entrepreneur" for a Wikipedia article. Turns out that it’s too early in the maturity of the term. To be included as an article requires the use of "reliable secondary sources" and lacking that, Wikipedia considers that you are submitting "original research." A big no-no in the world of Wikipedia.

Independent of creating a submission for a Wikipedia article, trying to define a concept that is made up turned out to be a useful exercise. It forced me to crystallize my message. Here’s my definition for wisdom entrepreneur:

Wisdom Entrepreneur: An innovator who uses insight gained from life experiences to create social good and enduring value in the marketplace. Traditional entrepreneurs build organizations to develop business ideas that lead to profitability, with social good as a secondary concern. Wisdom entrepreneurs build communities to develop wisdom that leads to social good, with profitability a secondary concern. Like all entrepreneurs, wisdom entrepreneurs aim to implement an idea that will outlast them.

I was delighted when I ran across a Fast Company magazine article, Anchor and Twist, by Dan Heath and Chip Heath. (These are the guys who wrote the best-selling book, Made to Stick.) The article validates an approach that I intuitively used in defining wisdom entrepreneur: describe something new and unknown by comparing and contrasting to something old and known. In the words of the Heath brothers, "anchor in what people already know" and then create "a good innovation story [that] couples an anchor with a twist."

What does the Anchor and Twist look like for your bigger voice?  How can you use this concept to attract your tribe?