On Being Yourself – Great Article by Steve Yastrow
Tanmay Vora
The best advice I ever received in my life was – “Be yourself”. We are born with some inherent capabilities wired in our DNA. These capabilities are hidden somewhere within us. We need to dig ourselves deeper to get to them. Knowing what makes you unique is the key driver of our personal and professional growth. Perhaps, it is the highest form of human development.
In this respect, I read a brilliant post titled “Be Irreplaceable” by Steve Yastrow on Tom Peters’ Blog. It needed to be shared with you, and here is the crux –
Relationship-building encounters don’t happen between “waiter and customer,” “consultant and client,” or “doctor and patient.” They happen between human beings. It is, of course, critically important to treat your customer like a full person, and honor what makes her unique. But that is only half the equation. Make sure that you represent yourself in the encounter, not as a representative of your job role, but as you. Interact with your customer in a way that could only be done by you, a way in which another person could not substitute for you without making the experience different.
Early in my days as a consultant I had a breakthrough moment. I realized that I didn’t want my clients to think of me as “our marketing consultant, Steve,” but as “Steve, our marketing consultant.” This is not a subtle distinction. It’s the difference between being replaceable, and irreplaceable.
We kill our abilities when we try to be “like” someone. The first pre-condition to become successful (and also happy) is to manifest your true self. To bring that differential advantage on board – and be memorable for being different.
Realising this can change our game – be it working on a project, leading a team, managing a project, building comfort with a client or doing pre-sales confidence building. Bring the “YOU” element in your dealings and see the difference!
Cheers!
Image Courtesy: Fingerprints by Kevin Dooley @ flickr
There was a story about Tamil Film Icon and Former chief-Minister MGR which is related to the attitude of “Be Yourself”.
He was acting for one Historical movie and his role was King, as per scene he had to fight with a Tiger. The tiger was well trained, but unfortunately that day, the Tiger went out of control. At any moment he attacked MGR and other co-artists. No body knew what to do and how to save the people. MGR pulled out his Licensed Pistol from his pocket and shot in the air, Tiger got scared and came to control and everyone was saved. Everyone highly appreciated MGR his timely action and all were wondering, you are the king in this movie and how come you carry the pistol on your pocket?. MGR was smiled and replied “For you people I am King in this movie but for myself, I am always MGR.”
Kumar, Thanks for sharing that fantastic story. Movie artists often have to switch between “being themselves” versus “being the character they play”.
But even when they play their characters, they have to bring their distinct characteristics to their characters. These distinct characters becomes the style. We have lot of examples of distinctive styling in Indian Cinema from Amitabh Bachchan to Dev Anand.
Each one of these actors were successful because they played the characters in their “own” and “unique” style.
So being yourself and bringing “YOU” element to work is even very relevant to film industry.
Thanks for adding a different perspective.