The saying goes "It's not what you do, it's the way that you do it."
I disagree - that's not what is most important.
The saying's incomplete. Actually what's important is who we are when we do it. Hence the saying should be "It's not what you do or the way that you do it, it's really about who you are are when you do it." Because who you are drives how you do it. It's about your identity.
We all have mutliple identities. Every day, I'm a husband, a father, a son, a brother, I'm a businessman, a boss, a leader, a manager, a friend, a coach, an advisor, a sportsman (although I constantly argue with myself about that when I'm struggling through a run!), a confidante and many, many more. I have rules for each, guidelines which I use to assess whether I'm performing well in that role and as a result the way I behave when adopting each identity is subtley different. I have a different identity when I'm working than when I'm a father and my behaviour is different because of who I am at that moment.
I sometimes don't use these identities as effectively as I could. I confuse them or adopt the wrong one in the moment and my behaviour is perhaps then not appropriate to the situation. If I'm focused more on my son identity for example, it might not be entirely helpful if I'm in a business meeting. Or if I'm in boss identity I'm absolutely sure it wouldn't work when I should be in husband role.
Of course we're all an amalgam of all our individual identities and we unconsciously shift between them through each experience during the day, but wouldn't it also be helpful to make the process conscious sometimes? To focus on who we want or need to be at that moment in order to be at our best?
It's also an vital consideration for employers. Whilst working is each employee adopting the identity the employer wants, the one that best achieves success for them? When serving a customer, are they a customer experience deliverer, or wearing the company mask whilst really being father, mother etc.
And fundamentally, are they even clear on the identity their employer wants them to have? Even more fundamentally, is the organisation even clear on the desired identity? If not, how can they possibly expect their people to adopt it?
LinkedIn: http://uk.linkedin.com/in/timhadfield
Twitter: @accordengage
Telephone: 0044 07906650019
The saying's incomplete. Actually what's important is who we are when we do it. Hence the saying should be "It's not what you do or the way that you do it, it's really about who you are are when you do it." Because who you are drives how you do it. It's about your identity.
We all have mutliple identities. Every day, I'm a husband, a father, a son, a brother, I'm a businessman, a boss, a leader, a manager, a friend, a coach, an advisor, a sportsman (although I constantly argue with myself about that when I'm struggling through a run!), a confidante and many, many more. I have rules for each, guidelines which I use to assess whether I'm performing well in that role and as a result the way I behave when adopting each identity is subtley different. I have a different identity when I'm working than when I'm a father and my behaviour is different because of who I am at that moment.
I sometimes don't use these identities as effectively as I could. I confuse them or adopt the wrong one in the moment and my behaviour is perhaps then not appropriate to the situation. If I'm focused more on my son identity for example, it might not be entirely helpful if I'm in a business meeting. Or if I'm in boss identity I'm absolutely sure it wouldn't work when I should be in husband role.
Of course we're all an amalgam of all our individual identities and we unconsciously shift between them through each experience during the day, but wouldn't it also be helpful to make the process conscious sometimes? To focus on who we want or need to be at that moment in order to be at our best?
It's also an vital consideration for employers. Whilst working is each employee adopting the identity the employer wants, the one that best achieves success for them? When serving a customer, are they a customer experience deliverer, or wearing the company mask whilst really being father, mother etc.
And fundamentally, are they even clear on the identity their employer wants them to have? Even more fundamentally, is the organisation even clear on the desired identity? If not, how can they possibly expect their people to adopt it?
LinkedIn: http://uk.linkedin.com/in/timhadfield
Twitter: @accordengage
Telephone: 0044 07906650019
No comments:
Post a Comment