I meet with 15 executives a week and we talk about their business goals, their social presence, their personal brand and the value that it holds within the organization.
I ask them questions about the work they do, how they got into this particular role, why they do it every single day, what parts they love and what parts they’re afraid to stop doing despite hating them. I basically get to be voraciously curious about people and I have to be honest: It’s the best, it is my very favorite thing to be.
The clients I work with have great answers. They may not know how to frame it perfectly (that’s where I can help) but the know-how they have in spades.
Until we get to the trickiest question….
Who are you outside of work, stripped of your job title and role, tell me about YOU?
Because we want to know you. In your LinkedIn Summary statement, in our timeline, in email, at the front end of a conference call, on your Instagram feed.
Our greatest calling in life is to know people and be known by them.
When you work in a company (especially virtually) and the to-do list, the email and the calendar are all pinging you incessantly it’s easy to forget that who YOU are, as a unique cog in this machine, matters. Take the step out of your “this is what I do” comfort zone and share a little bit about what you do that doesn’t fit in your CV.
You might be thinking: Cass, I promise, I am not that interesting.
Is that okay with you? It’s time to check-in on that if you really believe it because I’m betting that if that is true: you want some radical change in 2017. Set some real boundaries asap to create some time for you to be interested in your life.
I’m not saying you have to be working on your own #IoT enabled hack in your basement….I’m saying your interest could be in not getting a technical foul as a spectator in your 8th graders’ soccer game (Are you not so curious about who this person is?!?!!) or your love for a very specific podcast and how they frame challenging completely unrelated questions to the people they interview (TELL ME about this podcast I’ll exclaim!). Maybe your interest is finding the point when you go from hating running to loving running (Please share this valuable tipping point experience with me).
Here’s how to start this addition:
Outside of work you can find me……
CHALLENGE: Make a note of when you smile this week. What are you doing? You are most interesting because of what interests you. Share that in your summary statement, share it as a status update, be curious about your interests at the start of a conference call and see what happens.
I’m so excited by what you are going to learn about YOU and those around you in this process. Questions? I know you’ve probably got one, head to the comments and I’ll meet you there!
Originally published at medium.com