Who I Am Not

Posted by Robert Merrill on October 3, 2008 under Concepts | Read the First Comment

I’m a regular Seth Godin reader, and today he really struck a chord with his post When You Stand For Something. His trackbacks led me to What You Don’t Stand For by David Rendall.

In Gerald Weinberg’s Secrets of Consulting, I read, “If you can’t fix it, feature it.” So here goes.

• I don’t like telling people what to do, and I’d rather build people up than take them down. (Though I’m learning that sometimes that’s the most loving thing to do for them in the long run). So I’ve avoided management as it’s commonly structured, and that has kept me from advancing to a position of leadership that I can put on a resumé. But just because I’ve never been a king doesn’t mean I won’t be an effective royal advisor.
• I’m not very assertive. Because of that, sometimes people are surprised by my strength of conviction when it comes to Things That Matter.
• I’m not competitive, or driven to win for winning’s sake, but that doesn’t keep me from seeing what it will take to win.
• I don’t make a very good first impression, or form a very accurate first impression of others. That has made me persistent in relationships, and careful not to jump to conclusions. Hypotheses, yes. Conclusions, no.
• I don’t handle stress well, so I have avoided the heavy travel, do-or-die projects, conflicting demands of middle management, and other things you need to do in order to get ahead. So I haven’t gotten ahead, at least not on paper.

That’s who I am not.

Here’s who I am. I am probably as intelligent, insightful, teachable, and compassionate as anyone you have ever met. I learn quickly and deeply. I’m not afraid of a blank sheet of paper (you don’t emerge from a Ph.D. program if you are). I’m also not afraid of a complex, convoluted situation of people and software (provided you don’t start screaming at me to solve in a day what has been five years in the making). I’m not afraid to walk away from something when it’s time, but I’m no opportunist or quitter, either (I’ve never been less than 10 years with any organization).

If you invite me into the executive circle of your software-intensive business, you will probably find that I am different from most of you.

That’s precisely why I will be useful.