Don't Worry, Be You

[seeker5]

Here's an article I just read on businessweek.com that delighted me. The author, Marshal Goldsmith was profiled by a writer who was to follow him for two months. The article would be published in New Yorker with a readership of 800,000 people. He was trying to decide between acting the way his clients perceived he should act, and acting his true nature:

Originally Posted by Marshall Goldsmith

(My wife) and I discussed this, since she's in charge of our money. I told her to assume that we were going to lose $150,000 in business because of this profile. I figured that by just acting like me, I might annoy someone who wouldn't want to work with me anymore....I hoped that I wouldn't lose any more money than this!

As it turns out, I was glad that I just acted like me. I received approximately 300 e-mails about the profile. They almost all said the same thing: "The good news is: It sounds just like you. The bad news is: It sounds just like you!" My fears about losing business as a result of this profile were unfounded. Not only did I not lose any business, I was later interviewed in the Harvard Business Review and many other publications. I ended up with more clients—not fewer.

The article is here: Don't Worry, Be You

[Zukin]

Marshall Goldsmith is one of the best writers at combining business and personal development.

I love his book What Got You Here Won't Get You There.

[Enlightenment]

I think most of us just want permission to be ourselves. It is really sad in a way. But I find if I am just me most times things work out and people seem to have more respect for me because I'm not didle dallying (sp?) around the bush. Someone's got to take the lead, why not you? Besides you won't get what you want if you're busy trying to please others, who are trying to please others, and so on and so on.
E

[Andreas]

Wow.

Thank you, Seeker5. So true.

That was touching...

[Joel Chue]

Awesome stuff. Appreciate it