Complete Article List:
- Building a Creative Business Culture
- Defining Yourself
- 4 ½ Stages of Organizational Success
- How to Fail Your Way to Success
- Six Life Lessons I Learned in Vegas
- Making Sense of Humour in the Workplace
- The Art of Professionalism: Learning the Right Way to Get Ahead
- The Secrets of Effective Decision-Making
- The Customer Rules:
Surviving & Thriving in the New Customer-Driven World - The Fascination of Sport
- Are You a Twenty Percenter?
- The Times They are a Changin'
An Investigation of Five Future Trends - The Business of Global Greening: How Technology and Business are Saving the Planet
- The Changing Face of Charity: How Businesses and Individuals are Redefining Philanthropy
- Web 2.0: Business in a Connected World
- Searching for a Needle of Knowledge in an Information Haystack (pdf format)
- The Power of Design (pdf format)
Articles
Defining Yourself
By Steve Bannister
Picture this; you are in an elevator with a person whom you have respected and admired for a very long time and you have twenty seconds before you get off at your floor. This person in the elevator turns to you and says, "So, tell me a bit about yourself." What do you say? Do you take your twenty seconds and talk about your job? Do you concentrate solely on your family? Do you talk about the real you; your goals and your aspirations? Many people would find it difficult to succinctly describe themselves in a mere twenty seconds. We are all so busy making an effort to live an honest, up-standing life that few of us actually stop to write a serious inventory of who we are. As Peter Marshall so eloquently put it, "Give to us clear vision that we may know where to stand and what to stand for - because unless we stand for something, we shall fall for anything."
Personal success, in whatever form you wish to define it, has its foundation in how you define yourself. You need to develop your own personal, distinct brand similar to what successful businesses do. For example, look at what these companies stand for: Amazon - completeness, Ben & Jerry's - homemade, Benneton - humanity, Disney - fun, and Nike - winning. If you were to replace one of those companies with your name, what would you stand for? If you can't answer this question quickly and decisively, then it's time to take a closer look at who you really are.
Finding Your Personal Traits
There is an old saying which states, "Show me your friends and I'll tell you who you are." Basically, as social beings we tend to associate with or feel a close connection to people with whom we have a common belief structure. Therefore, one way to better understand our personal traits is to look at the traits of the people we admire.
To begin defining your personal traits, get a sheet of paper and draw three columns down the length of the page. Label these columns with the titles Category, Names, and Traits. The Category column could include the following: Family Members, Religious Leaders Friends & Acquaintances, Health Leaders (Doctors, Nurses, Therapists …) Business Leaders, Political Leaders, Sports Leaders, Movie & Theatre Actors Book Authors, Child Heroes (both true and make-believe), and any others that appeal to you. For each category jot down the corresponding people and their traits which automatically come to mind. Remember that these people can be living or dead, real or fictitious.
Putting it all Together
You will probably notice a number of traits appearing which are very similar in nature, if not exactly the same. To obtain a better overall picture of what you have so far, record the traits that frequently occur.
Now it's time to get to your true essence. Review the traits you have listed. Read each one aloud while thinking of the particular person or persons who possess it and reflect on whether it stirs strong emotions deep inside you. Your goal is to have 4-6 core traits, which truly define you. It's not too late to add a new trait or some which you are currently aspiring towards but feel you have not yet attained. You have now determined the traits which make up your Personal Principles.
Purpose Statement
A Purpose Statement encapsulates your essence and life direction into one paragraph. To begin developing your Purpose Statement, write down each of your Personal Principles. Take each Principle and describe specific outcomes which have to be fulfilled for you to be successful in it. You may have more than one specific outcome for each Principle. Think in time frames of weeks, months and years in order to obtain the continued success for which you are looking. These Principles are meant to guide you in living a full and happy life, so refer to them often and feel free to change them as you grow and learn more about yourself.
Now that you have a success plan for your Personal Principles, combine all of these to form a concise Purpose Statement consisting of one paragraph describing what you stand for and what you hope to achieve. A rule of thumb would be to use one sentence for one or two Principles, making sure that the paragraph flows and makes grammatical sense. Take a few nights to think about what all of this means. Remember that this is an important process, since it pertains to the most important person in your life; you!
The success of any reflective exercise such as this depends solely on how truthful you are with yourself. If you are willing to define your Purpose Statement by seriously examining yourself, the rewards will be tremendous. Good luck on your personal adventure!
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