Five Reasons Why "Who You Are Really" Matters

It's not about. . .

. . . a title. That's the role an organization says you're supposed to play. And that can change in a fleeting moment.

This is about who you really are.

Why is that so important?

1. Who You Are determines How you are.

2. How You Are determines the quality and depth of your relationships.

3. The quality and depth of your relationships  determine your ability to mobilize your people--workers, family, or friends--in time of need.

4. The quality of your relationships  determine  the breadth and depth of help you'll receive in your time of need.

5. Who You Are determines your brand while you're alive and your legacy afterward.

Take time today to build a firm foundation that won't shake and crack with the first sign of adversity.

I hope that provides at least 5 good reasons for action.

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Note:  I'm conducting an off-site client meeting through Friday. This article first appeared in June, 2007 and I thought it fit well with our current series here at All Things Workplace.

Comments

[Lance]

I needed to hear this today Steve. Somewhat for work. But even more for some personal activities I have going on, where I really need to concentrate on the relationships - and the involvement of others. Thanks.

[JetJaguar]

I while back Bill Gates and Warren Buffet were interviewed on TV, and someone asked Buffet something like what was the most important accomplishment to him, or what legacy did he want to leave. He said the most important thing is to be loved. He sees various powerful people who have libraries named after them, big retirement parties, but they are not really loved.

[Steve Roesler]

Hello, Lance,

Glad to know that this happened to be timely for you.

Coincidentally, I've been working with a corporate group who also discovered that working on relationships was something on which they needed to focus.

Timing is everything:-)

[Steve Roesler]

Jet,

Very poignant.

There is a good reason why Buffet is not only financially wealthy but considered to be wise as well.

[David Zinger]

Steve:
So coming from Winnipeg the home of The Guess Who, I guess I should no longer be guessing who I am. Seriously, I love the way you tied who you are to relationships and help.
As they would say in the media,
From Winnipeg, this is David Zinger
(I might not be Burton Cummings, nor would I want to be, but I do know who I am.)

[peter vajda]

Hi, Steve,

Insightful questions, and thanks.

The key, for me, is being "conscious" about WHO is asking the question: "Who am I?" For many, unconsciously, it's the ego-personality mind and so the answers most often still end up in a life of self-limiting and self-sabotaging ego-driven attitudes and behaviors. The ego answers what the ego asks.

From a deeper place, an inner place of one's True and Real Self, one's Essential self,(such as the Buddhist mind would ask in a state of meditation and presence) the question is a life-long experience, asked and answered on a consistent basis, always moving one forward to a realization of who "I" am, not who "i" am. Big difference in the asking and the answering depending on who's asking.

[Steve Roesler]

David,

At All Things Workplace we're always interested in the Cummings and Goings up on the northern prairie.

You've tweaked my synapses a bit about the relationship between this subject and employee engagement (rather, "work engagement), a favorite subject of yours. I want to see where this leads and I thank you.

[Steve Roesler]

Peter,

This relates to Beth Robinson's comment a few days ago regarding the moving nature of one's talents and how they seem to grow over time. That implies a growing awareness of who one is.

Something I think I'm becoming aware of, due to the amount of time I spend in the business arena, is the tendency to remain in "i" vs. "I" mode when defining one's self solely against goal accomplishment. The failure to achieve a desired result can have he effect of diminishing one's sense of self, thus creating an inaccurate--and smaller--image of who one really is.

Thank you for deepening the discussion.