Did you start with the why? Whether you did or not, let’s explore some things that can deepen our understanding and guide our path.
So, firstly, you are not a number.
Nope. You’re a person, it’s thing. A unique one at that.
Nobody has ever nor will ever have your mind, experiences, life. So, let’s acknowledge (& celebrate) that. Take it a step further – let’s optimise that impact of you being unique – it means you can do things others do not or cannot. We may be under the impression that organisations view vacancies as holes to be filled. Well, they are, but there’s more to it than that. The person seeking to fill the role has a dream, a vision of the person filling it. That person will not be a drab, grey, number cruncher. If it is, run a mile.
You are an individual and you have a reputation. Do you know what it is? Reputations (good ones) take a long time to build. Yours has been building your entire professional life. The good reputations are also very fragile – they can be lost in a mindless instant.
So, let’s switch on our awareness to how we are coming across. “What behaviour am I modelling right now?”. Ask yourself that through the day. How does it change at the start of a work window. How about when hungry, tired and needing the facilities? How about just after a challenging situation? What is it like to be around you after the team has experienced a win?
So, you can start to buildup a view of how you are perceived, are you taking any steps to emphasise your positive aspects? Are you taking steps to enhance your team? You can probably guess what the optimal steps are: be positive, model great behaviours and seek to support the growth of those around you.
Next time, we are going to explore further how we go about building our reputations by building our colleagues and teams.