It would please me greatly to report that the last few months have been invested in a deep spiritual quest that culminated in great gains of wisdom, vision, and discipline that I am now prepared to impart to you. That would certainly sound more noble than sitting in front of the TV eating Doritos and watching old episodes of Criminal Minds, pondering ideas that would make great blog posts if only I had a little more motivation to write them. One of the bad things about taking a sabbatical from blogging is that you feel compelled to offer something really profound when you return, as if a brief moment of premeditated profundity somehow justifies a lingering absence from the blogosphere.

Well, it ain’t gonna happen. In the absence of anything profound, I decided to just write a post that incorporates the word “profundity” a few times – it certainly sounds intelligent and it lends an air of gentle sophistication that could easily be mistaken for… profundity. It’s a brilliant and sensible technique, given that its effectiveness has been proved by none other than a presidential candidate.

I was previously too focused on readership and stats, trying diligently to tailor my posts around a loosely-crafted theme, and avoiding topics that departed from that theme. I say “loosely-crafted” because I’m not sure I could ever clearly define that theme. And rather than writing from the heart, I began looking for topics that fit a brand I was trying to develop for myself. The passion eventually evaporated. So going forward, I’m going to try to just write more from the heart and be less concerned with the frequency, the theme, or even… (ahem) the profundity of posts.

Now, if I could just remember my WordPress login…

Ross Perot is 78 years old today. He is a successful businessman (founder of both Electronic Data Systems and Perot Systems), one of the wealthiest people in America, and a former presidential candidate (1992 and 1996).

“Lead and inspire people. Don’t try to manage and manipulate people. Inventories can be managed but people must be led.”

Ross Perot (b. 6.27.1930)

In honor of his birthday (2/11/1847), a quote from Thomas Alva Edison:

“Genius is one percent inspiration, and ninety-nine percent perspiration.”

Woodrow Wilson (no relation) was born 151 years ago today.

If you lose your wealth, you have lost nothing. If you lose your health, you have lost something. But if you lose your character, you have lost everything.

Woodrow Wilson

28th President of the United States (b. 12.28.1856 - d. 02.03.1924)

Today we celebrate the birthday of my all-time favorite teacher, who once said:

Keep looking, and you will find… Everyone who seeks, finds.

Walt Disney was undoubtedly one of the world’s best at making dreams come true. He was born 106 years ago today, and so we honor his birthday by sharing a couple of his thoughts about dreams:

It’s kind of fun to do the impossible.

and

Somehow I can’t believe that there are any heights that can’t be scaled by a man who knows the secrets of making dreams come true. This special secret, it seems to me, can be summarized in four C s. They are curiosity, confidence, courage, and constancy.

What are your dreams today? Do they seem impossible? I hope Walt Disney has offered a bit of inspiration to you to turn those dreams into reality.

While visiting relatives in our hometown of Tulsa last week, I found myself on kitchen duty with my brother-in-law one afternoon. Cleaning the kitchen during the holidays is somewhat like trying to hit a moving target, because the activity never really ends — it just reaches a lull between two peaks.

But we eventually conquered the task, and with a final triumphant flourish I closed the door of the dishwasher and bent down to start the machine. When I hesitated for a moment to familiarize myself with the settings, my brother-in-law stepped in and instructed me “Just select ‘Normal’ and then push the ‘Start’ button.”

And then we thought… Wouldn’t it be nice if we could just select a “Normal” button for our family or work, and then everything and everyone around us would function in some pre-ordained and predictable fashion?

No guesswork.

No worries.

No problems.

Predictable, perfect, autopilot.

Imagine a brief pause here as we both ponder and savor this idea while looking up at the ceiling and thoughtfully rubbing our chins. Hmmm…

As enticing as it sounds at first, we decided we really wouldn’t enjoy a “Normal” button very much. We enjoy the differences among us and appreciate the uniqueness of each person in our family (most of the time). We love the surprises, the challenges, and the occasional chaos that come with the differences. We find comfort in the uniqueness of our family because it gives us a sense of identity and belonging. We have our own inside jokes and sometimes we even speak our own language. We’re probably the only family in which eggnog is called Steve. That’s just not “normal.”

And we like it that way.

Unfortunately, a lot of organizations are trying to press the “Normal” button. While companies often say they want innovative and risk-taking employees, they usually try to assimilate new employees as quickly as possible into a strict company culture. (i.e. “Normal.”) Ultimately, they value predictability and compliance.

When an employee doesn’t fit the mold, they may get poor reviews and be passed over for promotions, leaving management to wonder how they ended up with such an ill-suited employee. The employee is probably a wonderful and skilled person, but just doesn’t fit the organization’s definition of “Normal.” The sooner that both employee and employer recognize this, the better off both will be.

Do we really talk about this kind of stuff after cleaning the kitchen? Yep.

But I’ve already told you… we’re not Normal.

While most of my posts live a short life and retire quietly to the archives, this post from last spring about networking tips for introverts continues to get several hits hits every week, and has been referenced on other blogs. Since there seems to be a lot of interest in this topic, I continue to watch for articles and information that may add to the discussion.

This afternoon I was reviewing the blogs and websites of some of the people who have visited my blog and came across this interesting post on Ron Bland’s blog about how to start a conversation (written by Peter Murphy). Probably the biggest networking challenge for introverts is just trying to get the conversation started, so I thought this article could offer some valuable tips for my readers.

To these tips, I would offer one additional suggestion: Ask open-ended questions.

When you ask open-ended questions, you automatically get the other person talking. Most people enjoy answering thoughtful questions about themselves or topics they are interested in, and they tend to like people who listen to them talk. The other person will often (but not always) turn the table and ask you questions, giving you an opportunity to tell your story. It’s always easier to talk about yourself in response to a question.

When you ask open-ended questions, you also have a chance to listen well (Point #5 from Mr. Bland’s blog post). As you are listening, be alert for ways that you can help the person. You might be able to introduce them to someone who can help them. Or tell them about a related book or article or web site that may interest them. Remember that effective networking is more about giving than receiving.

Today’s quote comes from Sir Winston Churchill, former British Prime Minister (1940 to 1945, and 1951 to 1955), prolific author, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature (1953), and one of the greatest orators of the 20th century.

Men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of them pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing ever happened.

The Right Honorable Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill

(b. 11.30.1874 - d. 1.24.1965)

I found this quote to be particularly provocative from many perspectives:

• The frequency of the encounter - Churchill suggests that we encounter truth only occasionally.
• The serendipitous nature of the encounter - Churchill suggests that truth is “stumbled upon.”
• Our unawareness of the encounter - Churchill suggests that we often don’t recognize truth when we see it.

Is truth so elusive?

Perhaps it’s not that truth is so elusive, but that we spend little energy in seeking Truth.

During a recent conversation, a friend started talking about a bad experience he had the other day with an overbearing and disingenuous salesperson. He felt like the salesperson’s persona — hair, smile, language, clothing, jewelry, etc. — was just an act only slightly less transparent than that of a circus clown. He described with great disgust how the salesperson was willing to “fudge the numbers” a little to close the deal.

Then my friend said something totally unexpected:

“It’s all this ‘personal branding’ stuff that just makes me sick.” [You can imagine two hands raised up with fingers making imaginary quotation marks in the air. You can also imagine some word other than "stuff"]. He continued: “This guy has probably been trained by some consultant to act this way because this is the way to make the sale.”

After listening to his passionate rant, I realized that he is not alone in his misunderstanding of personal branding. When I connect with job seekers, I discover than many are just as skeptical — albeit less vocal — about personal branding. Perhaps the term “branding” is too closely associated with the term “marketing” in a lot of minds. Whatever the reason, many people believe that personal branding is sort of like an “Extreme Makeover: Professional Edition” that turns you in to a completely different person.

Personal branding is about

1. knowing your unique skills, talents, passion, and personality traits (i.e. your “brand attributes”), and
2. proactively emphasizing those attributes to others

Seth Godin wrote an interesting post about personal branding today, in which he compares your personal brand to a caricature. He says:

A caricature falsely highlights various anomalies while diminishing the boring parts. So Jay Leno gets a ridiculous chin, or Jimmy Durante gets an even bigger nose (okay, he had a pretty big nose). The same is true for your brand, but even more so. The best brands are caricatures of their true selves.

I thought that summed it up pretty well. Personal branding isn’t about being something you aren’t or putting on a fake persona for someone else. It’s about promoting your “various anomalies” (the interesting things about you) and diminishing the boring parts.