All tagged Be who you are
This month kicks off 2021 with a few thoughts on mindset - and specifically getting our heads straight as we look forward to our goals and what we want to get done over the next 12 months.
In today's episode, I go on a bit of a rant about this idea of "age-appropriate". I don't know who came up with this idea but, frankly, it's nonsense and in this show, I talk about why.
A while ago, I watched a Michael Smerconish interview of Roger Waters (of Pink Floyd fame). It was centered around his tour and the frequent political statements he made during his shows.
At one point, he asked Waters:
“We love seeing raw truth and openness in other people, but we’re afraid to let them see it in us.” (Brene Brown)
There’s an illusion in the business world that we cannot expose our flaws to anyone around us - not our colleagues, our clients and certainly not our bosses. The fear is, of course, that we will be judged, perceived as someone who is fundamentally flawed and, accordingly, cast off to career obscurity.
It’s an illusion that becomes all the more exacerbated at the management level. I can’t afford to show any weakness. I have to always impress that I know everything. I can never say ‘I don’t know’.
Values are important. Values are sacrosanct. Values define who we are.
We all stand for - become known for - a specific set of values, whether we've expressly considered this or not.
"It's not for you."
If what I'm offering - a product, a service, a connection, an idea, a friendship - doesn't resonate with who I'm offering it to, the tendency is to try harder. To promote it more vigorously. To look for additional angles to 'make the sale'.
