Me – in one sentence

One of the exercises I’ve done in work to explore my personal brand was to capture my unique promise of value in a single sentence.  This relates primarily to my professional life but as discussed in other posts here – personal and work lives seem to merge as I get older.

It was hard to do.   And my sentence is probably too long.   It’s still a work in progress, but here the current draft:

I embrace the global challenge of sustainable value creation through differentiated alignment insights.

It’s long, like many mission statements for organizations, because I want to pack it with a bunch of things that are important to me.  Here are some of the chunks of stuff that found their way into that mouthful.

Embracing Challenge is important to me.  It’s what I chose instead of the Comfort Seeking which undermines what I value most.  Leaning into challenge is my path through anxieties and fears that hold me back from become all that I can be.   I have been amazed to watch how creative and insidious my mind can be at holding onto the perceived comfort of the familiar.

Global matters to me.  My work has given me the opportunity to travel and engage with colleagues around the world – particularly in the EU.  I’ve gotten to know some great people who expanded my world.  I also hold as a core belief that while each of us is a citizen of a local community and a country, we are first and foremost citizens of the world.  We share the planet and what really matters with all the other people around the globe.

Sustainable resonates with me in many different contexts.  At this point in history we are being forced to face up the way we’ve been living and consuming resources which is NOT sustainable.  Environmental sustainability – living lightly on the planet is important to me on a personal level.  Professionally, as a part of the corporate world which has lost its way in the last few decades I am dismayed at how little of what we do creates long term value for customers, employees or shareholders.  We must find our way back to choices which askew an entitlement mentality and value long term gain over short term gratification.  More in other posts about this.

I’ve thought quite a bit about what I bring to my work that is somewhat unique.  A lot of what I do it seems to me is not that unique.  Lots of other people can do it as well or better than I can.   A few words keep coming to the surface as markers for the essence of what makes me tick.

Different or Differentiated.  If the crowd is going in one direction every fiber of my being wants to go in the other direction.  If a group of people is staring at something, I’ll often turn around and look at them – watching them and noticing their reactions to what they’re seeing.  In any competitive situation I always want to find what we can offer that is unique, different from what the competition can offer.  Selling a commodity is boring.

Alignment is a word I’ve found means a lot to me but doesn’t mean much to most other people.  When people have a common goal, a shared vision, a unity of purpose – they are aligned.  When people are aligned everything gets easier.  Things just flow.  Trust is easier.  The best contracts create alignment between the parties so that they are freed to work together knowing that they have a mutual stake in success, confident that they will each act in a manner consistent with both parties interest.

On a personal level alignment is that state when good things seem to happen effortlessly.  When a chiropractor gives you an adjustment so the energy of your central nervous system flows without obstruction to all parts of your body – that’s alignment.   I find that sleep brings me back to alignment and I think it’s why my best ideas come in the morning.  It’s why sleeping on it is a good way for me to make decisions.  What I feel clear about first thing in the morning has greater staying power than the ideas I talk myself into later on in the day.

Insight has always been perhaps my deepest goal.  Sometimes I think of it as perspective or wisdom.  It’s seeing things clearly for what they really are.  Seeing them from multiple angles so that all dimensions are perceived and understood.  My leadership style has always been to communicate a vision of where we’re going as a team.  I like it best if the vision is an audacious goal which can’t be reached by doing more of what we’ve done before.  A goal that compels us to change the game, rethink what we do, find a new path.

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