Play Your Own Game
People generally fall into two groups
The Benchmarkers
Those are the followers who look over their shoulders and compare their progress to what “the Joneses” are doing. They then try to replicate the Joneses’ playbook for success.
The Pace Setters
Those are the folks who not only play but define the game without comparison of, or care for, the Joneses.
Which are you?
The trouble with living as a Benchmarker is that your talents/strengths/calling are unique to you. What works for someone else will only come across as a cheap imitation when tried by anyone but the original (i.e., YOU!)
When you take the time to understand the value that you bring through your individual, innate strengths/talents, then your offering will be received as an authentic gift. Additionally, your productivity will be far more effective.
If we reflect back on the true innovators of not only our time but from the past, history demonstrates that these forward thinkers were following their own interests and applying their passions in service to others. For those great leaders who took their ideas and brought them to market through private enterprise, their companies did well at their earliest inceptions.
However, time also shows that some of these same companies struggled when corporate gluttony caused their leaders to lose sight of foundational focus. A common outcome of this loss of focus is competitors with original ideas move in and capture market share. For example, Apple (during the non-Steve Jobs’ years) is a prime case study for exploration of this.
Just like Apple has shown though, it’s during those challenging times when getting back to basics to understand your “Why” is crucial for you and for your organization’s success.
Do you know and can you articulate your value?
How about your company’s value?
To further explore these topics, please refer to these previous Authentizity blog posts:
https://authentizity.com/and-what-do-you-do/ and https://authentizity.com/defining-the-i-in-business-development/
Additionally, please contact me at dlandry@authentizity.com if you would like to explore how to define your individual and corporate value differentiators.
