Find Your Authentic Style
BY JENNIFER BEYER
Trust in the Process of Growth
I had just wrapped up a presentation on consumer segmentation while at Cox Communications, and my dear friend Mark Cameron who managed the product team hung back after all had left the boardroom. I asked him, “How do you think that went?” As Mark often did, answered a question with a question. Mark asked, “Do you know what the quickest way to failure is? The quickest way to failure is to try and please everyone.”
His response still rattles around in my thoughts almost 20 years later. The power of influence is a curious thing. We are taught to collect feedback from our business partners, customers, etc. and weave it into our recommendations and design principles. In this process, we also see and feel how others operate and how they influence. We find ourselves thinking a certain way, a way in which others may think because we know they hold both influence and power. You add a dash of wanting to be accepted, and a strong pull for agreement, and before you know it, you’ve lost your own perspective.
Your thoughts, experiences and potential are unique. These experiences are what my father used to call “Felix and his bag of tricks”. Over the course of your career and life lessons, you add experiences to the bag. How a project will be implemented or how a product will be designed or how a change will be communicated brings an opportunity for you to add and use those experiences for the greater good of your colleagues and customers.
It takes time to find your unique approach, especially when collaborating with many different stakeholders, but with focused intention you will find it, and once you do, you will feel more confident and less conflicted with your recommendations. Through this journey you will learn the power of respect for yourself and for others and it will be at that point you will find your authentic style.
We all have a way in which we do things. Find it and keep true to it, while respecting others in the process.
Key Elements Important for You on Your Journey:
- Spend time with the puzzle you’re trying to solve.
- Don’t lose sight of your initial thoughts and perspectives as you move through your project.
- Communicate your progress, and make pivots when necessary.
- If you try to please everyone, you’ll water down your project and no one will be happy.
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