When no one’s looking

Character - “What a person is really like. Their values, personality, and level of integrity… when no one’s looking.” – Urban Dictionary.

How you behave ‘when no one’s looking’ is a reflection of your moral qualities, your values, and your beliefs. It affects how you respond to challenges, how you celebrate success, and how you support your team in the good times and the bad. It feeds through everything you do as a leader.

On 3rd March 2022, fintech Zeller co-founder and chief executive Ben Pfisterer made a choice that truly showed his character. Securing $100 million in Series B funding, Pfisterer considered delaying the announcement and chose to not celebrate with his team. Why? Because Zeller had 11 team members in Ukraine fleeing for their lives. “Any talk of ‘unicorn’ or ‘growth’ — it’s just irrelevant” said Pfisterer. (SmartCompany).

How’s that for character?

Your character is your reputation

Seth Godin describes a linchpin as “the one person who can bring it all together and make a difference.” “The linchpin is the essential element… Without the linchpin, the thing falls apart.”

How can you leverage what you know about your own character to be the linchpin for your business?

1. What do you want to be known for?

As a founder and leader, do you know what people really say about you? It should be important to you to at least know how your leadership team and peers describe you.

It’s up to you to manage your reputation. Consider the impact of your words and actions. Working with many founders I can say that they are mostly results focused, it’s why they grow successful businesses. But don’t be so focused on the numbers that you alienate those you need around you.

Put a plan in place to get clarity on your identity, and to build your personal brand.

• Invest in yourself, in your personal and professional development, to build your self-awareness

• Seek feedback to earn about your strengths, areas for improvement and your blind spots

• Get a coach or mentor, someone who can help you navigate this

2. What’s important to you?

How important is your work to you? As a founder/leader, I assume it’s vitally important. Take the time to explore:

• What do you value?

• What drives and excites you?

• Who inspires and influences you?

3. What’s your purpose?

In my book Recreate your Career Story, I wrote a section on ‘Purpose at work”, sharing how Dan Pink describes organisational purpose as your capital P, the big picture purpose. But that the lower-case p is much simpler, it’s about your personal purpose. ‘How am I making a contribution?’

How can you create the opportunity for yourself to get clarity on who you want to be, not just what you are doing?

Who are YOU, when no one’s looking?

Are you ready to invest in yourself and your reputation? I’d love to chat and see how I can help.

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