“Connectors … They’re an open door that’s never closed to possibilities. This makes them totally receptive to the abundance that’s always ceaselessly flowing.” -Dr. Wayne Dyer in The Power of Intention
You are the message.
A compelling personal purpose/brand is about being clear and conscious of who you are. This gives you a level of confidence to set yourself aside and focus on others – confidently giving your voice in what you do. Your voice is the resonance of purpose. You must understand you as the message in order to effectively market your purpose.
Like Maggie in the skill of Messaging, your first order of purpose is to be yourself consistently; to engage and leverage who you are and make choices in the light of authenticity. You encounter challenge with confidence – you are engaged in something larger. Intently processing what it means to be part of something larger will guide you to the message that says; I am part of something, and I have an important role in the larger story. This level of awareness is prerequisite to market you in an honest, congruent fashion.
There lies the rub. If the thought of marketing yourself is a turnoff, then I challenge you to open your thinking. Many of us are turned off by the self-promotion of a braggart; as well as we should be. Boasting is not marketing. Boasting focuses solely on the one boasting. In the light of networking in the 21st Century, marketing your purpose and brand is about those you serve; it is about connection.
For more like this and the developing series around the 7 skills, see: 21st Century Leadership Skills
Guess I missed skill 1 – 3. I do want to say something about connections. People are hungry for connections. They want to feel important. A lot of folks are just plain lonely. I’ve not used the label marketing on myself before, but I do actively reach out to others. Not sure who said this, and it’s paraphrased: Imagine a sign hanging around each person’s neck that says “Make me feel important”. Smiles, eye contact, a simple hello, how are you today, go so, so far. Those connections are priceless, and I’ve found they are returned 10 fold. Once someone finds out you are open, friendly, and interested in them, then they often follow suit and return the interest. They will often follow your lead in the intereaction. I agree with you on the ‘level of awareness’. And I love, love, love having my door open to possibilities. Possibility is one of my favorite words. There is a whole world of possibilities right in front of us, and so often we are wearing self-impossed blinders and fail to see them.
Thanks for sharing Jeff. Hope you are well.
[...] a book. Two things came together to make that dream a reality: Focus and a driving metaphor. Focus was about what I do; my purpose. A driving metaphor was about finding inspiration to tell the story [...]