Posts Tagged ‘Family’

As a reminder it is Mother’s Day on Sunday. So order your flowers and purchase your Hallmark cards now.  If one person remembers to call their mother because of this post, I will be happy. This is also a good time to reflect on how others perceive us. Would dear old mother be proud of the reputation we have created and perpetuated?

I, for one, am taking some time to think about how my reputation matches up with the values and beliefs my parents instilled in me. Some of those values and beliefs I have strongly followed and embedded into my everyday behavior. Some of my personal values are modified versions of the ones my parents taught me. While the apple usually does not fall far from the tree, the apple generally does not fall directly on the root either - if you get my drift. I definitely drifted a little bit (both from the tree and in this rant). And finally there are some values I try to stand by, but don’t articulate very well to others.

If you would like to get a better sense of your “current personal brand” I have a couple of suggestions:

• Myers-Briggs Personality Test - There are a number of websites that allow you to take versions of this breakthrough personality assessment. I highly suggest using a 15 minute smoke break at work to run through the questions at Human Metrics. From this test you should glean some insights into personality traits you were not aware you had.
• Find the Themes In Your Successes and Failures - Make a list of all the major achievements in your life and the goals you have yet to reach. Each to next item try to concisely pinpoint what was critical to your success or what were the main hurdles to success.
• Ask Others - Why is it such a taboo to ask your friends, family and confidants what comes to mind when they think of you? The process by which we discern our current personal brand is a lot like a Rorschach test. Flash your name in front of others and the first associations make up your personal brand. All the time I ask people, what is the first thing that comes to mind when you hear my name?

I know my mother needs a new crock pot, but I think a better gift involves me telling her how glad I am that she instilled me with such a strong value system. At least my personal brand is no longer synonymous with Fruit of the Loom; my mom no longer writes my name on my underwear.