Who is the real you? Are you the same person when you wear a different costume or adapt your professional persona? At my PUT YOUR SPIRIT TO WORK NETWORKING EVENT this past Sunday at Bookmans Community Room several of us participated in a “live event” to recognize and honor other business owners here in Tucson.
There are plenty of networking events in Tucson. And there were people attending who admitted they don’t usually attend such events. A show of hands indicated that 80% of the attendees admitted their introverted nature made it more of a challenge than I certainly would have though. I was surprised, given the buzz in the room. Pretty high energy I thought. So what happened that gave them such an emotional high?
We were taking the time to introduce ourselves to each other using my four part model for Finding Your True North. This model asks people to reflect on the following questions and then create a statement indicating their answers. For example:
Describe What you most enjoy doing
Describe Where you do your best work (the physical setting or the kinds of boundaries you like to have around your work)
Describe Who you like to work with and serve, and finally
Describe Why you do it, in terms of the rewards you receive.
Example. I love coaching mid-life professionals in my home office and helping them to create a vision of the future with clear steps for getting there and I am rewarded handsomely by their gratitude and by being well paid to do this.
The questions are designed to help the individual center into what is most important in that moment of presenting oneself. In addition we shared the common focus of really wanting to know how each business owner would answer the questions, and most important… “what can I learn from this person?” What does she do that is different from what I do, or where I do it, or more importantly why I do what I do. The questions helped us get beneath the surface of who we are to the light bulb within – that hidden source of light that emanates but doesn’t always get seen. For many of us this past Sunday we pulled off the masks and let ourselves just be us, and guess what? We had a great time.
Deborah will be holding quarterly PUT YOUR SPIRIT TO WORK NETWORKING EVENTS here in Tucson. Stay tuned. Happy Halloween!
